Changing plans

Neither of us slept well as the mooring was not very sheltered. We were awake before the alarm, and Julian turned his phone on at 5 a..m. to check the weather. The strong winds that we had seen forecast yesterday evening, due to arrive East of the Isle of Man on Tuesday and pass through by Thursday morning, were now coming earlier, and staying longer. We could certainly get to Whitehaven today, but the winds after that would be too strong for Robinetta, and in the wrong direction. We would not be able to leave in time to get to the Sea Festival at Barrow.

Some things are not meant to be. Maybe we will get to Barrow another year. The winds were perfect to get North today, so we decided to head for Portpatrick. We came off the mooring at 06:00, and Julian spent the next 40 minutes getting the foredeck and sails sorted. We had brought in the bowsprit while in Peel, so that had to go out, then he bent on the no.2. jib, and got the staysail ready.

The sea state was a bit rolly, but not too bad, and once I pulled up the staysail Robinetta steadied a bit. Then I began to get the main up, planning to put in a reef to balance the no 2 jib. It took two goes to get the reef in well, and Julian had to take over the hauling, but by 07:00 the engine was off, and we were sailing on a very broad reach straight for Portpatrick.

Once the sails were set we did not need to touch them again until we put the engine on again to take them down before entering Portpatrick. We had a lovely sail, through a couple of bits of interesting but unthreatening sea state just off the Mull of Galloway. We did not notice the 3.5 knots of tide that could have swept us towards the Solway Firth, and while adverse tide did take our speed down to about 3.5 knots for a couple of hours, for much of the time we were reaching along at 4.5-5 knots.

We entered Portpatrick at 16:15, and were able to moor up next to a ladder rather than needing to raft up. By 16:30 the engine was off and we were settled.

9 hours of sailing, with no engine needed. Bliss. We will probably be here until Thursday, unless the weather moderates on Wednesday. Time for some sight seeing!

 

Moving out of the harbour

Peel’s limited tidal access meant we had to either get up in the small hours of Monday morning, or leave on Sunday afternoon and go on to a waiting buoy in the harbour. We wanted to get fuel, which was available through a hose just beyond the flap gate and bridge, and we decided it would be easier to do this in daylight. There was no rush through, the flap gate did not close until 5pm, so we could stay and listen to music, have lunch, and watch the carnival procession before we left.

With the procession over, we headed back to Robinetta. We had already moved Worm so the motor boat moored beside us could get out as soon as the flap gate opened, so there was little to do. We called up the harbour master, who told us the next bridge lift was at 15:00. We had less than five minutes to warm up the engine, cast off, and head for the bridge.

We made it, only to be told that there was a yacht already on the fuel dock. This was not really a problem, as we just moored up ahead of him and waited for him to finish and move clear. Then Julian pulled us forward on ropes, and sent down the fuel hose.

I had had to guess how much fuel we would need, as the system worked with a pre-payment fob. We had motored for 40 hours since we last filled up, and after dipping the tanks I had through we had room for 13 litres in each tank, plus 15 into our spare cans, so I bought 40 litres. In reality I could only squeeze in 35 litres…

Julian took the fob back to the harbour master, then cast off our mooring ropes and rejoined me on Robinetta.

There were two free waiting buoys, with the 2 most sheltered already taken. Those yachts were lying inshore of the buoys, but the pick up lines were training off shore. We had to go the “wrong” side of the buoy so Julian could reach the line and bring it on board, then try and manoeuvre Robinetta to lie to the buoy the same way as the others. Words were exchanged.

We ate a light dinner on board, and planned our next day’s passage. We had hoped to anchor at Whithorn on Monday evening, explore it on Tuesday, then sail to Whitehaven on Wednesday, but the forecast winds to the east of the Isle of Man for Tuesday and Wednesday meant that we should head straight to Whitehaven. The best time to leave to get round the Point of Ayr before the overfalls began was 06:00. We set the alarm for 05:30, and turned in for an early night.

Peel Sea Fest

given the Nicky award by the Peel sailing and Cruising Club Commodore

Sea Fest only runs for 2 days, the Friday and Saturday. On Saturday evening we went to a 6 person performance of Macbeth at Peel Castle, before going to the sailing club. There we were awarded a prize for being the furthest travelled boat. We did not claim all our miles, but even from the Clyde to Peel via Port Dinorwic and Ireland, we had travelled over 200…

On Sunday morning we left our raft on the harbour wall, and took a pontoon finger berth at the far end of the harbour where we could have electricity and not have to clamber over other yachts when we wanted to go ashore. More civilised, but not in the heart of the action.

