leg 18 Holyhead to Douglas Isle of man

Holyhead to Douglas Isle of Man

On my return to the boat after a few days at home. I am raring to get going. Scotland is almost within eyesight!! Its doubly good because my daughter has a holiday which co-insided with my return to Holyhead so she is going to accompany me for the next two legs and we will arrive in our first port in Scotland together. Fantastic. It will be really good to have someone to talk to and share the experience and the workload with. She achieved her RYA Competent crew certificate in Spain in 2009 so should be a great companion for these two very long legs.

Great Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least we made excellent progress, We left at 3:00am to catch the tides and new it would be a very long day….. for some………………

Good days sailing though we had some pretty nice weather followed by some pretty ugly weather, dreary and drab.

It eats and breaths!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coming in to Douglas Isle of Man

Isle of Man was very interesting although we only stayed overnight on the floating pontoon in the harbour entrance. We did manage to have dinner ashore before returning to the boat as we had another 3:00am start and many miles to cover.

‘O’ yes ‘it’ did finally do something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leg 17 Pwllheli to Holyhead

Pwllheli to Holyhead

A great days sailing. Cruising chute out and flying along.

Beautiful



Coming in to Holhead Harbour, I met wind up to 30Knots on the Starboard quarter so had to quickly reduce sail and just use the Jib out front until I passed the Harbour wall where once again it was nice and peaceful. Holyhead was one of the most friendly marinas I had visited. As soon as they realized what I was doing they gave me free moorings and couldn’t do enough for me. They even looked up weather from the internet and looked up harbours for me to visit on the Isle of Man. A really very friendly place and probably only a third full.

After Finding out what the weather was going to be like for the foreseeable future I decided that for the next week I would probably be marina bound as the weather was looking pretty awful. So taking this in to consideration I decided that I would head home the next day and have a break for five or six days. A chance to see the Family again. The Marina staff looked up train timetables etc and gave me directions to the local train station. They even went as far as booking tickets on my behalf. They were brilliant. A definite place to visit again and even leave the boat here as I should think the sailing would be great.

Thanks Holyhead Marina. One of the top three marinas I have visited so far……………….

Leg 7 Plymouth to Fowey

 

Date:- 24.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Freddie From: Plymouth To: Fowey Comments: Very long day

Wind Strength / direction: Westerly force 3 Sea State: slight Distance: 24.6 nautical miles Time Taken: 6.10

It took a very long time to get out of Plymouth harbour. Due to my own poor seamanship. I tried to raise the main without turning the boat perfectly in to wind. This always means that the battons in the main sail gets entangled with the lazy bag lines. So the only answer is to drop the main again and start all over again. The second time I was raising the main and realised that I was running out of room as I am still motoring forward. So had to drop the main again turn and head a bit further out and raise the Bl---y thing again. At last Ive got the sail up and can continue on my way.

For once quite an uneventful trip but very cold. Its surprising how cold it is out at sea. Even though it may be warm on land I have found that I still need to wrap up like its winter. With full waterproofs on, hat and gloves and quite a few layers on to trap the heat. I’m really looking forward to a lovely summers day. Even though it was uneventful it turned out to be a very long day as the wind had dropped a bit so the going was slow especially as it is still a westerly wind and I am constantly beating in to it.

I finally arrive in Fowey at about 6:30pm and the wind has dropped completely turning in to a very nice evening and I can at last take off all the waterproofs. About eight and a half hours and I had calculated on about four and half to five. Whoops got it wrong! Have to pay more attention to route planning in future.

 

Fowey is in many ways similar to Salcombe. A rather grand entrance and a lovely natural harbour inside with some very grand boats as can be seen in the photos. I moored up and walked Freddie and then talked to the harbour master who told me that there was a really nice walk through some fields at the top of the hill which Freddie would enjoy which leads to a very good pub where they serve good quality food. That’s settled then ‘dinner out’.

Whilst eating out I met a retired couple who ran a farm and they were on holiday in a caravan site at the top of the valley and they often ate in the pub of an evening. They were a lovely couple who it was really easy to talk to. And they thought Freddie was a great looking dog. I explained what I was doing and they immediately made a donation. I am continually impressed and touched by the people I meet who like myself knows someone who has been touched by cancer and they want to contribute in anyway they can. I thanked them and in turn they thanked me for doing what I was doing. And once again I as we left my overriding thoughts were what a lovely couple. I gave them the blog address and hope they are following the trip now from home. But if they are Thanks!

After the following day of exploring Fowey.( what a great place to visit)(just look at the pictures) I bought a few provisions from the small town. Freddie had decided to muck around in the dinghy, which is unusual as he is normally very good in it and just as I moored up and tried to get him off he missed his footing and went straight in between a couple of dinghys. It wasn’t just a leg or a paw he went right in so I grabbed the handle on his life jacket and pulled him up as fast as I could this only had one outcome as he is so big, the handle just came off in my hand and he went swimming again for the second time. Lucky enough a passing boater was walking past on the pontoon and between the two of us him on the pontoon and myself trying to balance on a wobbly dinghy managed to pull him out. To which his immediate reaction was to shake himself vigorously soaking the pair of us. Cheers Freddie, and I thanked the man and apologised at the same time.

Another lovely evening so I walked to the pub and had a pint and was able to see the same couple as the day before again we chatted very easily. They asked me if I was going to carry on with the venture tomorrow and I replied that I doubt it because the weather is to bad and added that they were both welcome to come down to the boat the following day and have afternoon tea with me and Freddie.

