The Irish Sea

With light winds not far off the nose and no help from tidal currents it was tempting to wait for wind in Holyhead. But the promised southerlies for the next couple of days looked so good for short wet sailing legs up the coast of Northern Island that we decided to go for the crossing of the Irish Sea, a long leg, on a quiet day. It tool a long time, long enough for each of us to take turns and catch up on some sleep. We have noticed that there are not many rest days on this trip and that it is a very active kind of ‘holiday’. We pretty much had the Irish Sea to ourselves. Three container ships passed by as we crossed the shipping lane, so its good to know the economy is thriving in our absence. A seal popped his head up in front of the boat then disappeared as we passed to pop back up behind us with a quizzical expression, as if to say what on earth are you doing out here in that small boat? Eventually the Isle of Man came into distant view to the north but more importantly the Mountains of Mourne gradually appeared with sunlight shing through breaks in the cloud and a kind of full colour but black and white effect which made me wish I had a half decent camera with me. It is 14th June 2021.



Now you might be thinking that Kindred Spirit II, at 30 foot long, is not really a small boat. But in our years of sailing a 16 foot Wayfarer dinghy we sat in marinas shopping for a bigger boat, and this habit is continuing as we peruse the pleasures of 40 foot boats. When we meet fellow long-haul sailors, it is noticeable that we have the smallest boat. It seems that size matters. Partly it is about comfort, more space below, but honestly that is not our main challenge. It is more about speed through the water. The Hunter was designed to make cruising accessible to the ‘ordinary man [or woman]’ and the sail set up is good for beating against a wind but, we find, not so good for light winds and running with the wind. It has a large main but just a small self-tacking foresail. We are experimenting with the Spinnaker and in some situations that might be the solution, but Mark had intended to invest in a cruising shoot, a more flexible and easier to handle foresail. OK small boat syndrome whinge completed!



After a long day it was a delight to sail into Ardglass marina. A lovely setting and all the required facilities, best shower yet, but very laid back. With information from some friendly locals we soon had the security pass number and directions to a great Chinese restaurant. We have had a lie-in because the wind and tide are favourable for Bangor this afternoon. That is Bangor in Northern Ireland, on the way round to Belfast, we are not going back across the Irish Sea to Wales. The cafe provided a traditional 'fry' for breakfast but not the wifi we were searching for, so photos to follow I think on this blogpost. We are looking forward to a lively sail northwards.

In response to some feedback from a loyal reader of the blog, representing about a third of our total readership, I have added a map of the western Irish Sea and the 'North Channel'... to give some idea of where on earth we are at present and how we will get back across to Scotland.



Comments

  1. Nina Fedorski15 June 2021 at 10:46

    It's all sounding good.here on land we're getting burnt to crisps by the strong sun so I hope you have at least factor fifty!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unfinished Business Sailing North

Image
 With a good dose of déjà vu I rise at an ungodly hour of the morning, click the kettle on, and turn back to my bed to stuff my sleeping bag into a dry bag. My brother Mark, with the help of crew mates from his sailing club – Martin, Jackie and Christine - have sailed his 30-foot yacht, Kindred Spirit II, up here to Edinburgh so that we are in position to tackle some unfinished business. During May to June 2021, we set off from Blackwater Sailing Club in the south-east and spent 59 days sailing clockwise round the UK, crossing the Thames then heading via the Isles of Scilly, Holyhead, Northern Ireland and then the Scottish Islands to eventually travel down the east coast back to our starting point ion Essex. However, we took a short cut through the Caledonian Canal, which runs from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east. We therefore feel that we have a date with destiny in the far north, specifically we would like to sail round The Orkney Isles and Cape Wrath. We now ha...
Read more

Sailing Round the Top

Image
Wow! After so much thinking and planning and buying a yacht and upgrading it and sailing (almost) round the UK last year, today was a fantastic day. We motored out of Stromness to catch the tail end of the westerly-going flow, just so that we could escape from the Hoy Sound without a roost (rough water overfall). We motor sailed for a couple of hours in a feeble east south easterly breeze. It was brilliant to sail past The Old Man of Hoy, one of the most famous, exciting and inaccessible rock climbs in Britain. But then the wind picked up and backed to become an east north easterly blowing around 14 knots and gaining so we ran for eight hours at an increasing speed. By the time we came close to our destination of Loch Eriboll we added a bit of tidal flow in our favour and hit 9.1 knots of speed. This is comparable to a fast runner but us sailors get excited whenever the speed goes beyond a fast walk. As we sailed into the wider section of Loch Eriboll, Mark was enjoying himself on th...
Read more

Getting Wet

Image
  Kindred Spirit II sits sleekly as the rising tide gently laps her newly painted bottom, gradually lifting her from the confines of the launching trailer and back into the watery habitat she was designed for. She shrugs impatiently, keen to be off, bobbing on the grey sea water. Three kind friends brave the cold breeze to take photos and wave us off from the sailing club jetty. It is 13th May 2021.   After puffing and panting a little and coughing out some oily water the engine rumbled into life, much to Mark’s relief. After a nervous double check below decks, to make sure nothing was leaking, we tentatively set sail on the first leg of our long journey around the UK. Heading east down the Blackwater estuary under engine, after half an hour we raised the sails and turn off the engine to make best use of a modest 12 knot south easterly breeze. There is a steady drizzle and eventually Mark, getting cold, arguably may have expressed the first slight ‘whinge’ of the trip, althoug...
Read more