Practical Boat Owner - July 2018

CRUISING NOTES

some assistance from the locals.
“We got our anchor stuck 30m deep
under a coral bommie,” he told PBO.
“This old boy came out with a pair of
flippers and a mask. He just swam down,
tied on a line and pulled it up.
“Later we were sitting on the only bar on
the island – three plastic chairs and a
beach – and we met Regis, whose family
own the atoll. It was Regis who introduced
us to Haumata.
Raroia was just one the islands Mel and
friend Colin visited during a two-month
crossing from New Zealand to the
Marquesas in a Moody 54.
“I never realised how many islands there
are in the Pacific,” he says. “You’re sailing
in 400m of water then suddenly there’s a
lake in the middle. It’s a ring of coral 30
miles across, and 60 miles long. You enter
a break in the reef, and find yourself in
15m of water – it’s dead calm in the
middle of the ocean. It’s incredible.”

Around Wales in a

Vivacity

Circumnavigation by

canal, river and sea to

celebrate retirement

I

n a bid to raise funds for the RNLI,

former harbourmaster Arthur

Davies will leave Rhyl – where he

worked – and travel up the River Dee

to Chester via a link to the Shropshire

Union Canal.

For the past two years the link had

been blocked by an Environment

Agency (EA) floodgate, but following

negotiations with the Canal and River

Trust and Inland Waterways

Association, the EA agreed to move it.

“As far as I know, this route hasn’t

been done for some time,” says

Arthur. “A couple of chaps from

Aberaeron did it in the 1980s in a

Drascombe Longboat. It only took

them two weeks, but I think I’ll need

longer – probably a month.”

Arthur was considering using a

Drascombe himself, but then realised

his wife Sandra’s Vivacity 20 Scooby

was narrow enough to fit through the

7ft-wide locks, and with a bilge keel,

draws just 2ft 3in. Although Sandra

will be working she plans to join him

at various stages of the voyage.

After the Shropshire Union Canal,

Arthur will take the Staffordshire and

Worcester Canal to Stourport on

Severn, then cruise down the River

Severn to the Gloucester and

Sharpness Canal.

At this point he’ll step the mast ready

to sail down the Bristol Channel and

round the coast of Wales.

“I think the Bristol Channel will be the

most challenging,” says Arthur. “There

are such strong tides from Sharpness

to Cardiff under the bridges. I’ll need to

make sure they’re ebbing and the wind

has something from the east in it.”

Arthur is raising funds for the new

Shannon-class lifeboat at Rhyl, which

is due on station in 2019.

WALES

ENGLAND

Irish

Sea

Bristol Channel

N

Cardiff

Cardigan

Milford

Haven

Swansea

Bristol

Sharpness

River

Severn

Cardigan

Bay

Menai

Strait ShropshireUnion Canal

Rhyl

Stourport-

Aberystwyth on-Severn

Staffordshire &

Worcester Canal

ANGLESEY

River

Dee

Gloucester

Gloucester and

Sharpness Canal

kilometres

0 80

Chester

Located in La Linea, southern

Andalucia, the 624-berth marina is at the

foot of the Sierra Carbonera, and close

to the Rock of Gibraltar.

At the time of going to press,

Alcaidesa Marina is offering annual

berthing for catamarans at monohull

prices. Prices start from r3,584 for a

6.5m vessel. For more information, see

http://www.alcaidesamarina.com.

Now’s the time to take advantage of

good-value berthing at Alcaidesa Marina

on the Strait of Gibraltar, says PBO

engines expert Stu Davies.

“It’s the cheapest around for

monohulls and certainly good for cats

now,” says Stu. “It’s where I’m berthed

and is a good safe marina, clean and

tidy and serviced pontoons instead of

slime lines!”

Thumbs up for Alcaidesa

Raroia islanders help with the Kon-Tiki

Raroia, a Pacific

island paradise

Arthur Davies aims to sail the Vivacity

Scooby around Wales

Danita Delimont/Alamy

Georg Kristiansen/Alamy