Tuesday, Campbeltown to Ardrossan

I had managed to download the Grib files which enable me to get a good idea of the weather for the next five days and it wasn't looking good. I had planned an overnight stop at Lamlash on the Isle of Arran, but the thought of being caught in bad weather whilst on anchor and using the inflatable dinghy to get ashore was not appealing.
I decided to miss out Arran and to make straight for Ardrossan. This would be a comfortable marina, with all the usual facilities and a nearby town with three railway stations.
As it turned out, the passage itself was easy. We had a dead flat sea, and absolutely no wind. The only excitement was provided by the Coast Guard who kept issuing gale warnings. on the radio which started with a DSC alarm, which is enough to wake anyone. Gale Force nine, later.
We sped across from Aran, refuelled, and then tied up securely in the marina. We only needed 22 litres of diesel since leaving Ardglass.
Then the heavens opened and it poured & blew all evening. John and I retired to the Italian Resturant overlooking the marina, enjoying good food and watching Michael Phelps win a nineteenth Olympic medal on the telly.

Monday, Portpatrick - Campbeltown

We left Portpatrick in more settled conditions than yesterday, and we were soon knocking off the nautical miles. We enjoyed a full mixture of weather from bright & hot sunshine, to heavy cold showers.
A close reach which occasionally lifted to a broad reach. Sometimes we had the full rig and for a short time we had a reef in the genoa & the main sails.
We arrived in Campbeltown in a 30knot gust and moored safely at the visitors pontoon.

Sunday 29th July. Peel - Portpatrick

We needed to leave Peel in bit of a rush, as we wanted the favorable tide, but also had to pass under the swing bridge which had restrictive opening times.
We enjoyed a fairly stiff westerly breeze, which blew us all the way. A cracking good sail, the best of my trip so far, only marred by seasickness which did effect us both.
We arrived in Portpatrick, during their Lifeboat Day. Hymn's including 'for those in peril on the sea' were being sung. All the flags were out and there was kilts and bagpipes. We had crossed another sea and had arrived in another country.

Saturday 28th July - Guest Blogger John D.

What a fun packed day we have had today.
Up early, a bus ride to Douglas, a steam train trip south to Port Erin, steam train back to Douglas, a horse drawn tram along the promenade, a worlds oldest electric tram to Laxy, electric mountain railway to Snaefell.
Snaefell is the highest point on the island the visibility was fine and the views stunning. The first photo shows Peter taking all the views.
Back on the electric train to Ramsey then bus back to Peel harbour Phew!
But the real high spot was a guided tour of Electrical sub station that supplies the trains at Laxey, they showed us an atomic fusion reactor that they use to power the trains. I nearly wet myself....

Two Fireman's Breakfasts in the Ticket Hall

Welcome John D

I busied myself all morning, tidying and carrying out some engine checks, including topping up the oil.
I had expected JD to text me, so I could meet him at the Peel bus stop, but he made his own way to the marina, and tapped on the coach roof.
After a light lunch we had a tour of the town, bought our island explorer tickets for tomorrow, climbed the highest hill overlooking the town, and strolled around the harbour & the Castle. We were stopped on our stroll as the harbour bridge was swung to allow the boats passage.
We chatted with one of the skippers from a Dublin boat. He is heading for Belfast tomorrow.
We enjoyed two portions of Queenies Mornay in the Creek Inn.

26th July

I had intended to have 'the Fireman's Breakfast' but I was still full after last nights Queenies, steak followed by the apricot fool. The Queenies had been grilled, in their half shell, and served in a pesto sauce. All first rate and washed down with wine & a brandy. No wonder I wasn't up for the shovelful of breakfast.
I took the tram in the rain to Laxey and then up the mountain. With the rain and low cloud there was no view at all. Mum & Dad had mentioned that their coach tour took them to Snaefell, so I waited in the Summit Cafe until they arrived. 'Surprise'
We stopped for a quick drink in the Mines Inn, where the bar resembles a tram.

Dad's Birthday

I hoisted all my flags to celebrate Dad's birthday, and then went off to do my laundry. I had a chat with the harbour staff in their office and was able to print my bus ticket for the Glasgow - Home Return journey.
Whilst the washing was going round I went back to the boat to prepare for visitors. I tidied up and just finished when Mum & Dad arrived. They admired the flags, had a cup of coffee, and then it was time for their coach party to leave Peel.
We did call in at the Kipper Factory for a crab sandwich before seeing them go.
I returned to collect the washing.
Late in the afternoon, I bussed into Douglas to meet up again for a birthday celebration meal.

