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Anglesey Circumnavigation

The first set of dates approached and we kept a keen eye on the forecast as it went from settled to unsettled.  Monday 9th September looked the best of a bad bunch of days so we committed to it and travelled up still uncertain if the weather would hold.
We were unable to leave until late Sunday evening so arrived at our starting point at Porth Trecastell around midnight.  We pitched camp, set the alarms for 5am and got our heads down.
The wake up call came way to soon but we broke camp, ate breakfast, packed our boats and we were on our way just after 6am.  Elan seemed eager to get in his boat and get on the water, but from my experience with the Ireland crossing I knew what was coming as I looked down at the small seat I would spend the next 10-15 hours in.
Within half hour the sun broke out on the eastern horizon.
The forecast on the day was north easterly veering north force 2-3, increasing 4-5, 6 at times, slight becoming moderate.  As we approached the first headland at Rhoscolyn there was no sign of any wind as we sailed through glassy waters.
Shortly after we took our first hourly break.  Like the Irish crossing we would take hourly breaks on the water, usually about 2 minutes or so to take on board the necessary food and water.
The next headland in our sights was the dreaded Penrhyn Mawr.  Ive had nightmares about this place and its enormous tidal overfalls, not helped by the fact we could see the waves from 5 miles away.  Thankfully we passed without too much action but could clearly see how this place could rear up in the right conditions.
We crossed the short distance over to South Stack where the northerly wind made its presence known and the tidal flow was clearly evident.
We took the corner wide into the main flow and excelled our pace to over 10 knots continuing on to North Stack where we did the same.
Next was a good 6 mile crossing of Holyhead Bay.  The Hollyhead to Dublin ferry was smoking away behind the breakwater and we hoped it wouldnt depart until we were were out of its path, thankfully it left soon after.  Our pace slowed slightly out in the bay but picked up again as we approached Carmel Head.
The Skerries we temptingly inviting but would wait for another day.
Along the north coast we passed through race after race, flying along averaging 7-8 knots all the way to Point Lynas on the eastern corner.
 West Mouse above and approaching Point Lynas bellow.
Five hours in and we had already completed half of the south west coast and all of the west and northern coast.  Feelings were flying high and the thought of a 10 hour circumnavigation crossed both of our minds.  Our next destination Puffin Island was 11 miles away where the coast turns south west down the Menai Straits.  
The wind picked up but was perfectly positioned to blow us down on to our destination.  The following sea wasnt quite angled in the right direction but we made the best of any waves to push us along.
The crossing dragged on, the island never seemed to get any closer.  The tide was dropping off and so was our pace.
We passed Trwyn Du light house and Puffin Island almost on the 7 hour mark just after 1300.  So far the plan had worked and from my calculations the tide into the Menai had just started to ebb out.
Now sheltered from the wind, the straits were flat and calm so we landed briefly for a pee stop.  The calm waters however did nothing to quicken our pace.  We werent moving.  At 3 knots we slowly made our way down the narrow passage between Anglesey and the north coast.
It wasnt until the suspension bridge where the tidal flow took a hold, but when it did it didnt have shift.
The Menai seemed to go on forever.  The overall pace had dropped through the straits and the hopes of a 10 hour circumnavigation were crushed.  We were both feeling the strain by now.  13 hours was the realistic aim we had in mind at the start of this trip and it still looked possible we could quite easily do it in 12.  
But...we had no idea what to expect when we left the mouth of the straits.  We knew what tide there was would be against us and had hopped the southern shores would protect us from the northerly wind.  Unfortunately we were spat out of the straits into a fierce head wind and our pace dramatically slowed to bellow 3 knots.
We pushed on through gritted teeth but the wind was unrelenting.  We were unable to stop in fear of being pushed backwards.  We reached what we thought to be our final headland, my step quicken knowing we were close to a 12 hour time.  We reached the head and looked on, we werent there yet.  Its the next headland...or is it? We were uncertain, every bay look very similar out here.  My GPS would tell us so I set a marker at the beginning of our track and set a path...12 miles!!!  At our current rate it would take another 4 to 5 hours.
We pushed on toward the next head, hoping the GPS was wrong and we were right, neither of us had much left in the tank and the sun was quickly getting lower and lower in the sky.  We looked on at the small sandy beaches around the final point in anticipation, there was the car, we made it!  Like two old men we hoppled up the beach with our boats just after 1900 giving us an on the water time of 13:01.
It was still another 5 hours before we got to rest in our beds back in south Wales.  A cracking trip but I think its safe to say we wont be doing anything like that again for a while, well not until next year at least.