12-13 May 1990 — Port Dinorwic, Menai Straits

Three boats attended — one GP14, one Wayfarer and one Drascombe Coaster — and for once the weekend weather was kind enough to allow a passage out over the Caernarfon bar. The wind was N 2-3, and all three boats caught the ebb tide down the straits after launching at the tidal dock at Port Dinorwic.

Philip and Dennis in the GP14 were first away, and they anchored at Abermenai to await the others. Once through the narrows, the GP14 left the buoyed channel and hugged the Anglesey coast to take a short cut over the shallows to Llanddwyn Island. Peter and Rachel (and Boris) in the Coaster followed the buoyed channel out between the wrecks, and met up with the GP at Mermaid’s Cove. David and Antony in the Wayfarer followed later through the channel. A data sheet giving the current buoy positions marking the channel over the bar was available at Port Dinorwic, and it was interesting to see how much the channel had moved, compared with the positions on my chart.

After an exploration of the island, we spent a quiet night at anchor in the cove, where we just dried out at LW. The wind on the Sunday was again N 2-3, and both the GP14 and the Wayfarer took the short cut back over the banks, whilst the Coaster followed the legitimate channel. The flood tide helped in the beat back up to Port Dinorwic in time for recovery at HW.

16-17 June 1990 — Derwentwater

A fine sunny weekend, with light S winds, helped to make the first rally at Derwentwater a success. Most people launched from Nichol End Marina, in the NW corner of the lake, but Doug Heslop launched his Mirror from the E shore, and Hugh Clay hired a rowing boat from the Keswick shore to search out other members!

The lake proved to have numerous rocky outcrops, only some of which were marked, so it paid to be cautious. Six other boats launched from Nichol End — Antony Sluce, Albert Hattersley, Bob Buttle, Stewart Calcutt, Ray Ohnstad, and Peter Filshie — all (except Stewart and Bob) with assorted crews. There are numerous bays on the W shore which could (and did) give good overnight shelter, and several islands to explore. In fact, Antony went aground whilst trying to cut round the back of one! An interesting feature of the lake is the system of water buses, which sail around in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions, picking up and discharging passengers at half a dozen jetties. Peter Filshie 0704 5335O9