Welsh interlude
PROGRESS
Andrew and Hilary Clark
Mon 20 Jul 2009 13:48
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51:42N 05:06W
No cruise around the British Isles would be
complete without a visit to Wales.
So, after the last Guinness was
downed.....
 and the passage crew embarked....
 we were on our way from Dublin.
 We started in fog and steady rain, cleared Tuskar
Rock in the dry, romped south in rough seas, visited by schools of dolphins who
played in the bow-wave. We entered Milford Haven just after midnight, coinciding
with three tanker and one ferry movement, and made our way up to
Neyland.
Milford Haven was an interesting pilotage exercise:
extremely well lit, but with a glaring backdrop of refinery and jetty lights. We
contacted Port Control as we approached to ask if there were any shipping
movements in the following hour; they were surprised that we had not seen the
mega VLCC that was at that moment emerging as a wall of steel from the entrance
channel, but the truth is that her lights were completely lost against the
background shore lights. After that we heard the pilots talking from ship to
ship about our position and progress, but our passage plan and the brightness of
our navigation lights seemed to meet with their approval. We negotiated the
entrance channel at Neyland, who were freindly and helpful. This morning
the channel does seem quite small. It will be interesting to retrace our steps
in daylight when we depart.
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