Milford Haven to Ardrossan (Scotland)

Published 13:04 on 29 May 2026 by Nestor Montagu

We left Milford Haven on the evening of the 15th May and headed to the island of Skomer. We stayed one rocky night here surrounded by Puffins and seals before heading off at 4:30am the next day to cross Cardigan Bay. Our first hurdle was navigating the tidal races off of St Davids Head. We were at peak springs so the races here were huge, we decided to avoid them by heading out West of the Bishops lighthouse but even still we found ourselves in some pretty uncomfortable conditions. The passage across Cardigan Bay was long, and filled with squalls and sail changes. After 18 hours we arrived at Porthdinllaen and searched for a mooring buoy in the dark. The next morning we were off again at around 8, headed to Holyhead. Again, we had tidal races to compete with and a wind that was building to 30knots. Rounding Holyhead lighthouse we encountered the roughest waves on the whole trip so far, although the tide was pushing su through so it was al over pretty quick. I was stuck in Holyhead for 5 day, but finally a break in the weather came and I crossed over to Douglas on the IOM. It was a pretty straightforward passage, downwind the whole way. In Douglas I was hosted by the IOM maritime association and it was great to meet a couple of the people working there. We had half a day to explore Douglas where we went to the museum, and saw Tyson Fury. That evening we did a short hop up to Ramsey which we used as a departure point to get to Loch Ryan in Scotland. This was a long passage, we left at 6am and arrived at 8pm. It felt great to be up in Scotland! The anchorage here was incredible, we did some fishing, and enjoyed the sun. We were so comfortable there we stayed for two nights before a long motor to Ardrossan, which is where I am now.

Last updated 13:04 on 29 May 2026