ONE WEEK IN - MILFORD HAVEN TO ABERDOVY

Having arrived last night at the Cresswell Quay rather bedraggled and exhausted, thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Val Rees and Paul Higginson (the best fish-pie maker in Pembrokeshire!) at Furzehill Farm, we were rested, well fed and ready to tackle another day.  What had seemed major issues the night before (my mobile phone had been swamped in the seat pocket on the boat going round Land's End and wasn't working, then I couldn't get a reliable internet connection for my computer to post my blog at 11pm, by which time I was definitely feeling overtired and emotional!) had gained a little more perspective with the arrival of the morning.  Paul kindly drove us back down to the Quay, where we were all secretly relieved to see both boats still afloat, having left them on long lines the night before to dry out.
We set off down the Cresswell River and after a few bumps exiting the mouth of the harbour, we settled into a good steady pace across wonderfully smooth seas!  Bliss!  It was just what we needed after the day before, when I think all our nerves were a little frayed with the heavy going, and we felt we had definitely earned an easy day today.  The Pembrokeshire coastline looked beautiful in the morning light, with the cliffs banded in various shades of ocre and grey, and it was a relief to be able to enjoy the scenery, "helmetless" and without having to watch the water for the next wave.

We saw a local rib close into shore at Ramsay Island, went over to investigate and found a seal colony lying the in the shelter of the cliff, with 20-30 seals, many popping up around the boat as we approached to find out what we were all about.

Three men in a boat - Si and his crew of Will McCarthy and Geoff Bartrum

Strumble lighthouse

Further on we tucked into a tiny cove for a break under Strumble Lighthouse, and were met with wonderfully flat seas as we emerged to proceed on our way.  The boats were now managing 22-25 knots.
I spotted a couple of fins and both boats slowed down to appreciate another large pod of dolphin, much larger dolphins this time than the day before (bottlenose?), and then we were treated to 10 minutes of the most incredible acrobatic displays.  A mother was travelling gently along with her tiny calf, whilst what I can only assume were the young bloods at the back of the pod were slapping the water with their tail fins, and then doing the most spectacular leaps out of the water.   It was a fantastic display, and very hard to pull ourselves away and continue on our journey.  Only a few miles later and more dolphins were spotted.  Cardigan Bay seems to be alive with them!

The sea was mirror calm, so we decided to make the most of it, and make straight for Aberdovy.  Aberdovy entrance has a sand bar which requires caution when entering at low tide but we tucked in tight behind a local fishing boat and were nicely guided in.

(If you want to watch more video action of yesterday's passage around Land's End, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghq4BKVQxtU)

Distance travelled:  96.9 nautical miles
Time travelling:  5 hours 38 minutes
Average speed:  17.2 knots
Total trip to date: 510 nautical miles