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Morvenna 2023
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  • Austen Davies
  • Claire Davies

Morvenna 2023

First year of our sailing trip in our Ovni 435 Morvenna. Looking forward to some great adventures with Rob and Gretel Shaw Read more
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  • Morvenna 2023

    Oben

    May 6, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
  • Morvenna 2023

    Anchorage near oban

    May 3, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We had seen this little stop off anchorage in the guide book and it looked perfect protected all round and the weather was forecast to be glorious. Have a look on the map. It could not have been more perfect.
    We snuck in out of the wind. It was mirror flat and we were going to have a swim.
    Mark and I riveted our reefing rings to the mast while I Sykes myself up for the big dip.
    There was a big splash next to Samba a James was on his way over. He is a hardened cold water swimmer so this gave me no confident that it was warm. Next on deck was Sarah and Lizzie in there swimming cossys there was a bit more huffing and puffing a squeaking on entry but in they went. The pressure was on to take a dip. And there was no where to hide. A slick dive, not. Followed bay a rapid and nun to graceful scramble up the boat ladder and the joy of wild swimming was mine.
    That evening we decided to go on a dinghy adventure. Lizzie and Sarah ended up being in with us and the boys powered off down the coachman sound with us following (towards the bridge over the Atlantic) the water was clear shallow and fast moving and it wasn’t long before Mike and James bravery had seen them motor to a spot we couldn’t follow. So we turned and punched tide back up the sound. WE thought they were brave but they had run out of fuel and were drifting back towards the Cuan sound. When we, me mark and the girls got back to the boats Lizzie and Sarah launched and SARS mission and started putting on warm cloths and packing food into backpacks. By the time the rescue plan was ready to be executed, Mike and James had scrounged some fuel off a nice chap near the bank and self rescued through the sound. What a relief.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Trip To Mull Loch Spell

    May 1, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Both boats anchored just to the west of the Canals exit on the sea side of a small island, Romantically called west anchorage,on the chart. I offered to cook dinner for all. Sounding as if I did this all the time. I picked the gang up from there boat in the dingo and they clanked there way across. A session was on the cards. I think Lizzie must have heard about my signature rissotto as she came with “hello fresh” and a lot of suggestions to help me on the way. The final meal even had limp leaves on the top. Looked great. We drank all there beers all our rum and quite a bit wine. Total success for a spontaneous night in. We hatched a plan for the following days sailing. Take the tide up to the Cuan sound then into Easdale (might be a bit shallow) for lunch then on to an anchorage. What could go wrong. Mike got a head start in the morning, about half a mile, while Mark and I raffled about sailing off the anchor, which I love to do. The race was on. Fat heavy Ovni with waterline length versus samba about 30 foot of long keel. It was a light wind race and the boats were pretty even at about 6kts of breeze any more we gained any less Samba got away. Sarah was in full concentration mode on the helm of Samba and put in some big luffs to keeps us behind. Finally on the last straight section to Cuan the wind filled in and Morvennas waterline length finally paid off. We had judged the tide for Cuan pretty well and were sucked through with no great traumers although I did cut the Conner more than was wise. Easedale next stop. The sun was out and about 10kts of breeze mad for a pleasant short hop round. It was too shallow for mike and the gang to be comfortable so we went straight to the secluded anchorage. What a spot that was.Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Crinan Canal

