In trouble at Aberystwych

I decided last night it was time to flee from Fishguard after spending the day on the computer. The weather admittedly was slightly marginal with a SW wind up to F5 gusting 6. I dropped the mooring at 7am and in sunshine with one reef in and engine running set off for the 50+nm – almost a dead run to Aberystwych. I picked up a favourable tide and was soon without engine and batteries charged, wallowing along with following waves at 6+knots. The coastline is made up of near vertical cliffs and headland after headland and as each sped by so it was marked off on the chart.  The rock formations vary as do the fields perched on their steep sides and both make for interestng cruising. 
  Cardigan Island at 20 nm, provided a suitable spot to hide behind and tie in a second reef, as the wind had increased and worryingly ominous looking clouds closed up from behind, totally reducing visibility of the more distant headlands already passed. The miles sped by as Equinox hovered around the 9knots SOG.
   When within 10 miles of Aber, a gale warning was issued for the Irish Sea, by Milford Haven Coastguard, indicating winds gusting F8 and more! With foresails furled after hearing the warning, the wind started increasing and with it, the following sea ... quite quickly and dramatically!
   By the time I could see Aber clearly thorugh the rain and drizzle the seas had grown further and with engine running, I turned into wind to drop the mainsail and prepare to enter the rather tortuous concrete entrance a mere 25-50 meters meters wide with huge waves exploding on the breakwaters on both sides which, has to be approached at a precise amgle of 133degrees. I was unable to stow the sail, the sea being just too rough to stand up on the deck and deal with the ties, but as there were two reefs in, only a small billow of sail hung down to hamper matters; once, that is,  the gaff was lowered and topped off. Gusts of 38 Knots and more were making helming interesting, as I followed exactly the recommended course in. Thank God for chart plotters. My screen, set to highest detail gave me precise bearings and attack angle and fighting tide, waves and wind, shot through the narrow entrance into calm water, albeit with a strong outward flow as the tide was now ebbing fast. Quite a few people had gathered on the breakwater to watch. Indeed some were gesturing to me. Once inside, a further call on VHF Ch80 to Aber Marina was answered with instructions on where to go; as I had already told them I was unable to fender up and had not prepared my lines, for risk of them being washed over the side and into the prop!
    Aber harbour is tight and congested... very, at low tide! So there’s little, if any manoeuvring room. The instructions given were concise and having followed them, could see two men indicating frantically from a vacant slot on a pontoon. With engine idling, I let the wind do the work and it blew me sideways into my slot where professional hands held me off while I fended up and with their help tied Equinox on securely. At this point, the marina manager gave me a bollocking for being out; adding as a rider, that he was the recently retired coxswain of the lifeboat! I explained that I had judged the passage as OK, or at very worse, a little marginal. He however, was adamant that I should not have even set off! Claiming he knew about the weather warning long before Milford Coastguard announced it! He said that Marinemet had forecasted the gale as early as 7am this morning! A service I don’t use, but maybe should?
    Then a charming man, called Keith, all smiles, in a RNLI sweater and carrying a clipboard, introduced himself and asked whether I would mind filling in an 'incident form' as they had launched the inshore lifeboat on my behalf! I hadn’t even seen it. He explained that a member of the public had seen me out a sea trying to stow the mainsail and had called the RNLI on his mobile. They in turn had called Milford Haven Coastguard who tried calling me on Ch16 and failed. The RNLI too, had tried calling me on CH16 and having not received a response assumed I was in difficulty. By the time they had launched, I had passed ‘The Trap’ an evil rock formation right on the northern side of the narrow harbour entrance, that they had judged, by looking at my inbound track, I was about to wreck myself on! The explanation I gave Keith was that I was on Ch80 talking to the marina, so could not have heard either of the calls on Ch16. Anyway, he left all smiles and happy, once he realised I had some experience, had done all I could, and had all the right survival kit on board and had just been unlucky to get a gale blow up at short notice on a longish passage. Apparently, ‘The Trap’ is responsible for a considerable number of lost souls over the years, in conditions not too dissimilar to todays!
   The boat prettied up with a ‘Harbour Stow’ and with me showered and shaved and coded up with WiFi and gate locks, I grabbed a large bag of appallingly dirty and very niffy washing and set of for the Laundrette – such a romantic life! Surprisingly no one followed me, as I walked with the bag held out at arms length! Had anyone asked, I was returning a nervous skunk, with a case of bad flatulence and halitosis, to its owner!
   A pizza and two dreadful locally brewed beers from a chilly and very dour wine bar across the bridge finds me tucked up with the rain thrumming off the cabin roof and gusts blowing Equinox quite some way from the vertical, I’m settled in for the night, tucked up in my sleeping bag with a Speckled Hen – the last one! A supermarket sweep is mandatory tomorrow to track some more down... Vital survival kit and only a suitably impressive stockpile will induce the crew to stave off their planned mutiny!
    The gossip on board is rife!
   A footnote!
Just heard that Melanie Jago has written a peice about the voyage and Prostate Cancer awareness in the Cornish Guardian.