It’s a long way .... To north Wales!!!
But oh so worth it when you get there! We thought we had the trip cracked when we finally got to Oswestry on a Bank Holiday Friday evening and stopped for a traditional welsh KFC (or similar) at the services.
But endless lengths of road whitish in the headlights lay ahead as we crossed the valleys towards the heavenly Llyn peninsula. We had plenty of time to learn that ARAF means SLOW and to admire the occasional string of Christmas lights twinkling merrily in far-flung shops and post offices.
It was a superb weekend! Thanks Debs and Ian for all the hard work, organisation and superb hospitality.
Saturday still had great weather though a tad breezy. Black Jack looks fantastic and it was great to be aboard (after three years??since we cruised in the Solent??) The trip round the peninsula and islands was amazing among such a flotilla of craft. The sun shone on cue at the pub but not enough to make Principal Instructor Dave Manning remove his excellent Aran Geansaí! Great to see ye Dave, Marion & Ben. Also Northern Tim, and Ellie & Andy. Rich L was Flagship (putting that old windsurfing mast to good use!!!) and Kevin of ‘hotribs’ & the website co-ordinator Crazykid? did a sterling job. There was a great spirit of looking after other boats by Dave & Mrs. Mallett, & others and a jump start was cheerfully conducted among other on-the-spot support! Onboard was a very professional-looking photographer who concentrated on shots of the day in between keeping the spray from the impressive looking lens with the traditional waterproofing (was that a black binbag?
You’ve been watching Slimtim! ) Great shots, great memories. (Just looked at 'em properly and realised you caught Paul giving me a piggy back !!!
)
Sky and sea were blue and white, the coastline postcard perfect. It’s truly an amazing cruising ground. Black Jack was solid, smooth and powerful as we sped back past St. Tudwals and into harbour. An evening BBQ (thanks for the ‘travelled furthest award’ Ian!!!
) brought a great day to a close.
Thanks again to all especially to our hosts and to all who put in such a lot of thought and work into the day out. It was reassuring to hear the familiar phone & radio calls again on the morning however : ‘What time are we meeting?’ ‘Where did you say we would go next?’
Just like the Solent really!!!!
There was a top atmosphere with a huge amount of camaraderie. If you’re thinking of a blast in North Wales don’t hesitate! The scenery’s amazing. The twin tractors have launching down to a fine art! And there’s an (what’s the group term?) abundance? of instructors
so a great place to practice the old skills.
There’s a rumour about a run to Ireland next year so we’ll have to book the time off well in advance.
Bore Da and Araf and all that. (The only welsh we learned sorry!!!)
Top Cruise!!!!
Kathleen & Paul
Big Thanks to Ian for organising the event,