    April 29, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Woke up in Aaron, with a nagging feeling that going round the Mull was going to be a bit of a pain. Completely spontaneously a plan was hatched to take the boat through the Crinan Canal. With absolutely no plan of what how or who, we retraced our step up loch Fyne past Tarbet and on towards the entrance of the canal. During the sail I was downloading apps and doing my best to book a time and birth to transit the canal, that day. I thought I had succeeded.
    On arrival at the sea Lock there was a boat called Samba waiting there turn to enter the loch. We had had instruction from the lock keeper to come straight in so we were looking like we were jumping the queue. Samba sprang to life and managed to pull out in front of us. In the spirit of fair play we hit the breaks and let them in ahead of us. Little did we all know at the time what a fateful move this would be.
    Fenders out ropes at the ready we slid into the first lock behind samba. No I hadn’t read the skippers instructions for the canal, so had absolutely no idea about how it all worked. The canal had a maximum draft recommendation of 2.5 metres. Which the loch ladies suggested was hopeful. I decided to lift some keel to be on the safe side.
    Some nice ladies at the top of the 20 ft lock wall offered to take out lines and began to offer advice which was good. A third lady came out of the office as our boat rose to the top of the first lock and suggested I came in and sorted out the paperwork mess I had created with my last minute app booking. As it turned out I had booked and paid twice for the transit. I hadn’t booked a spot to moore up as we would make it all the way through that day. In a kind Scottish voice she said, don’t worry happens all the time ill get it all changed now and the refund will get processed in the week. Perfect. I said. Her last comments were based on Mark and I not looking like the most nimble of old blokes with a big boat. “You should make friend with guys on the other boat as you will need a hand with all the locks and rope handling and you will be travelling together to save water in the system. Mark and I went straight outside and started making conversation.
    Samba belongs to Mike and Sarah (brother and sister) although I spoke to them as if they were an item for the first day. And they had there friend James and Lizzie sailing with them. Sarah and Lizzie helped us through every Lock taking lines and always with a bit of banter. They rapidly became known “Lock Maidens” we had had a night out all together halfway through the canal, and a firm friendship was formed.
    Day 2 of the canal we up early for showers and the Maidens were ready to go bright and early. Light drizzles was the order of the day. And only 8 Lochs left to be freed back into the sea. We were all dripping wet but it was fun every stop. After a quick beer on the grass while Mike changed his Impeller, we were ready for the final Lock and some sailing freedom.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Aaron

    April 28, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We didn’t have a plan for the last week or 2 of Marks sailing time, but now, looking at the weather we decided between us to have a few days in the Clyde area and give Mark as many new experiences as possible. Mark was to get off in Largs but we had made good enough progress north that we would drop him off further north.
    For no particular reason apart from the wind direction out mental plan was a day in Aaron and day in The kyles do Bute And then round the Mull to Giga, one of Paul’s recommendations. So in thick fog patches we headed to Aaron,down wind again. Mark practices his Nav with dead reckoning and bearings when he could. I was re assured that Students stil;l learn this and Mark was enjoying practicing.
    It was great to arrive at the mooring in north west Aaron as the fog cleared and this early in the season there was almost no one there. The water glassed off and we went ashore in the dinghy. Everything was closed, so we took a walk up the river to see if there was any likely trout fishing.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Tarbet

    April 27, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Mark and I decided to have a nice downwind sail to Tarbet. Not too far but nice to be sailing downwind on my birthday. Lighter drizzle from time to time but on the hole great to be in the highlands it it is starting to feel like an adventure. WWE sailed passed Aarons high peaks and I remember Paul had said it is often known as little Scotland. Once in Tarbet we walked into town past the new modern marina facilities. Had a a pint in a local, and found langoustines for birthday tea all in all not too bad a birthday.Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Campbeltown

    April 26, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Campletown was to be the place where Paul got off, and caught the 4 hour bus back to Glasgow and the family. We started reasonably early from Rathlin and managed a 7 knot beam reach across to the Mull in perfectly clear conditions. We had a practice with different boat set ups and balances and had the helm light enough to steer with 1 finger. Buy the time the tides had pushed us round the mull towards Sanda Island the wind was on the Wayne. Time for “the Donk” to push us round the corner.
    Paul booked his bus for first thing in the morning, so there was one last chance for a pint and a meal. Cant remember the name of the first pub we went in but it was tiny. Strangely busy in the afternoon although quiet. Paul said to the bar man quiet in here like a funeral. He hadn’t noticed all the black ties and dark suits. “Yes it is” said the bar man one of the regulars”. OOps best move on after this pint .
    Was great to have Paul for 10 days great company and easy going sailor not a cross word, and his spaghetti carbonara not to bad either. Look forward to sailing with him again.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Rathlin Ireland

    April 25, 2023 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    I’d was keen to go back to Rathlin, it was more than 10 years since I had been there, and it wanted to see if it had changed. We had a perfect hop up the coast in glassy conditions, a few dolphins and a burnt nose. Paul cooked spaghetti carbonara which is is his signature dish, before we went to the pub. Paul set me up with Antares maps and a bunch of destinations to visit as we head up the west coast. (mostly good restaurants) they were all great stopsRead more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Bangor

    April 24, 2023 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    This was a hop of about 40 miles up the coast, up wind as always but we were getting ever closer t e the Highlands. Banghour would give us the opportunity to fill up with fuel and to have go into town for food. Which Paul was pleased about.Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Strangord loch

