Island Records One

 From Bangor we caught an early morning tidal flow and enjoyed a quick trip up the coast to Glenarm. We arrived at our destination before anyone else was out of bed. The harbour master came down to the pontoon to welcome us. We have found Northern Ireland to be a very friendly place with locals happy to chat. We soon went back to bed and forgot all about the fact that we are a bit low on diesel and need to fill up before going out to the islands over the next few days. Later in the day we realised our need for diesel. Finding there was none available at the marina we set off walking three miles to the nearest petrol garage carrying our 20-litre spare can. After a pleasant enough walk along the shore road, we found our garage. We filled the can and set off back prepared to take it in turns to carry the 20 kilogram can, which is quite a lift. Mark took the first turn and it was getting to be Pete’s turn to carry the can. Just then a lovely local saw what the crac was and pulled over to offer a lift back to the marina. We put on our masks and opened the windows to satisfy pandemic safety requirements but this kind of kindness seems typical of the place. It is 18th june 2021.

sailing north up the Northern Island coastline

We really enjoyed the Isles of Scilly but now we are arriving at what we consider to be the highlight of our sailing trip around the UK, the islands of the west coast of Scotland. In fact our first island destination is Rathlin, off the coast of Northern Ireland. From Rathlin we will set out for the Scottish island of Gigha. For the next week we hope to visit an island a day, so long as the weather is fair and assuming we continue our present pattern, of never quite managing to fit in a proper full-on rest day with no sailing. There is something about an island that really makes you feel that you are on holiday. There is something about the kind of well-weathered, welcoming, wind-battered, slightly shabby and certainly not gentrified look and feel of islands off the west coast of Scotland that is so absolutely charming and special. The islands are real places, lived in by locals, of course with a few in-comer artists and hippies but these places are certainly un-Disneyfied. Almost all visitors to these islands arrive by boat and hope to see porpoises or whales as a free bonus of their ferry ticket on the way in. Arriving by sailing boat simply adds to the drama of a visit.

                The tidal flows around Rathlin Island... on the 'Tides App'... We do have paper charts and plot our way on them, but really that is just a double check on the technology and is also helpful when the tablet or phone suddenly goes flat! 

The daunting crag of An Bhinn Mhor (the great crag) on Fairhead - not many climbers make it to this crag as it has a formidable reputation with hand-jamming and even chimneying on Basaltic columns, 30 to 100 metres high, but apparently with good protection... 

Approaching Rue Point on Rathlin Island

Getting to the island of Rathlin safely is all about timing. The island is surrounded by tidal currents flowing at up to 6 knots that in strong winds can create overfalls with standing waves and eddies that are dangerous for boats. We checked and double checked and set off to arrive at 9am at the narrowest point between the headlands of Fair Head on the mainland and Rue Point on Rathlin. The Atlantic tidal flood squeezes through the North Channel to fill the Irish Sea and some of it is squeezed even harder as it pushes between Rathlin and the Northern Island mainland. Our aim was to arrive at the narrowest point just as the tidal ebb was ending, before the strong flood currents began, but with just enough slack to get through and round the last couple of miles into Church Bay harbour on Rathlin. We got some great north-westerly wind and powered up the coast at 7 knots which we would normally be very pleased with. However, on this occasion we had estimated to go only at 5 knots so we took in a reef on the mainsail and put away the Jib sail in an effort to slow down. We arrived at our rendezvous on time and by now were pushing into a head wind so reluctantly put the motor on and pushed on into Church Bay. The tide kept us guessing even having passed Rue Point because an eddy in Church Bay means that you are pushing against the tidal flow even though the main channel is still on the ebb.

The quiet marina at Church Bay on Rathlin Island

Another early morning arrival so plenty of time to see the island. We were rather too laid back and a ferry full of tourists from the mainland filled the island bus which goes to the western lighthouse and bird sanctuary, so we settled for coffee and a light lunch overlooking the harbour. Time to enjoy the island, and later to work out how to time our escape through hopefully slack water rather than overfalls. We managed a walk over to the North side to see Islay in the distance. We met the harbour master who lives on board a brilliant traditional herring boat. She was working on making the decks a bit more waterproof because apparently it is not just a drip when it rains, more like a shower.