Day 6: Estuarine spendour - Barmouth to Aberystwyth

I’m learning to feel excited rather than worried at the sound of wind whistling in rigging when I wake up.  It means one thing: fast sailing.  And my eager anticipation was fulfilled by an exhilarating sail south to Aberystwyth.  The broad valleys of the Mawddach, Dysyni and Dyfi channeled and concentrated the wind giving us the occasional extra boost, helping us along at a top speed of 6.9 knots and leaning the boat right over.

The mountain fastness of Cader Idris, towering over the Dysyni valley

We’ve found that there’s no such thing as ‘dolphin fatigue’.  The wonder of the first encounter repeats itself every time.  Today’s performance took place off Borth.  As soon as we spotted the fins, they’d already seen us and were heading our way.  Seconds later they were riding the bow, leaping clean out of the sea and clapping their tails onto the water.  The sight of a pair of them alongside the bow, twisting and swapping places at high speed will stay with me forever.

We moored off Aberystwyth to wait for the tide, finally coming alongside the marine berth at 3pm, guided by a very friendly and helpful harbourmaster.

Aberystwyth appears over the bow on a broad reach

Today’s coastline – wonderful though it is – is a bit of an ‘empty quarter’ when it comes to NT Neptune coastline.  Tomorrow will be different, as we enter the coastline of the Cardis.

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