Not a nice beam reach

 We only had 33nm to go to reach Peel. Julian checked the flap gate/bridge opening times there and told me they opened at 17:15. This did not seem quite right as high water was at 20:21, and when he checked again the opening time was 18:52. He was not having a good day.

We left Ardglass at 09:05, giving ourselves plenty of time so we could sail, and raised the main sail as soon as we were clear of the coast. The swell was not too bad, and the wind was light as we set off on a broad reach. I was helming, and soon realised that this was not going to take us to Peel; we would end up south of the Calf of Man. Trying to sail our course to Peel brought us very close to the gybe, and the swell was rolling us uncomfortably. I checked on our newly installed wind vane, and the forecast south westerly was much closer to a pure westerly.

Julian got depressed. We hoped that once we cleared the land the wind might have more south in it, but this was not to be. It also went lighter. A light wind, dead astern, meant another day with the engine on. We could not even rig George because of the swell.

We gave up on trying to use the main sail at 13:30, and got it down. The wind strengthened slightly at 15:00, not enough to worry about raising the main, but we flew the jib and turned the engine off for a quiet half hour sailing at 2.5 knots.

The Isle of Man got closer, and colours began to appear. The overcast sky grew brighter, and we started to see blue. Julian’s mood improved, and get even better when the wind came in from the south. The main went up, and by 16:45 we were sailing on that longed for beam reach. Unfortunately we were less than 4 miles from Peel.

Finally sailing towards Peel

The main sail steadied Robinetta’s motion, and we were having a lovely sail. All the waiting buoys in Peel harbour were full, so we decided to continue sailing in the bay. Then we saw the pot markers. They filled the sheltered area of the bay north of the waiting buoys.

We gybed away, heading out past the breakwater again to get the main sail down in the bumpy water outside the bay.

One of the yachts waiting on the buoys was Wren, another gaffer we had seen in Port Dinorwic. They beckoned us over to moor alongside and share their buoy, which was a much simpler option that anchoring. I approached very slowly, worried about clashing bowsprits, but they did not touch, and we spent the next 50 minutes chatting to our fellow gaffers, and tidying up our sail stow.

I had phoned Peel soon after we left Ardglass, so they were expecting us, and now I phoned them again to say we were waiting. Peel harbour is controlled from Douglas after 17:00, and I was surprised to be told to approach the bridge at 18:45, when it was only due to open at 18:52, but I did as I was told. I would see the flap gate was still up, so turned away back into the bay.

All in all Robinetta approached the entrance to the harbour three times before we actually got a green light to proceed into the harbour. Once inside we found a nice big Norwegian flagged yacht with fenders all ready for rafting, so we went alongside and moored up. The engine went off again at 19:05. We had arrived.

We will be staying in Peel for over a week, first for the Sea Fest, and then for Yn Chruinnaght, the pan Celtic gathering.

Motoring North

A very uneventful day. I had a call between 10 and 11 to discuss funding for Gaelic in Helensburgh.

Beforehand, we walked into town and bought bread and smoked salmon and scallops and samfire. I don't remember every having a choice of three shops to buy scallops in, and not all the fishmongers were even open yet. The smoked salmon was smoked on the premises.

My call didn't last the full 40 minutes so we got away a little early. That meant some foul tide past Ireland's Eye but then we motored all day.

Ireland's Eye

 We dodged around the back of a yacht which was just managing to sail, more to be friendly than for safety.

Rockabill Lighthouse

Then pretty much nothing happened other than food until we were entering Ardglass harbour about midnight.

We had the locally smoked salmon with creamy goats cheese for lunch and I cooked the scallops with samfire and onions in lemon and white wine and served it over spaghetti. Lovely.

We edged in looking for the lit channel. Alison remembered there being a cardinal to look out for and spotted it just in time. 1 m clearance is ok at 1 knot.

The end of the visitor pontoon has no fingers so we could come alongside quite easily.

For once, we had a small whisky before turning in.

Hopefully, we will get a nice beam reach to Peel tomorrow. 

Shore Day

 The wind was due to be N F5 and falling today but dropping to nothing tomorrow morning. So we decided to stay in Howth today and have a long day motoring to Ardglass tomorrow.

