It was at last time to leave our morning in the Menai straights. We had been there two weeks, and in that time we had a rest which we both needed. Three weeks of being in the yard working flat out is tiring stuff, so having two weeks of just relaxing, doing a few jobs and vert little else was just what we needed. But after two weeks we were needing water and we could really do with our washing being done so we decided to go down to Caernarfon so that we could continue on with our journey.

So that meant that we had to go through the Swellies, which is a tricky little passage, but interesting with all the twists and turns that are in it. It was my turn to take us in but Beverley thought that I was pointing the wrong way, so we turned the boat around and she took over. The reason that I was pointing the wrong way was because there simply was not as much tide as Beverley predicted, she soon learned that once she was behind the wheel, so she took us in and I was on the lines. I have to say that we looked quite slick with our lines. I hooked us on to a cleat then I took the two lines that I had organised and got them onto a cleat. As both the fore and aft lines are on the middle cleat, this means that the other cleats that are on the pontoon at the fore and aft positions are free so we can tie up quickly and neatly. We are getting quite skilled at it, even though we occasionally have hiccups like a rope getting snagged on the furling line, but when you consider that we are late to this sailing life, then I think we are not doing too bad at all.

While we were in Caernarfon, I looked at the bilge keelers which I love. At one time Beverley and I were looking at bilge keelers, but they are great day sailors. Mayne a week away, but they are a little bit too small for a liveaboard, or to be more precise, the ones we saw were too small for our needs, but we still love them and love the fact that they can go into shallow rivers and such like.

As well as the shopping and the washing, I also got to see my mum, she thinks my live is lovely and that is good enough for me. So once we had sorted all that out it was time to decide where to go next and although we had decided to go south, we changed our plan at the last minute for a lot of reasons

• The parcel that I needed to pick up wasn't sent
• I was going to get my speed logger sorted and I could get that done in Conwy on Tuesday
• There was going to be a firing exercise in Cardigan Bay, so we would of had to avoid that meaning a big detour
• Also from all the reports we were getting the south was just crowded at the moment with a lot more boats all in a small coast line rather in France like they are usually.
• For Beverley the fact that we had also bought all the pilotage for Scotland meant that Scotland would make better sense.
• In addition to this, Scotland is just less populated and we really like going into the wilds

As we needed to wait until Tuesday to get stuff sorted we had another quiet day on the boat, so Beverley decided to remove all the butyl squeeze out from the windows, while I decided to to remove the sealent around our teak seating in the cockpit. It took me all afternoon to remove the old sealant on just my side of Salty Lass, but once I was done Beverley came around and sealed it up properley.

While we were at the mooring we watched a regatta of small yachts taking part in a race, which was lovely to see. We then went on to anchor off puffin island before continuing on with our journey. At puffin island we saw puffins, seals and lots of other wildlife. Its a wonderful place to be and I really loved it.

After our lunch we sailed over to Conwy, our first proper sail and it was great. It might of only been an hour, but I loved it.

Once we got to the channel however we managed to sail a bit before we put the sails down and motored up the windy channel. It was calm, but the slip that we had to get into was tight to say the least. I managed it and I was so pleased about how well I had done.