Molia

We set off at 0900 in order to get through both Swansea locks and out of the docks by 1000. High water at Swansea was at 0836, and so after punching the tide for the rest of the morning, we planned to pick up the flood tide around Nash Point.

The tide today was vast – at Port of Bristol it was LW 0.96m and HW 13.24m (12.28m range). This resulted in a very high tide speed, giving us 8 knots at Barry, 10 knots between the Holms islands, and not much less all the way up to Portishead! So we arrived very early – our original ETA was 2130, but we got into the (slightly delayed) 1945 lock at the marina.

That concludes our 2026 cruise. Many thanks to everyone who joined us and visited us. We celebrated the return to our Portishead Marina mooring, with Tim and Wendy, and some drinks!

We left Padstow harbout at 0300 with the aim to catch the tide turn at about Lundy. An amazing sunrise over the Devon coast.

There was a steady breeze in the morning to help our speed. The tide turned when we were between Lundy and Hartland Point – with the addition of some disturbance in the sea state. This was soon past and the wind lessened as we picked up the good tide all the way into Swansea Docks.

13 July 2026

Monday

We walked to the Mumbles along the excellent coast path, with lunch on the way back at the Mermaid Cafe Bar and Restaurant (starter) and then Bistrot Pierre (main – in photo).

15 July 2026

Wednesday

We visited the Altitude 28 Sky Bar at the top of the landmark Meridian Tower. Fantastic views (Molia is in the harbour photo) – we recommend the bar.

Monday. We left Newlyn at 0500 and the forcast fog had not appeared. When we got into Mounts Bay, we could see the sea-level cloud around St Micheal’s Mount, and sticking to the west coast of the Lizard, but we remained in the clear as we made our way south.

The mist closed in as we past Tater Du lighthouse. After that we did not see the coast again until it started to clear at St Agnes Head. Visibility was completly clear by Kelsey Head (just before Newquay), and remained very good for the rest of the day.

We slowed right down as we approached Trevose Head, so as not to be early for the tide at Padstow. After the headland, we had a look into the bay at Harlyn, where we found plenty of dolphins. We entered Padstow at 2100.

7 July 2028

Tuesday

8 July 2026

Wednesday

We crossed on the Rock ferry and met up with Simon and Rosie.

9 July 2026

Thursday

Another hot blue-sky day! We walked to the beach on Doom Bar.

We sailed back to Torquay with Kirsten and Andy onboard. The wind was light at first, but filled in sufficiently for sailing in Torbay.

In Torquay we will also have the opportunity to meet up with Jane and Dermot, and Harry.

We chose another calm and sunny day to cross back to the UK from Guernsey, taking the tide into account. With high water in St Peter Port at 0527 we were able to leave (0445) with the tide positive between Guernsey and Herm, and past the Casquets then right into the TSS. Sunrise was at 0505.

We arrived at the entrance to Dartmouth (Kingswear Castle) in 13 hours.

We identified Sunday as a good weather day with the tide right for both leaving Portland and arriving in the channel between Guernsey and Herm.

We left the marina at 0450 and watched the sun come up as we were accelerated down the side of the Isle of Portland. After leaving the Bill, we slowed down in a very calm sea.

At the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) we temporarily increased the engine revs to negotiate the shipping. We slowed down in tide-against adjacent to Alderney, but this soon let us go and the breeze increased to allow us to sail for an hour on the approach to the Guernsey-Herm channel.

We arrived at the hopelessly overcrowded and disorganised St Peter Port holding pontoons at 1915 – however as usual the other yachtsmen were helpful and friendly, and the facilities onshore are accessible, so our overnight outside the harbour was comfortable. We were finally tied up inside the Victoria Harbour around lunchtime on Monday, next to a lovely older French couple from Brittany.

26 June 2926

Friday

A cooler day so we ventured up the hill in St Peter Port to visit the 3 towers visible from Castle Cornet yesterday, and the Candie Museum. The garden behind the Victoria Monument (pictured above) has two trophy German WW1 artillery pieces. The art gallery had an excellent exhibition of paintings of the Guernsey landscape.

25 June 2026

Thursday

Castle Cornet has defended St Peter Port since the middle ages with various degrees of success. The French captured it several times, it was besieged in the Civil War (but survived remarkably intact), and was taken over without force by the Germans in WW2.

Our water pump has been making a strange noise – not really stopping as soon as it should. On closer inspection it has been leaking from the shut-off switch on the bottom for a while. This explains the little puddle of water that appeared on the saloon floor whenever Molia was heeled over.

When we arrived in Portland, the pump completely failed to stop after the galley tap was turned off – so I decided to replace it. We have a few days here to do the work.

The original Jabsco ‘Sensor-max 14’ pump is the 35 psi 12V version, with a flow rate of 14 lpm (litres per minute). Its closest replacement is the Jabsco ‘Par Max 4HD’ with an output pressure of 40 psi – but I do not want to stress our plumbing, so chose the 25psi version that delivers 15 lpm.

The new pump was shipped overnight from the Marine Superstore in Portsmouth – we are very grateful for their efficient postage and packing, so I fitted the replacement this afternoon. Less than 48 hours from fault to finished job.

The new pump is a direct replacement – it has the very similar dimensions (perhaps its very slightly longer), but it has the same plumbing connections and even the same screw spacing!