24th July

I went into Douglas to meet my parents at their hotel. They have come over to the IOM for a weeks holiday, and this date to join up has been set since I started my adventure.
I took them on the horse drawn tram direct from their promenade hotel to the steam railway station. As we were early we stopped for a cup of coffee. I had been very tempted by the 'Firemans Breakfast' which is served on the shovel on which it is fried. Unfortunately they had stopped serving breakfasts and I had to make do with a scone with jam & fresh cream.
The train took us into Castletown, where we had a wander around the harbour and crab sandwiches.
After lunch we explored the castle, which is very good; compact, but you do get to explore from the dungeons to the roof top. Some of the rooms are set up for a royal banquet.
All too soon the train trundled us back to Douglas.

Goodbye Dorril

As Dorril had a long journey back to Staplehurst, we thought a substantial breakfast was in order. Dorril had the Eggs Benidict with smoked salmon. I had the Manx Kippers. I continued to enjoy my kippers throughout the day.
John D had been on the Champs Élysées to see Bradley Wiggins win the Tour de France, and took a picture of Bradley as he passed on his lap of honor.
I travelled with Dorril to the Airport to wave goodbye to another good crew member.
From there I bussed it down to Port Erin & Port St Mary's with the intention of calling in at Castletown to see the House of Keys. This is the old parliament building.
The wind was blowing strongly across the moorings in Port St Mary. One of the yachts had broken away from it's mooring buoy and was now left stranded by the tide high on the rocks.

Sunday 22nd July

The day started fairly bright, but very windy, SW F6. We walked up to the bus stop and caught the bus to Ramsey. Ramsey has an interesting small harbour which is able to accommodate seagoing freighters and a swing bridge.
From Ramsey we climbed on the tram to Laxey, and stopped at The Mines Inn for a Sunday Roast. Or at least I did, Dorril is turning into a scallop and has the Manx Queenies, this time in a blue cheese sauce.
We continued into Douglas and then Rocky the horse took us onto the stop stop back to Peel.

Holby City at sea

Saturday night excitement. After our noisy dinner we took a stroll in the peace and quiet around the castle. We were searching the sea looking for basking sharks when we spotted a fishing trawler heading towards the harbour in great haste. I remarked that he must have a strong tide under him as he wasn't hanging about.
Next we had a helicopter hovering low over us and the castle.
We continued our stroll around the castle and into the harbour area. The yellow helicopter was idling on the beach. One of the many police asked us to move along as they were expecting more emergency service vehicles. Soon two fire engines and an ambulance joined the police cars & vans on the harbour wall.
The racing trawler moored amongst the flashing blue lights and the paramedics climbed the steps.
Shortly after the fire engines left, the ambulance departed, and the police collected their cones. At the same time the helicopter rose from the beach, before the incoming tide could get the landing gear wet.
In the morning, Chrissy found out from the BBC News website, that a crew member had been injured and that the helicopter winch man, who is also a paramedic, had been lowered to the vessel out at sea. The helicopter had been waiting on the beach for their colleague to return.
We don't know why they needed the two fire engines, unless they thought that they may have some difficulty lifting the casualty out of the trawler and up the harbour wall.
We hope the injured fisherman recovers soon. We past the fishermans memorial as we returned to the Calviere II.

Saturday 21st July

Again, we caught the bus into Douglas and then on the electric train north to Laxey, where we used the train to take us to the summit of Snafell. From there we were able to see Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales and the IOM. We weren't able to make out Southern Ireland, but they say you can see six nations on a clear day. Today has been beautiful, for a change, but there was some haze.
Back down the mountain we explored the heritage area of Laxey. We climbed to the top of the largest waterwheel in the world and went down the mine, admittedly, not too far. The waterwheel is mesmerising, so large, so powerful, but totally silent.
After returning to the surface out of the mine, we walked down to the harbour.
The train and buses returned us back to Peel. Peel was very boisterous. They had held a local rowing regatta in viking longboats, and some of the crews were out to celebrate. We had booked a table in the Creek Inn, where the joyful throng at the bar had spilled out across the road.
Dorril wasn't able to resist another helping of Manx Queenies, this time in a white wine sauce. I had the smoked mackerel. Both were excellent.
Simon so likes to discuss meals, he sent Dorril a picture of his roast dinner at Castle Combe, see below.