I also met an American lady with I presume her granddaughters who were initially attracted to us because of Freddie. They asked if he was friendly and could they pat him. Once again I was asked what I was doing and when I explained the woman was very touched and said ‘she had suffered with Cancer last year’ and thrust ten pounds in to my hand and asked me to put it in the collecting tin when I got back to the boat. So many people with so many stories of their own.

Fighting Cancer with fitness

Fighting cancer with fitness

When your body becomes extremely stressed, it goes into what is known as "the fight or flight" syndrome. In this syndrome, you will do anything to survive. For example, a person who is trapped underwater may feel an enormous amount of energy surge through their body, allowing them to fight anything that keeps them from reaching air. The adrenaline rush allows you to accomplish incredible things.

This type of syndrome occurs in cancer patients, though not in the same way as a near death experience, such as drowning. When cancer patients are diagnosed with their condition, they find every way possible to help their health. This is true for all different types of cancer including the common cancers such as breast cancer to the rare diseases like mesothelioma.

One way that cancer patients fight their condition is by exercising. We all know that exercise has multiple benefits, but not many people know that it can help cancer patients. Of course, cancer patients have different limitations, according to the type of cancer they have. For example, a patient who undergoes mesothelioma treatment will not be able to perform the same exercises as a breast cancer patient.

Medical experts understand the specific needs of cancer patients in terms of fitness. That is why they have developed programs that fit various cancer patients' needs, equipping trainers with the information they need to help the patients.

Fitness gives cancer patients back control over their lives. The countless surgeries and treatments can severely destroy the sense of control that a person has over his or her life. This can result in a devastating negative mindset. When patients feel like they are in control of their lives again, their quality of life and well-being greatly improves. Studies show that optimistic people are generally healthy and heal quickly from illnesses.

Moreover, aside from the psychological benefits, the physical benefits of exercise are great. Many exercises help prevent bone deterioration, thus causing osteoporosis. This type of prevention can also help patients feel stronger, more energized, thus relieving debilitating fatigue.

Additionally, fitness helps keep various functions of the body strong. Such functions include the nervous system, respiratory system and immune system. When these functions are performing efficiently, they can help fight the cancer cells and any other harmful substance within the body.

Though fitness does not cure cancer, it can greatly help improve the cancer patient's life. This article also explains the importance of fitness in relation to cancer.

By: David Haas

02.07.11 Milford Haven to Fishguard

Date:- 02.07.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), From: Milford haven To: Fishguard Comments: really nice days sailing

Wind Strength / direction: force 3 westerly Sea State: slight Distance: 48.7 nautical miles Time Taken: 9hrs 45mins

This was perhaps the best day of sailing I have ever had.

The weather was perfect. Just warm enough to be comfortable, just enough wind to keep moving and more wildlife than I have seen on any leg so far.  Apart from the wildlife (best pictures of Dolphin yet) the trip was lovely as I had to sail around various islands on the west coast of Wales and so it was very interesting. Quite an uneventful rest of  trip concluding in anchoring in a lovely little bay. I saw Puffin, Dolphin, Seal, and a sun fish but couldn’t get a good picture of it.

WHAT A DAY !

30.06.11 Lundy Island to Milford Haven

Date:- 30.06.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), From: Lundy Island To: Milford Haven Wales Comments: Great days sailing, escorted from firing range.

Wind Strength / direction: Force 3 Sea State: slight Distance: 43.08 nautical miles Time Taken: 8hrs 46mins

I was sad to leave Lundy Island as it was such an interesting place and so friendly, and at last the various destinations were really living up to expectations. I was also extremely tired because I can not sleep very well when at anchor or tied to a buoy. I think I woke up every half hour just to check Morgen wasn’t drifting.

After another early start I set off for Milford Haven. Milford Haven is in south Wales, so I would arrive in a different country. This made it feel like I was getting some proper sea miles under my belt.

I had the normal hassle of getting the cruising shute up, ie, having to lead lines back to the cockpit and untangle knots etc. but it is getting more sorted out and I find I deploy the shute with more confidence each time. Its worth it because we can really cover ground quite fast with the shute up.

A pretty uneventful trip all morning with Lundy Island slowly disappearing from sight. Until I heard a broadcast on the VHF which was asking for an unidentified boat which was 2 miles from a buoy. I couldn’t catch the whole broadcast because of wind noise etc but I thought it was roughly in the area that I was in!

Anyway I thought to myself no one could be after me on the VHF. I carried on as normal. About an hour and a half after this I could see a pilot boat with a bright orange roof leave what must have been the entrance to Milford Haven and come racing out at 20 to 30 knots on a big curving course. I could see it getting closer and closer and I thought to myself it would pass me really quite close. As it came up near my port side I thought I would wave as he passed as boaters normally do this out of politeness. As soon as I waved the pilot boat reduced speed and turned sharply cutting in immediately behind me and then slowly came up on my Port side. There were two people on board one at the helm and the other out on deck. The one on deck shouted out to me. Did you not hear me us on the VHF which I replied no. He ordered me to turn directly west and keep on that heading for at least 2.5 miles as I was in the middle of a live firing range! I did what he said. A short time later he came on to the VHF again and told me to follow him and he would show me the quickest route to Milford Haven. I could tell they were not sailing men because they obviously didn’t know that I couldn’t sail directly in to wind which they were. Not only this but after a short time they accelerated to a speed that I just couldn’t match and they slowly sped off and lost me. I decided to carry on as normal. I had checked the charts and knew that there was a firing range in this area, but according to the charts and almanac boats had right of way unless flags were flying and there was a safety range boat on patrol. So as far as I was concerned I had done nothing wrong. ( I think they just wanted a nice fast boat trip out to sea)

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful arriving at the river mouth and following the Laterall markers up the river to Milford Marina. Past all the big oil tankers and refineries. Not the prettiest place on earth.