03 September 2010; Holyhead, Wales.

I had a few reservations about Holyhead, located in the county of Anglesey North Wales. It is basically known in England as a ferry port and industrial area. Thus not the most obvious port of call for a cruise ship. Plus the fact that we had to dock at an Aluminum Ore loading pier, did not improve my feelings one bit. However the dock looked safe to me and thus we arrived at the pilot station just before 7 am. The sun was shining brightly with a gentle breeze playing around the ship. It was going to be a gorgeous day. Just after 8 am we had the shore gangway in and our guests started to stream ashore. The tours were very well booked which is not surprising as the North Welsh country side is very beautiful. For those not on tour the town had laid on shuttle buses which was a very much needed item as it took a bus nearly 20 minutes just to get out of the port area and into the town.

The port and town had pulled out all the stops to make our guests feel welcome. A male voice choir had been arranged to give performances in town for those coming from the ship. There was a band stand with a Dixieland Orchestra and a number of other perormances. All to make our guests feel welcome. Much appreciated. On departure we had a very talented young lady on the dock, who regaled us with Welsh songs for 90 minutes, while the tours were coming back. Those tours were very well received. If the weather is good (no rain and or wind) this port is a winner.

Not the most exciting dock but enough room for the tour buses to park and a good gangway to get on and off from. A little band stand was erected under the conveyor belt for the Welsh Nightingale who serenaded us on departure.

Wales is a more or less independent part of the United Kingdom. In the same way as Scotland, they have their own parliament and can arrange their own budget. Since the coal mines were closed in the 1980’s the area has been very deprived and the economy never fully recovered. Thus tourism is becoming more and more important as a source of income. Their biggest asset is the stunning nature that they have here. The Black mountains and the national parks (such as Snowdonia) are unique in the world and worthwhile visiting. As there is a lot of un-employment, plus villages and towns being on their own as they are landlocked in their own valleys, there is a strong community spirit in the area. That results in world famous choirs and also many a restored railroad system. My wife did a tour on one of these restored trains today and the most amazing part was the average age of the volunteers. Quite often I see volunteers being those of retirement age with time on their hands but here many volunteers were seen who were in their late teens or early twenties. Community life rotates around the choir, the steam train and other community inspired work (And of course the Saturday afternoon Rugby match followed by a visit to the Pub but that is a life basic)

In the meantime life onboard went on and with it came my daily evaluation of the expected weather and it does not look that good. The high pressure system lying over the British Isles is slowly starting to move East and that means that the more inclement weather from the North Atlantic Ocean can come in. All the weather systems there have thus far been bounced off to the north by this high pressure system but now they can come closer and will eventually move over Ireland. Tomorrow when we are in Belfast it will not be that bad yet. Clear skies on arrival but clouding over in the late morning and then drizzle in the afternoon. During the next night the wind is supposed to pick up and freshen into Sunday with about 25 knots. Or next port is Peel on the Isle of Man and that is a tender port. Luckily the wind is supposed to start blowing from the South East and that should give a sheltered anchorage for Peel. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for a bit of clemency from the weather gods. I paid my dues last year with cancelling 4 out of 12 ports.

Sail away was easy as the port is only protected from the Irish Sea by one long breakwater and thus the distance between dock and pilot station is barely two miles. Tonight we do the 2nd ZIG back across the Irish Sea towards Belfast. I will arrive at the pilot station at 06.30 for an 8 am docking. Tonight is also the last night that the casino can be open, so I sailed “casino courses”, to stay outside the 12 mile zone for as long as possible. I will explain more about that tomorrow.