A late start instead

 Monday dawned very damp, not that I noticed. I was laid up in bed with a migraine which did not begin to lift until nearly 10. I was in no fit state to head out, even though Julian did suggest we could leave at moon and be in Peel in time for the overnight flapgate lowering. However after a wander round Portpatrick in the drizzle I was beginning to feel better, and agreed we could head out, as long as Julian did not expect me to do anything except helm.

We cleared the harbour by 12:30 and set off down the coast. The tide was against us, but a gentle North West breeze meant it was worth getting the sails up. The drizzle faded, and the sun came out for the first time this trip. Even though the chart plotter was predicting we would not reach Peel until 8am I phoned Peel and said we could be arriving for the overnight opening of the flapgate, and they gave us a berth number so we knew where we should tie up. By 17:00 we were at the south end of the Mull, with wind over tide, but not much wind, and a slackening tide so while we noticed the overfalls they were simple to navigate.

Julian was pumping out the bilges every hour, and there was never too much to do. It helped that there was no rain.

A large pod of common dolphins came past, seemingly in hunting mode although they did play around Robinetta for about 5 minutes.

Once the tide turned in our favour we were making a steady 4.5 knots, touching 5 occasionally, and our predicted arrival time came down to 03:30, when the flap gate would be closing. We needed some time in hand, and we got it, arriving in Peel bay at 24:30. A VHF call to Peel Harbour master (answered by Douglas as Peel only works between 9 and 5) had them lifting the bridge for us and checking we knew where we were going. They had been briefed on Robinetta’s arrival, which felt very efficient. We were tied up with engine off by 0053, and as soon Julian secured Worm to the pontoon we got the bed out and crashed.