Dansa
Dansa was my 1st boat, she was a Sadler 25. I was a novice really when I bought her I bought her in 2002. This was following trips on my friend Don’s boat in Scotland during which I had become enamoured of sailing and decided that having my own boat was the thing to do.
She was a great little boat and you could say that I learnt to be a sailor in her. We went many places together exploring the coast of Anglesey, North Wales and the Irish Sea ranging from Lundy & Milford Haven in the South up to the Firth of Clyde in the north & Ireland to the west. I learnt many lessons progresssing from my nervous first steps as a skipper, my first solo sails, to a circumnavigation of Ireland and to becoming a yacht master. She did me proud and I sailed over 10,000 miles in her.
After 10 years of ownership it was perhaps time for a change. Tentatively I put her up for sale and was surprised how quickly a buyer came forward. It meant that the summer 2012 I had no boat. By all accounts I didn’t miss much that summer. I wasn’t even sure that I would get another boat, but I guess over the past 10 years the salt water had seeped into my blood too much, there were still things that I wanted to do in sailing so I started looking for a replacement.
The result was Sea Bear
Here are a few accounts of some of the times I had in Dansa, experiences that helped me become the sailor that I am today.
Voyage to Lundy Island
Summer 2011 Last Cruise in Dansa I always enjoy planning the summer cruise, thinking of places that I have not been to before or that I want to revisit. This summer my sights were set on Lundy. In my climbing years it was somewhere I had always wanted to visit to...
To Brickworks Bay
Sat 23rd May The forecast of SW F5 put me off from exiting the Menai Straits out over Caernarfon Bar. So instead I headed for the Northern coast of Anglesey where it would be a more sheltered. Running out towards Puffin Sound under genoa alone it certainly didn't feel...
Around the other Island
Around Alone - the other Island A cruise around Anglesey Posted at 7:32 PM, Jun. 10, 2008 Saturday At last a reasonable forecast. Still northerly winds but at least just F3 - 4 and seas state slight. With northerlies, it seemed sensible to head to the south coast of...
Sailing around Ireland
Captains log June 19th Menai Bridge, North Wales to Dunmore East, Eire: 157 miles 36 hrs 48 mins I love slipping the mooring - as someone once remarked you untie more than the lines when you slip your moorings. We passed through the rock strewn Swellies at high water...