Peel Parade of Sail

We woke to sunshine on Saturday morning, and opened the hatch into the cockpit to find a bag with sausages, bacon, milk and bread, courtesy of the Peel Traditional Boat festival organisers. Since they had already given us butter, eggs, and condiments when we registered we were all set for a splendid cooked breakfast.

I moved Worm against the harbour wall so we would not have to take her with us. She had spent the night moored alongside Molly Cobbler, who had rafted up out side us yesterday.

The flap gate dropped at about nine, and by 09:30 we were ready to head out when the swing bridge opened. Julian had been in the middle of raising the sail to shake out the reef when we heard it was time to go, so we headed out with the main part raised, just the gaff scandalised. I got the ropes and fenders away, then we were heading out with the rest of the fleet to sail up and down the coast on quite long tacks.

Mog, with Peel Castle behind

Vilma, and various other boats in company

Most parades of sail are held in close quarters, with boats milling about near the shore, but this one seemed much more relaxed, and we happily followed the other boats out to the north west before turning to head back towards Peel. I took a lot of pictures. The steady force 3-4 breeze made sailing a joy, and the swell just made it more fun. We stayed out for nearly two hours, then headed back in for the 11:30 gate swing.

We rafted back on Phyllis, with Molly Cobbler outside us, and got the bunting back up. A lazy afternoon sorting photos was followed by dinner at the Masonic hall. It was a lovely day to own and sail an old boat.

Peel Festival Starts

Registered at the Festival Office, and were given our dinner tickets and a goody bag. Got the bunting up, went for a walk round town. Mary Gibs moved Molly Cobbler from her berth on the pontoon to raft up outside Robinetta. She then borrowed Worm to practice her sculling and set off up the harbour.

Robinetta hidden between Molly Cobbler and Phyllis

Julian and I read for a bit, then headed for a walk up Peel Hill. We walked down towards the top of the harbour where we had a kipper roll. Albaquila, a classic motor boat, was moored at that end of the harbour, and we were invited aboard for a cup of tea and a look. Very smart!

Friday evening saw the Traditional Boat sailors invited to the Peel Sailing Club for a tasty barbecue supper. Peel certainly knows how to encourage owners of old boats to bring them to its festival.

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.

Rejoining Robinetta

Got back to Robinetta today for the first time in weeks. Everything in the cabin seems fine, although the washing up bowl and mugs were a bit mouldy. Boiling water soon sorted the problem out though!

The cleat we make the main sheet off on, on the port side of the cockpit, felt a bit wobbly, and when I went to tighten up the nuts holding it in place I realised the plywood the bolts go into had gone rotten. This is annoying, since it is part of the cockpit top that was replaced in 2014. The problem seems to be that I did not seal the bolt holes against water ingress, as the rest of the plywood away from the holes is fine. Julian added a piece of solid wood beneath the ply to spread the load and found some washers to stop the wing nuts digging in. The wood came out of a skip because the only piece we had on board was too thick. The cleat is now solid again and safe to use, but I must remember to do a proper repair of the rotten plywood over the winter.

Single-handing

We had planned to head for Ardglass at the end of the ebb so we could have a go on the Curragh but it was not to be.

Alison got a call from her sister - their father was poorly. We quickly found a plane to Edinburgh and arranged for Alison to get onto it.

That left me to get Robinetta to Ardglass. We were rafted to Joe Pennington's Master Frank and Joe wanted to leave at 1pm so I got the boat ready. I assumed he knew what the tides were doing so I decided to leave with him.

I should have waited until nearer high water. With full sail and full throttle i managed nearly 1/2 knot over the ground and any loss of concentration and we drifted back towards the remains of the SeaGen.

It was gusty and I would have reefed more but the steering was too complicated in the whirlpools to play with ropes. Then I inadvertently let go of the stay sail sheet and the stay sail wrapped itself round the forestay. Just in time to have my picture taken.

It seemed like ages but it was only about an hour, then the tide slackened and I could turn the engine off, put george in charge of the steering and sort the sails out. Suddenly I was in control and enjoying myself.

