The whites of their eyes

I was lying in my berth trying to sleep. The sea was getting bumpier which the mariner in me said that we were in the Bardsey tide race. "Watch out Piers" meant we were asking Hazard Chase to give way. We were probably in the lead now. The sea went calm which probably meant we were round. I got out on deck to check how we were getting on. There were five boats ahead of us and we were going backwards in no wind.

We had got to the north western tip of the Lleyn peninsula in the lead and the tide just took us and shot us a mile back behind the fleet in no time. We rowed back towards the shore, picked up the wind and started sailing again.

The cliffs above us were looming higher. The lights of onlookers on the headland seemed to be waving at us as if to warn us off. I could see the waves breaking white on the rocks by the light of the moon. When I could almost have jumped ashore, we tacked and headed to safety. There can be eddies close inshore and our skipper, Geoff, was trying to take advantage of one of these.

We tried to make progress closer to the shore, but with the tide strengthening, this was futile. As EADS Innovation Works pointed north west, we tracked south west out of the sound between Bardsey Island and the Lleyn peninsula. There was a fascinating view of Bardsey lighthouse up close, but that's not what we're here for.

A significant proportion of the fleet now seems to be stuck in Bardsey Sound as we sail around the outside of Bardsey Island. It's a bit of a gamble, but if the conditions stay like this, they'll be there all night. In a couple of hours we'll find out if our gamble has paid off.

In Geoff we trust!

Whatever happens, we'll be going up Snowdon in daylight now: hopefully after a good night's rest.