The coastguard was still giving force 4 winds from the southeast as I sat on deck having breakfast. As I watched about 20 yachts take 30 minutes to race 100m from a start line set off New Quay pier – I was not convinced!

The plan for the day was to make the 13 miles to Aberystwyth by late afternoon. 8 hours to do 13 miles and even that did not seem realistic. I decided we would motor about half way until the tide turned in our favour and sail as close to Aberystwyth as possible.

After one and a half hours motoring we were within 8 miles of our destination and it was time to sail. Over the next 4 hours with all sails fully set we managed to cruise approximately 6 miles upwind (including a ½ knot tide in our favour) into approximately 4 knots of wind “gusting” to 6 knots!

By 17:00 we needed to get in to the marina in order to make the tide. After phoning ahead and arranging a berth we made our approach. The tide is right for entry into the river entrance 3 hours each side of high water and it is important to stay in the channel.

On board I had two charts of the harbour entrance, a chartlet in the pilot and a chartlet in the Almanac. These four charts were covered in transits for the entry but only the pilot included the one transit we needed. By lining up the west cardinal mark in the harbour mouth with the streetlight (painted yellow) you stay in the channel (100°T) and then turn sharply left into the channel beyond the inner pier.

It was still early and I decided to sort out as many of my daily jobs as possible instead of rushing in the morning. Aberystwyth wins the award for the most convenient facilities so far; with Somerfield and the petrol station both within five minutes walk I was soon sorted.

With the tides as they are at the moment, it is looking good for an early start on Thursday or Friday morning to head for north Wales.