In fact, it never dropped all day. It brought a lovely cool breeze into the town but there were white horses out in the bay. Robinetta would have had problems making progress north straight into it.

We had a late cooked breakfast of bacon and egg.

When we were in Howth in 2016, nearing the end of our circumnavigation of Ireland, we did the fine walk along the cliff. We never went to the touristy bit by the train station.

They told us in the marina office that there is a new Tesco just a bit further on, and we needed a few things so we went that way after a quick detour to check out the food outlets in the other direction as we thought it would be nice to eat out tonight.

That led to a delicious pomegranate sorbet for me and a latte for Alison. Her order got mixed up and she got an iced one by mistake. She enjoyed it.

The Tesco is a big one and, in common with every supermarket we have ever been to in Ireland, has some local produce. We bought a few staples and will come back tomorrow morning for bread.

Then we headed back past the station and turned left.

Between Tesco and the station there is a Blues Café and a pub with a seafood bar. Beyond the station is a quay with a really good chandlery and around a dozen seafood restaurants and half a dozen fishmongers.

I was in heaven.

We went into the first fishmonger, not knowing there would be others! We bought a Red Mullet and got it cleaned and scaled and left it there to collect later. We wouldn't be eating out tonight, I would be cooking.

They had sole and gilthead bream and lots of other fish.

The middle of the quay has a working commercial boatyard. There was a large ship lifted out for maintenance. It only occupies 30 m of the quay but goes back a long way.

The end of the quay has tourist boat trip places and an open area where you can look out over the bay to Ireland's Eye. A busker was playing the the trombone to a recorded accompaniment. It's a delightful spot.

We went back to Robinetta and Alison did laundry while I had a go at patching Worm. She has damage to the floor plank that weeps.

Mid afternoon, I felt like a little trip to get a seafood snack and a drink would be nice. If we weren't going to eat out for dinner, we could at least sample the experience.

We looked in every restaurant. They were all either full or not very interesting, or both. It was really busy, with local families and international tourists.

We ended up at The Bloody Stream. The pub with a seafood bar. It was a good choice. I had a Guinness and Alison had a Bulmers and we shared a starter portion of mussels. The Bloody Stream is a real stream which now runs under the pub but it is said that it ran red with blood during the 12th century Norman invasion of Ireland.

Later that evening I cooked the Red Mullet for dinner. Lovely. 

Cruising under sail is not just about sailing.

I wish Scotland had somewhere with fish like this.

Another Long Day

It was busy at Pilot's Cove, about 6 yachts there when we arrived. We found a little hill to anchor on.

Nice views of Snowdonia but otherwise no prettier than many other places. But we are spoilt.

No view this morning. Misty and overcast.

Northerly winds mean a direct passage to the IoM is not a good idea. So we headed for Howth.

We did the cross tide planning as we had between the IoM and Be weaumaris. Keeping a record of the cross track error helps a lot.

One hour watches are working for us this year. The sea was calm enough for George to steer so it wasn't too tiring.

Holyhead/Dublin ferries passed us every few hours.

Got a small pod of common dolphins for company in the middle.

The wind was useful but we never turned the engine off.

Mid afternoon Alison noticed that the bilge pump hadn't gone on and there was a lot of water in the bilges. The float switch didn't seem to be working. Manual use of the electric pump was fine.

I replaced the 12 V feed to the float switch and that seemed to fix the problem.

From about 7pm the sea state got worse we changed to hand steering. The wind came and went.

From about 9pm it was much windier and bouncy. We reefed down to the first hoop and got the jib in. 

Reefing and shaking out reefs is working really well. Getting the jib in was difficult. We had to head downwind to get the jib in the lee of the mainsail.

Those last 2 hours were a bit lively.

We gott to Howth at low water and it was getting dark. We found the buoyed entrance to the marina. The channel is really narrow between the hammerheads and the mud.

We spotted a space on a hammerhead and got ropes and fenders ready, planning to turn around and go in port side to.

But there was no space to turn around without ploughing the mud. It took a long time to get the bow around but I managed eventually. 

The dashed line heading north in the photo is just the GPS finding itself. But you can see I had a few goes turning round. The least depth under the keel was -0.8m

We tied up on the hammerhead about 23:00.

I am very pleased with my cross-tide navigation. Both IoM to Menai and Pilots Cove to here.