    April 23, 2023 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Yet another up wind day, but sunny. Getting through the entrance to Strangford lock had to be accurately timed. The book said 4 to 6 knots and we had more than 7 in reality. A beautiful drift past the various small towns in the entrance and into the main loch. We picked up a bouy outside Killyleagh yacht club not knowing who it belonged to. We decided to head to town for supplies and to find a place for Mark to watch the football. First stop was the Pub in town which was busy and noisy but had a back room with a TV. We ordered food and convinced the landlord to switch the teller to the foot ball. All settled in, Guinness food and the best seats in the TV area. A big lad with a thick northern Irish accent approached. We thought we might be in his seat. He said “did you boys come on that yacht”. Yep, I said thinking he was not to happy. In a totally Irish way he said “ I’m not sure its big enough for your boat I will have a ring round and ask” turned out he was part of the yacht club. He came back and said “you will be fine there”. Who do we pay, I said. Don’t worry about that, he said its good to have you here, have a good time. And off he went. We felt very at home after that shopped in the coop before returning to the boat.

    Strangford Loch Clearly has a plenty of beautiful inland sailing and it was a shame to be rushing off in the morning    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Carlingford loch

    April 23, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Up wind all day. 5 knots of wing then 25kts then 5 kts again arrived late on the tide and hade to punch tide all the way in. There was a lot of tide and it was all leaving the entrance to the marina was going to be very shallow, we lifted half the keel and half the rudder. In in time for a pint. As we left the bar we could see a late arrival to the marina they must have been almost on the bottom. It was our Italian friends from Milford haven in there Ovni 34 they had keel, and rudder fully up and were struggling to hand the boat in the tiny marina entrance. With a few thrown lines we had them tied up in in no time. We offer them a beer and supper in the half lite. My signature sausage risotto was going to have to be good.Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Howth

    April 22, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    So after a 36 hour stay in Dublin docks pinned in by rough weather and container ships, we decided on a short shake down hop to Howth, which I know from j24 regattas. Well i knew where the bars were anyway. It was only a short hop but managed a run in with Dublin VTS (port traffic control ) and a surf through the channel to Howth, I’m glad I hadn’t gone through the channel i2 nights before in the dark. We picked up a hammerhead birth with our lines taken by martin a single handed yachtsman from wales. Got settled into couple of beers when the howth marina told us that there wasn’t enough room for us for the night. I hadn’t booked. Very kindly they shuffled some things around and we could stay the night. Paul who navigates by restaurants set a new waypoint in town with Guinness and oysters to start. The night will definitely going to go down hill now.
    Early start in the morning heading for Carling ford lock in North wind.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Dublin

    April 17, 2023 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Rob and I returned early morning Sunday from Skoma. WE slid through Jack sound in the half light and then a nice 18 to knt up wind sail in relatively flat water back to Milford haven to drop Rob off and pick up Mark Healy for the onward Journey to the Clyde.
    Rob had a long and slow journey on the train back to Cardiff 20 stops and 4 hours.
    Mark and I had connected on Crewseekers, un fortunately Rob was un able to do this section. He had a day skipper certificate and had chartered in Greece a couple of times. Marked turned up on time in perfect sunny weather with a big smile and we set off Dale bay from the Marina. I hadn’t told Mark the new plan yet!!. Originally we were to do a short hope to Wexford, meet Paul Wingate our new Crew and meander our way up the coast towards the Mull of kintyre. There were North winds forecast for 10 days and only one day with some east in it. The new plan, Hop to Howth in one go and meet Paul there. This left Mark with 120nm sail on day one and some night sailing to boot. As he said not as advertised.
    An early set off from Dale, with the tide. By the time we passed Ramsey Island we were doing 10kts over the ground with full sail and blue skys. This was looking good. We continued north using the best of the tide then headed out onto coarse for Howth as the tide backed down. We only saw a couple of ships on route and we could see the distant loom of Dublin as the sun finally went down. The wind was flicking between 10 and 25 kts from the east, with a moderate large swell making sail choices quite tricky. As we were passing Dublin with a view to go through the channel into Howth at night. decided, that surfing in there late at night and a bit tired wasn’t going to be a good plan. We were now going to go to Dublin main shipping terminal and tie up at Pool Beg yacht club. This meant a 10 mile almost dead down wind and swell sail crossing the main shipping lane not Dublin. Not ideal but better than Plan A. We arrived outside Poolbeg at 2 am with a 25 kt on pontoon breeze, in amongst multiple container ships. Parking was going to be tricky and sleeping probably even more tricky. After loading every fender we own on the port side we managed t get along the outside of the low concrete, unprotected pontoon and tie up. Marks first words after that were. Brutal, nt what he had expected after mostly Greek sailing holidays 18 hours and 120 miles later we were all tied up and ready for a bumpy noisy nights sleep.