George did most of the steering from then on and it was easy going out of the narrows and along the coast to Ardglass. I got the jib out for a while and had a cracking sail. Then the wind strengthened and I put the jib away again.

Leaving Strangford by Peter Farrer

Turning in to Ardglass put the wind on the nose so I dropped the main. It came down quite nicely and I put one tie on and cut the revs and sorted out ropes and fenders with george steering nicely.

I got into a berth without problems and tied up and checked in. I was in a big berth and they needed it so I moved to a smaller one. I had help getting in and it was easy.

I spent the rest of the day getting Worm on the foredeck and sorting Robinetta to be left for a week.

Race Day

It was quite windy when we left the pontoon but we put just enough of a reef in to balance the no 2 jib. The race started a bit late which meant we got into a good position for the start. Robinetta was in her element - enough wind to make her go and we made some good tacking decisions and kept up with the leaders right through the inner narrows. We were leading the pack of gaffers as we got to the first mark.

Unfortunately we didn't see it.

By the time we realised we had missed it we needed to go a long way back to round it and ended up at the back of the pack.

The next mark was upwind and we struggled to beat towards it. Alison said to go north of the post marking the Limestone Rock but that took us away from the mark and we tacked back too soon and put ourselves aground.

This was not an unusual position for us to be in, but we were used to mud, not sand with boulders. None the less we did what we would normally do, got the sails down, put the engine in reverse, and wriggled our way off. We went aground again almost immediately, but managed to get clear once more and this time made our way out of danger. It had been a close thing. The tide was falling, and we could have been stuck there for at least 10 hours.

By the time we got off most boats were nearing or through the narrows so we retired and sailed gently back. Robinetta had never felt so fast as she did at the start. Now she needs a competent crew!

An Early Start

Sometimes passage planning and weather forecasts conspire together. When heading south from Belfast Lough the first tidal gate is at Donaghadee Sound. Going between Copeland Island and the mainland shortens the journey, and keeps you away from the overfalls outside the Islands. In order for Robinetta to be certain to catch the tide up to Portaferry from the entrance to Strangford Lough we needed to get through Donaghadee Sound at the first possible opportunity, which was at either three in the morning, or closer to four in the afternoon. Taking the afternoon gate would get us into Portaferry with the last of the evening light, which would have been perfect BUT, by Thursday afternoon the wind was forecast to be from the south west and on the nose, while in the morning it was a north-westerly.

We got Robinetta and Worm ready to leave on Wednesday evening, then went to bed with the alarm set for 00:30. We were away from our berth before 01:00, and got the sails up as soon as possible. The wind was light, but usable, and we motor sailed, with only brief spells without the engine, all the way to Orlock Head where the wind went very light.

Motoring through Donaghadee Sound in the dark, with the chart plotter on and the buoys clearly lit was simplicity itself and the rest of the journey was similarly uneventful. We put the tiller pilot on, and got the main sail down since it was doing nothing. Dawn happened with a grey sky and no fanfare, then there was a little drizzle, but as we passed North Rock and headed to pass inside South Rock the wind came back and I tried flying the jib.

Routen wheel in the distance

Julian came up from resting his eyes below and got the main up, and we sailed the rest of the way to the Strangford entrance where the wind headed us and the engine had to go back on.

Routen Wheel

We took the narrow channel north of Bar Pladdy and were whisked through at 7 knots, despite the headwind and with the engine barely above tick over. We could see the Routen Wheel whirlpool and changed course to avoid it, so ended up going the Strangford side of the tidal generator. The tide washing against it made an impressive wave.

We were now on the wrong side of the narrows to Portaferry, so had to point Robinetta's bow at 90 to the narrows in order to ferry glide across the tidal stream to reach the marina.

Tidal generator "bow" wave

By 08:50 we were safely tied up on a visitors berth. It had been a cold trip, but it was only truly dark the first couple of hours, and getting to our destination early was no hardship!