Strangford Lough

Another beautiful day. We got up late and showered and had a cooked breakfast on board.

Google said there was a plumbing supplies shop in town so we went looking for things to fix the pipe to the new tap.

The first thing we saw was the fishmonger's van. We decided to have scallops for lunch so added accompaniments to the shopping list. 

The weather was so nice we could not resist a walk round the corner to see the Lough 'proper'. Beautiful!

Then we went to the tourist office and had a nice chat and picked up some leaflets.

A wander around the town told us the plumbers merchants was no more. We bought some bread and shallots to go with the scallops and decided that if we got back to the boat before the tide turned we would go for a sail.

We caught the last of the flood through the end of the narrows into the Lough and got the sails up. There was a fantastic breeze and we romped up the Lough at 4 1/2 knots. 

Strangford Lough is 12 miles long and 2 miles wide with 11 sailing clubs around its shores. The shores are low and pretty and don't impede the wind. It is the perfect sailing ground.

There are underwater obstructions to look out for - reminders of the Lough's glacial origin.

After a little the wind dropped and we could tell the tide has turned too. We pottered along enjoying the view. We had the Lough almost to ourselves. One motor boat came out and anchored to fish. Another yacht was sailing and a third motored down from the north.

Around 3pm I went below to cook the scallops with shallots and a slice of bacon. I served them on fresh wheaten soda bread with a glass of Verdiccio. We ate in the cockpit. Lovely.

Then we turned onto a run back to Portaferry. There was almost no wind and only a weak tide. A lovely lazy drift in the sun.

We got the sails down before the narrows and readied fenders and warps. We didn't want any distractions once we were committed to stopping.

With the engine in gear and at idle we pointed at the narrows. As we got to the ferry landing we were doing 8.3 knots. I pointed in and the speed dropped to 7. As the marina got closer I pointed at the middle and we ferry glided towards it. Down to 4.5 knots now, good. Robinetta was steering nicely - that big rudder comes in handy sometimes.

We snuck-in past the outer pontoon and curved round towards the visitors trot, speed dropping all the time and slid nicely in, feeling rather pleased with ourselves.