Ardglass to Peel

The morning forecast was not promising, since it contained a gale warning for the Irish Sea, but careful consultation of the inshore waters, XC Weather, and myweather2, showed that the wind between Ardglass and Peel would be at most a 5 South Westerly, with a slight to moderate sea state. Pretty perfect for our planned trip.

After warming up the engine and charging the batteries for 45 minutes we left Ardglass at 11:00. The sea was rolling into the harbour entrance, and two boats came in seeking shelter as we were leaving. The swell rolled Robinetta uncomfortably when we were on our intended heading, but it did not feel too bad when we headed into the waves to get the sails up. Once we were back on course, with the preventer rigging to keep the boom steady, the wind coming from almost dead astern felt very light. We kept the engine on for a while, but once we were clear the land's wind shadow the wind increased until we could sail at nearly 4 knots. Robinetta is always steadier under sail than motor and she felt much happier once the engine went off.

I helmed for a couple of hours, and toward the end of that time I began to want a reef. That meant the preventer had to come off, but we had not needed it. Julian put two rolls of sail round the boom, then took over the steering. We could just about see the Isle of Man ahead, so we had something to aim for which is much easier than following a pure compass course. An hour and a half later the reef came out, and the preventer went on again.

Sea birds were plentiful, with gannets, fulmers, guillemots and razorbills all on view. I also saw something that might have been a sooty tern, at least it looked like a tern but with black back and wings. No sign of any sea mammals.

We saw two ships coming up the coast of Man as we passed the half way point. The first, a ferry, crossed well ahead without us needing to do anything. The second, a gas or oil carrier, gave us a lot more to think about. It was moving only slightly faster than we were, and closing at an angle of about 130º. Eventually I headed a few degrees to starboard, and we passed behind it with room to spare.  By the end of my turn I was once again feeling in need of a reef, and this time we took three rolls round the boom. I handed over to Julian wondering how soon he would want the reefs out again!

A happy Helmsman in the Irish Sea

About an hour later he asked me to go forward and untie the first hoop so we could reef more if we needed to. By the time I had finished the wind had got up under a cloud and he wanted the reef in immediately. In the end I also furled the jib, and with Robinetta reefed fully down we were still making 5 knots.

Landfall at Peel

We sailed in past the breakwater at Peel at 18:40, an hour before the flap gate to the harbour opened. Our faster than expected passage meant we needed to pick up a mooring buoy to wait, and since we were not tired of sailing yet Julian decided to pick up the buoy under sail. We were out of practice, and there was a lot less wind close in to the shore, so it took a while, but Robinetta was tied on the buoy just after 19:00, and all tidied away to enter harbour by 19:30. The harbour control at Douglas operate the bridge out of office hours, and they called us up at 19:50 to say they were about to swing the bridge, so we dropped the mooring and headed in.

Phyllis, a Royal Mersey Restricted Class, built in Rock Ferry in 1913, at the yard next door to where Robinetta was built, was lying against another boat on the wall, just inside the harbour, and we rafted up on her. Two Mersey boats together!

Today's trip needed a lot of concentration to steer in the swell, but we had a great sail, using the engine for only 45 minutes of a 7 ½ hour sail (plus another ½ hour manoeuvring under sail). The weather treated us kindly too; we could always see blue sky somewhere, and the rain showers missed us totally.