Day 75

We caught the Dart train into Dublin, the station is directly beside the marina and the journey into the centre is about 20 minutes.  After our obligatory pint of Guinness by the Liffey we found the Molley Malone statue and some of the other tourist sights.  Lunch in the Temple Bar area was excellent with us choosing  Lamb Shanks and Irish Stew plus of course more Guinness.

We were amused that the first menu item on the lunch menu was an Irish Breakfast.

The city is buzzing and with the glorious weather, people are out and about.  We watched some bible bashers and a sermon of the end is nigh so sinners repent.  Then a stag and hen party cycle tour peddled past, only in Dublin.

Thoroughly enjoyable day.

The Liffey

Day 74

We had a surprisingly good night at anchor with the wind settling down to give a peaceful night.  Paul and Nick got the boat ready and set off for Dublin at 3.55 am.  We made very good time and when Jim and Andy took over the watch at 7.00 am we had already travelled 14 miles.

Paul raised our Tricolour courtesy flag as we entered the South.

The wind built steadily and we continued to make great progress arriving in the Dun Laoghaire Marina at 14.00 pm much earlier than we had expected.  49 miles run.

The weather had also steadily improved and we started to get some sustained warm sunshine for the first time.

This time the Marina did have plenty of room and is very well maintained and dredged.  So depth no problem

At Anchor

Leaving our anchorage

Haulbowline lighthouse guarding Carlingford Lough

Rockabill Lighthouse

Flying a courtesy flag

Paul accepts an order in Dublin

Day 73

We left Quoile just before first light at 4.45 am.  The sunrise was spectacular as we glided down a very still Lough.  The current to the mouth was very fast, we made our exit without any issues slightly ahead of schedule and set off for a long day to Carlingford Lough.

On the way as we had some time to lose to arrive at Carlingford at the correct tide, we stopped off in Newcastle Bay, the home of our Irishman Paul.  We anchored off the town and had lunch, Paul’s family came down to wave to us from the shore.

We arrived at Carlingford Lough and navigated very carefully up the Lough towards our planned overnight stay in Carlingford Marina.  We had phoned earlier and been assured of two things.  They had plenty of room for visitors and there was enough clearance at low tide for Wind Singer’s 2 metre drought.

On arrival at approximately 7.45 pm it became clear that whoever had answered our call didn’t know what they were talking about.  It was a very tight marina with little room and no free visitors berths available and not very deep.  We tried to get to a couple of pontoons but in each case we ran aground, fortunately into very soft mud.  We had arrived on a rising tide so after about 15 minutes we floated off the mud and made our way back out into the Lough. 

There was also no room in our back up marina Warren Point, so we ended up spending the night on anchor off the main channel at 20.30 pm a very long day 58 miles run. 

We were lucky had we arrived 30 minutes later than we did, we would not have ran aground in the marina and potentially we could have had really serious problems at low tide in the middle of the night.

Paul on the helm approaching Newcastle

Day 72

Today we have explored a small bit of the beautiful Strangford Lough.  

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/strangford-lough

We left our overnight buoy this morning at 11.30 am and sailed West and then South for an hour and a quarter, only 5 miles but good fun.  There is a regatta on the Lough today and we had to weave our way through a good number of various types of sailing boats and dinghies.

We are only exploring a small part of the Lough because the Lough is huge and the further we go in the further back we have to travel.   The top of the Lough would be a full day of sailing to get up there and another one to get back.  Plus a good few hours to time our exit.

The exit is trickier than entering because the exiting tide hits an opposing tide from the Irish Sea and the boiling sea they create, effectively stops you from leaving.  So you have to wait for the tide from the Lough to be turning, 15 minutes from the slack tide to be exact to escape.  Get there too early and you hit potentially big seas or too late and the incoming tide of 6 knots takes you back in, whether you like it or not.  So timing to the mouth is key.  We will have to leave here, Quoile Yacht Club at the head of the River Quoile.  Close to where legend has it is the final resting place of St Patrick, at 4.45 am.

Out exit slot we believe is 07.15 am and we are heading to Carlingford Lough on the Southern side.

Killyleagh

Delamont House

Dodging the Regatta

Wind Singer on the pontoon at Quoile, 3rd on the right 

Day 71

We departed Bangor at 10.30 am having visited the fuel berth.  Our destination today is directly South from our position.  The beautiful and huge Strangford Lough.  

The problem is the wind unusually is coming from the South.  Our choice is therefore to motor directly South or sail, tacking down to the South East or South West.  Not difficult in itself but typically doubles the distance you travel.  We travelled 43 miles in 9.30 hours arriving at 20.00 hrs.

As you can see from the track below we motored a bit and predominately tacked.  At some points on the journey the channels are so narrow you really have to motor in a straight line.

On the trip we passed Donaghadee.  A very interesting old town that can trace it’s origins back to the Planters.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantations_of_Ireland

The entrance to the Lough is also a challenge and the local pilot books are full of warnings on how to enter.  The reason for the difficulty is the tidal race that dominates the entrance.  So you have to time your approach very carefully.

The exit is equally tough but we will worry about that in a couple of days.

As we entered this evening the stream speed was in the region of 6 to 7 knots.  So the boat over the ground peaked at 10.7 knots.  As we came down the channel we were amazed at the whirlpools and eddys waiting for the unsuspecting sailor.

Unfortunately we could not get into the Portaferry Marina as it was full, so we had to find a mooring anywhere we could.  Fortunately we found a good place to stay on our 3rd choice location.

Donaghadee the first harbour of the Planters

Kilcliff at the mouth of the Lough with Eddys in the foreground

Paul happy to have piloted past the Angus Rock

Portaferry

Day 70

As Fiddler’s Dram once sang

“Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor” https://youtu.be/wfwQi8L9h8M

Day 70 in Bangor is our recovery day, various jobs on the boat to do in anticipation of the next few days.   Food shopping, water and fuel replenishment and just relaxing.

Andy went off to Belfast to the Titanic Museum, hate to spoil the ending but it sank……

As it is marching season in NI this week it was inevitable that we would see a few bands.

On the eve of the marching, the 11th there are huge bonfires lit over NI, and when we say huge we mean HUGE!

Day 69

We left Ghiga at 7.15 am, a continuation of the previous weather greeted us as we made our way out to the South.  Fog, rain and a chilly wind……goodbye Scotland.

We were set up for a long day, the forecast was for predominantly Westerly winds, that would suit us, however, what turned up was Southerly.  Exactly what we didn’t want.  After trying to sail a few times, including a Cruising Chute attempt when the wind turned to Northerly!  Pretty much the whole day we had to motor or motor sail.

After a few hours we passed the Mull of Kintyre, this oped up a debate on what is a Mull and some very dodgy singing.   If this has put you in the mood for the song click here https://youtu.be/OrbuDWit1Co

We did though curtesy of Nick’s pilotage have a good tide for a lot of the journey so made good time, arriving in Bangor, Northern Ireland in glorious sunshine at 19.15.  The marina allocated a very small and tricky berth for us, when we arrived it already had an occupant so after reversing back up the tight channel finding an empty one and tied up safely we discovered it had no power.  So we had to do it all over again.  

On the day We travelled 67 miles.

The difference in temperature from the last couple of days was very noticeable, particularly at night.

Ghiga in the morning light

Mull of Kintyre

The Mull of Kintyre

Bangor in the sun

Bangor Marina entrance

Ghiga to Bangor Track