Friday Evening in the YC

After returning to Peel, I left Dorril on board and went to sound out the local
Yacht club. It opens 8 until late on wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays.
In the bar they had one of the flags I had been admiring, which I thought was a round Britain curtesy flag. It incorporated the Scottish, the Irish, the Welsh, IOM, Cornish flags plus one other I didn't recognise. The one I didn't know was the Breton flag, and the whole flag is for the Celtic nations, so I'm not really eligible to fly it.
I got chatting to John & Sheila who are sailing their Westerly Berwick, Wild Again, out of Dublin. They had been in Ardglass whilst we had been there and they are making their way south after visiting the west coast of Scotland.
When I left the club it was packed.

Friday 20th July

I purchased a 7 day travel card for all the public transport on the Island, and Dorril bought the 3 day version. First trip was from Peel into Douglas on the bus.
Here I tried to sort out my telephones. There is no Orange service on the Isle of Man, so my iPhone is only useful when I can get a wifi signal and it is locked to Orange. The phone I bought in southern Ireland is locked to Tesco's and that doesn't work in the IOM. So I had to buy yet another phone, 'Three Phone Fisher'. At least this new one isn't locked to any particular network.
We took the narrow gauge steam railway to Port Erin and enjoyed the sunshine, while it lasted.
We alighted at Port Erin in the rain. A strange noise emanated from my bag. My new phone rang! John D from the south of France, and due to take over the forward stateroom when Dorril leaves next week. He was basking in the hot sunshine, following the Tour de France, where Bradley Wiggins & Chris Frome are currently leading.
Port Erin is propably very pleasant in the summer, it was enjoyable in the rain, but we bussed it back to Douglas.
We walked along the prom, and noticed the horse drawn tram, which our Explorer ticket also covered, so we let the horses, Ian & Mark, do the work.
Back in Douglas we stopped for Fish & Chips in a quayside restaurant.
I received an email telling me that Tony Curd, one of the UKPN 132kV Tower Linesman from Kent, had the honour of carrying the Olympic Torch through Bexhill. Congratulations to Tony!

Queenie Dorril

Dorril had set her heart on finding 'Manx Queenies' and we came up trumps. The bar across from the Marina had them on the menu, with bacon in garlic butter and they were wonderful! So to carry on the food centric theme please see the photo below. Sorry you can't taste them.

Guest Blogger - Dorril - What a voyage! Ardglass - Peel IOM

We left Ardglass at 05.15 to ensure we could enter the flap gate at Peel harbour entrance in the 4 hour window around high tide.
Outside the Ardglass harbour wall Peter put up the sails and we made steady progress for more than 2.5 hours until the wind dropped completely. Then back on the motor we passed through low cloud with poor visibility finally emerging after an hour and a half to a distant sight of the Isle of Man. At this point Peter decided to get his head down for an hour. No sooner had he dozed off I called him back on deck as we had got company. A pod of 20+ dolphins were following the boat, swimming and jumping all around. They stayed with us for more than 40 minutes giving us a spectacular display.
After waiting a few minutes for a swing bridge to open we entered Peel marina. We found the town's laundrette and then we set off to track down the famous Manx Queenie - local scallops.

A slightly brighter Wednesday

After filling up the diesel tank we caught the bus into Downpatrick, where we watched the IMAX cinema film about the life of St Patrick, and then visited his grave.
The bus took us to Strangford, and then we took the ferry across The Narrows to Portaferry. I had intended that Portaferry be one of my stops on on my Round Britain Cruise, but the strength of the tides through the Narrows makes it a difficult location to arrive or leave. The marina did look pleasant.
We returned to Strangford for a quick sandwich in a bar, and then bussed back to Portaferry, where we continued with the rest of the St Patrick Visitor Centre. Again, we have dodged the showers throughout the day.