    All to soon. The redirected Paul was nocking on the hull as his flight fromGlasgow was bang on time. Paul was cheery and flexible and realised we were both a bit tired . After a cup of tea and some breakfast and showers at the club, we were ready to explore Dublin. Paul and spent a fair bit of time in Dublin on business and was the guide for the day. Paul was a more experienced navigator using mostly restaurants as waypoints, which meant we would ways be eating well.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Milford Haven

    April 13, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Milford Haven about a 50 mile hop. In clear visibility and medium light easterlies. We arrived as it got dark and fumbled around the un familiar Angle bay, looking for a secure swell free spot for the night. One out of 2 isn’t bad, secure but not swell free. The following morning we up anchored and headed up river. Through the most industrial landscape I have ever seen. We put in 1 reef and used the the new furling stay sail to tack up river. In about 25 knots. Fun sailing dodging in and out of the shallows and the paths of the mighty Gas and Oil Tankers. The river eventually narrowed to a point where we could tack no more, the wind had become so flukey. On with the engine we motored to Lawrence where there were mooring and a great pub. It turnout we would need 2 nights in the pub as the welcome was good and the weather was bad. Angus had done his time and was great company I’m looking forward to sailing with him again. Rob and I headed down river to Milford marina to hide from the storm that was looming. Over the next 36 hours there was up to 45knt in the marina. We tied up with a lot of extra ropes and even helped some others sort there’s. We met an older couple also in an Ovni They were Italians in a french boat who now live in Spain. They were, I’m guessing in there mid sixties. And made us feel like we were trying hard enough when they told us of ther eadventure, Including 14 Atlantic crossings I have posted a link to there blog. They were an inspiration. We would meet them again in Ireland.
    Luckily for us while the storm was raging we were making friend in some of the local pubs. And when the storm passed we had a few days before Rob left and Mark Healy arrived. So we headed on a short trip to Skoma.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Clovelly

    April 7, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today was the day to get to Clovelly its a short hop from Instow, about 10 miles. Blue sky forecast and light winds. As it turned that was exactly write but we got thick radiant for banks too. Red hot day pints in the pub, burnt nose.then said goodbye to Claire and Grets ready for the hop to Milford Haven the following day.Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Instow

    April 6, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    The sun was out there was a westerly wind and the opportunity to meet Claire and Gretel at Instow after crossing Bideford bar. There was a decent swell running. As advised by the pilot book, we called the harbour master for a report on conditions. He was a little surprised to hear from us, and his advise was simple. If the waves are breaking where you are your in the wrong place. Top tip.
    We arrived as the tide was full and anchored 10 metres of the beach at instow. When the tide dropped we walked to the pub and met the girls for tea.    Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Lundy via bude

    April 5, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Our first trip was to be to Lundy About 50 miles via a fly by at Bude, our home town. We left the Camel estuary early on the tide, still working through all of the new bits on the boat, a 50mile down wind sail ahead of us. The wind started very light, but as always on the north coast. It wasn’t long before it was 20 Kts just what we needed to make some progress and keep us focussed. By the time we got to Bude the fog had come and the wind had died. We wave at our friends up on compass point and set a coarse along the rocky coast past Northcott and Sharpnose point. The wind built to 25 kts and the fog got thicker. Lundy appeared to od the fog dark and a little menacing in those conditions. Only the bottom of the island showing as the top was lost in fog. After some faffing we were happy with our anchoring spot while the wind still roared outside of the bay. The pub beckoned and a warm meal was found.Read more

  • Morvenna 2023

    Start of the trip

    April 3, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Craning in and leaving Wadebridge. After a winter refit. New rigging ,sails, sail bag spray hood, water maker, Prop, engine and generator service and heating modifications, and anti fouling it is time to start the big trip. This time my son Jack isn’t available to bend the aerials down as we leave on a low tide so we fit under A39 bridge. Big thanks to Simon Cook for the help.
    Angus Stickler from crewseeker joins us for the first couple of weeks    Read more

    Trip start
    April 3, 2023
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