This leg was a push north from Falmouth to Troon, Scotland, while staying out of Irish waters to keep our “Schengen clock” on hold. The 2 videos below show the highlights and a summary is below that.
We kicked off the journey by rounding The Lizard and Land’s End, dodging legendary tidal races and ship-wrecking rocks to reach St. Ives. We only had 30 minutes ashore before the rapidly rising tide nearly claimed our dinghy, but the white sandy beaches and art-filled streets left a lasting impression.
From Cornwall, we crossed to Milford Haven, Wales, and hiked more of the stunning coastline along the South West Coast Path. From there, we moved on through Jack Sound—a narrow gap filled with submerged rocks that act like “fiberglass can openers.” Despite some “boiling” counter-currents, we emerged unscathed and made our way to Fishguard. Watching local boats sit on their keels in the mud at low tide—a reminder of why we stay in the deeper outer harbor!
The run to Holyhead was ‘sporty’! With the wind building into the mid-twenties, Moxie was surfing down waves at over 13 knots. Snagging a mooring ball in 25-knot winds inside the harbor took some teamwork, but we celebrated our success with a well-deserved dinner at the Holyhead Sailing Club.
We then made a sunset run to Peel on the west side of the Isle of Man.
While the harbor was too small for Moxie, we grabbed a visitor mooring long enough to capture some drone shots of the ancient castle before the westerly swell nudged us toward Scotland. On June 7th, we officially reached Troon Yacht Haven. Since leaving Spain on May 15th, we had covered 950 nautical miles, moving nearly every single day the weather allowed.
We’ve officially arrived in the North, but the Scottish “summer” seemed to be hiding! Frankly, the weather in Troon was, “shite” (pronounced ‘shight’ – sideways rain and endless drizzle), so we took the train to Edinburgh. We took a guided tour of The Royal Mile: (from grave robbers to Harry Potter (yes, the real Tom Riddle’s headstone is there!), saw a live18-piece jazz band and passed through Johnstone, the ancestral home of Anthony’s grandfather.
Back at the boat, we spent our rainy days tackling the “list” to get ready for the next leg north to Oban!