Damp Tuesday

We caught the early bus out of Ardglass to Downpatrick, and then onto Newry. Dorril had particularly wanted to see the Mourne Mountains closer. We had seen them from the sea and they looked more rugged than the Wicklow Mountains in the south.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not the best for sightseeing. The rain & mist meant that we were lucky at times to see the verge at the side of the road.
Newry didn't feature in Dorril's tourist guide for Ireland, with good reason. It isn't the most attractive towns. The most memorable feature is the bus station. We left after a damp hour, and returned to Newcastle which was a beautiful seaside town.
We caught the Mourne Rambler bus which is a circular tour out of Newcastle. Whilst the rain had lifted a bit, everything was all damp and spray. The driver seemed intent on completing his lap in record time.
We returned to Ardglass.
A comment has been made that my blog is very food centric. I try to make the blog of interest to my non sailing readers. It could be a list of buoys on passage, and statistics about the weather, but I do enjoy my food, and meals do happen three times a day.
Tonight's evening meal was spectacular, even compared to the Mountains of Mourne. We took a taxi to an out of town seafood resturant, Curran's. Dorril had the Seafood Gratin and I had the Seafood Platter. My plate was huge and overflowing with tasty nibbles of fish. All of which were extremely enjoyable. I did manage to get the garlic butter from the mussels down my shirt.

Birthday Girl - Guest Blogger - Carlingford to Ardglass

Apparently as the Birthday Girl it's my task to write today's Blog.
It was a drizzly start to the day so we headed into Carlingford for a Full Irish and a half! Very nice.
We then left about 11am following a cargo ship from Gibraltar down the Lough. Leaving the beautiful mist covered Mourne Mountains behind we motored and sailed to Ardglass in Northern Ireland, taking advantage of the southerly wind. We arrived at the harbour in County Down at 4.45 in glorious sunshine and then set about exploring the pretty little coastal town and it's 7 castles.
Definitely a birthday to remember.

Sunday wandering in Carlingford

Dorril fried up her dainty version of a Full Irish breakfast, after which, we set off on the short walk into Carlingford. We stopped at a couple of the castles or fortified houses in the town, and took a look in the harbour.
All was very quiet and not much was happening.
We found the tourist information office and purchased some post cards. The cards were written whilst sitting on one of the pavement tables of a high street cafe. We took a look in a musty antique shop were they had silly prides for junk we would have thrown out years ago.
We tried following one of the more undefined paths on the map we had obtained from the Tourist Office, only to turn back when the footpath turned into a bog.
Roast Sunday lunch with vegetables and washed down with a Guinness in one of the many bars, cafe, bistros and restaurants.
The afternoon was spent dozing & boat watching in the marina.

14th July Howth to Carlingford

I had originally intended to head for Malahide and stay one night. But the weather has been so unpredictable and the trip to Malahide was only about five miles I decided to press on to Carlingford.
When we left Howth, yet again the wind was on the nose, so we motored. The waves did build a bit in the wind over tide conditions, but nothing too demanding. I was able to leave Dorril on the helm whilst I dozed for a short while.
On my return, the wind had changed direction slightly and we were able to raise the sails and switch off the engine. It only lasted twenty minutes but we enjoyed it whilst it lasted. The north wind returned, and it has been rather cold.
On arrival in Carlingford Marina at 20:30, Dorril cooked a stew to warm us up.
The Mourne Mountains in the north are beautiful, the skyline on each side of the lough is very rugged.

A wet Friday the Thirteenth in Howth

We were up and out fairly early. We bought a new calor gas bottle on the West Pier and two portions of fish chowder. This was all happening whilst our washing was in the laundry. Whilst walking around the harbour we saw four seals around the moored fishing boats.
We stopped in the yacht club for coffee. As the scones had only just come out of the oven we had to sample, with cream & jam.
Once the dryer had finished we returned to Calviere II and heated up our chowder. It was wonderful, washed down with a small glass of chilled Guinness.
After lunch and a snooze we headed out for a stroll around the peninsula in the light rain. Unfortunately, once we got past the point of no return the rain came down much harder. The scenery was spectacular but very damp. Ireland is very green for a good reason.
Dorril and I dried out in a small cafe drinking cappuccino.

12th July - Dun Laughaire to Howth

In the marina we could see the reflections of the boats in the water it was so calm. We set off across the bay in a flat calm, motoring. After we turned the corner, a gentle breeze came up from behind us. We turned off the engine and sailed for a short while, with Dorril on the helm.
I had phoned ahead and we went straight into our berth.
We caught the train back into Dublin and climbed on the tour bus to continue the tour we started yesterday. We got off at Trinity College and went in to see the eighth century Book of Kells, a medieval illuminated bible. Most impressive.
We continued our bus tour. The traffic was particular bad as most of Ireland was heading to the Dublin O2 Centre to attend a Paul Simon concert.