Weston to Swansea | Swansea to Tenby | Tenby to Milford Haven | Milford to Solva

Tues

With the weather now balmy calm - we decide to head around to take a look at Skomer and Jack Sound, then across St Brides Bay to Solva. So we leave Dale at 9.50am on a slight sea and a W 2 at most.

about to round St Annes Head out of Milford Haven

A gloroius day to drift in to S Haven on Skomer - with sunshine, flat seas, puffins, sheerwaters and razorbills littering the water. Angled along until we were right for Jack Sound on LW slack.

Stockholm Island - just short of Skomer Island

a glorious day to be around here - nearing S Haven waiting for the slack through Jack Sound

Jack sound looks worse on the chart than it is - but LW is ideal, as all main hazzards are showing - but some must be close to covering at HW, especially Tusker. Also - all the small headlands are rocky, so need a good wide berth. Not really to confused, but this was very calm seas and light winds.

Jack Sound - Midland Island to left, the Blackstones and Tusker Rock to starboard as you go through. All showing at LW - thankfully !

Little Sound - we considered it, but you can almost see the difference in sea levels and the charted depth mid sound is 2m ! It's clean though, and tempting at HW slack.

Once through the sound we head off across St Brides Bay for Solva - three anchored tankers waiting for a berth at Milford. Seemed a lonely part of the coast, but that I think makes it all the more facinating.

Solva is a charm of place if you can take to the ground. A very friendly harbour master fashioned us with very good local tidal stream times for Ramsey Sound and also for Jack. A balmy, warm evening - and dead flat sand. His tide times later proved useful and more acurate than either the pilot book or Reeds.

cont | 5 Solva to Skomer