Bishop's Rock

We left late, even though it was 5am, and it should have been a couple of hours earlier.
Arklow is quite nice, but we had a pontoon outside the tiny marina, and the swell made it growl and squeak a little, but we slept, mostly OK.

Good night, Arklow

Voyage was 85nM, and because we were late, the bit from the Bishop's Rock to Milton Keynes, I mean (really) Milford Haven was somewhat overstretched by a number of hours because of the tide leaving the Bristol Channel. Not only that, big, bulging swells and waves came up behind us every now and again, and tried to bury us by pushing the bow in to the next swell and sweeping the deck, giving the hull a good slapping and us a new sense of patience: we knew we had to sit it out with the main down two reefs because the wind was up on the bow and showing 20kt on the windometer, and some engine to maintain steerage because the best we could do over the ground was about 3kt.
However, I had three bananas, some coffee and some hot chocolate during the time we had to consider how the weather forecast had abandoned us and also why the navigator hadn't provided the correct departure time.

As we got in to Milford Haven, the relief was enormous, and the admiration for a boat that is now 45 years old and seemed to be able to handle the slapping, yawing, pitching and banging for a few hours without any complaints.
A really interesting wind over tide problem, not likely to be repeated.
But the autopilot was set up to a number 7 on its sensitivity and it coped with a huge quartering sea, the sail getting out of place, and the numerous special currents in the bit from the Bishop's Rock down to MH.
Hundreds of birds, black guillemots, other guillemots, big gulls, little gulls. Also a pair of dolphins that ushered us in to Milford Haven.

So it was goodbye to Ireland: rain, rain and more Gaelic rain.
But still, very beautiful.

Today we slept for a long time, had a walk, and I had seafood linguine opposite Alison's small cod and chips.
Milford Haven is impressive and industrial along its waterfront - big ships.
Soon we go to Padstow, but are hanging on for a genuinely sorted wind forecast.