Grand Slam

Friday 20th June, Dun Laoghaire to Arklow

After being stuck in Dun Leary (eaiser way to spell it!) on Thursday due to the high winds and being bashed around by all the wash from the passing boats, we were glad to get out of the place. It looked like we had a weather window of around 24 hours to get down to Kilmore Quay - down to the bottom corner and turn right. The forecast was strong easterlies by mid morning Saturday with very light winds on Friday.

We waited for the tide to change in our favour and left around lunch time to get down to near Rosslare and then anchor for six hours to wait out the tide and then make it round the corner. The first hour was great with 12knts on the beam. Unfortunately it didnt last long. The wind died then went on the nose and then increased to 20knts! The forecast did have the wind going south but force 1 or 2. Within an hour the sea was the usual 1m short chop and we were bouncing up and down motor saililng at around 4 knts through the water. The spring tide was a good 2-3 knts in our favour so at least we were making progress. After another hour we decided on plan B and headed into Arklow as there were only the two of us now Alan and Murray had abondoned ship.

We had originally planned to give Arklow a miss as it was near to Wicklow where the round Ireland race was about to start and we thought they might be busy. As it turned out there was lots of space and we got on the end of the long pontoon outside of the marina. Looks a nice place. The wind then dropped to F1-2!!!

More on Arklow in the next post.

June 16th, Bangor to Dun Laoghaire

We left Bangor on Sunday mid day to get down to Dublin before the forecast low pressure hit and would have given us a force 5 on the nose. The 30 mile trip to Ardglass was again a run with nice blue sky. We even got the spinnaker up for a few hours in winds of 15-20knts. Timing the tides here is important and again we were lucky to have them coincide with when we wanted to go down.

Ardglass is a quaint little marina. No room to manouver so it was lucky there were some easy berths to get into. The marina "person" wasn't much help in telling us where to go and it was difficult to judge how deep some of the berths would be. The entry channel is very narrow and not one I would like to do in the dark for the first time.

Not many places to eat ashore so we ate on the boat and then went for a beer or three in Mannies (down to Spar and turn right up the hill before you get there - near the golf club). Typical local pub - at 10pm the doors were locked and curtains drawn - "a lock in". Here's Alan and Murry enjoying the drink.

Ardglass seemed a nice place and one I would probably go back to unlike many of the stops we have made (Rathlin excluded).

The next day was a 60 mile run down to Dublin. It started great with 15-20 knts on the beam and we were doing high 7's with the assymetric up. Shame it died after a few hours and with less than 5knts wind we had to motor the rest of the day. Moored up at the extremity of the marina which proved very bouncey with the wash from all the passing boats. We stayed here for a couple of days to sit out the bad weather and to have a look at Dublin.

Mandatory visit was the tour round the Guinness brewery and sample the beer. Quite a good trip round with a skytop view of the city of Dublin from the top. Here's Murray enjoying a pint there.

Murray and Alan left today to fly back to Edinburgh and Pam and I will leave tomorrow to head south for Arklow.

Saturday 14th June, Glenarm to Bangor

As per the last 5 days, the wind was still from the north and blowing F5-6 which meant another downwind sail - no complaints again then.  The sun came out and we had wall to wall blue sky for the 20 mile sail down to Belfast Lough and into Bangor Marina. The waves were quite high with all this wind so we left one reef in. Exciting sailing and a good job we weren't going the other way.

Bangor Marina is big with good facilities. It turned out to be regatta weekend so the RUYC was packed. We went up to the bar for a pint after eating in the town. Wifi access was via BT Openzone but what a rip off at £10 for the day.

The weather is looking like the wind will go westerly and then south westerly by tuesday hence the plan is now to aim to get down to Dublin by monday evening so we will head off to Ardglass this afternoon.

Friday 13th June, Rathlin to Glenarm

Friday, 13th June. For the superstitious not a good day to go sailing....but as we are not - we went!

The meal in Rathlin was very good and the locals very hospitable the following morning. Tea and scones at Mary's while Alan and Murray cycled off to the end of the Island.

We left at lunchtime to sail across Rathlin sound and into Ballycastle. A small town with a marina. Blue sky, 20knts of wind again but still behind us – it took about an  hour. There is not a lot of room in the marina but the hammerhead at the end was free so we took that. There is another pontoon in the outer harbour but it did look a bit exposed and the local neds were using it as a diving platform despite some colditz style wire fences.

Bought some great sausages from Wisman's butchers – we had met him in Rathlin  on Wenesday. Also at long last found a shop with fishing rods  so I got a rod and reel.

A guy had recommended the Anzac pub in the village which turned out to be very  plastic and nothing going for it. We stopped for a few guinness as there didnt seem to be any other more “Irish” pubs. Does real Irish music exist???

John the harbour master failed to materialise despite many visits to his office. I think he is just a figment of my imagination. Overall I thought Ballycastle was a bit of a waste of time. I don't think I would choose to go back given Rathlin is so close and a better call.

Friday we left at lunchtime to catch the SE going tide down to Glenarm. Only a 22 mile sail and again we had blue sky and 20 knts behind us. The sea was quite lively with a bit of tide against us at the start but flatted out once we go round the NE point of Ireland. Great sail down though but it could still be warmer – only about 14 C today. Looks like the northerly winds are going to last at least a few more days so some comfortable sailing. Be nice if the 20knts would reduce a bit!

Plenty of room in Glenarm marina with few yachts in there.  Good depth and loads of space to maneuver. The village looks a bit sparse with few shops but we'll try a local pub out later. Facilities seem a bit basic – and as usual no wifi.

Here's a question. What's black, red legs and lives in holes in the wall. Best guess so far is a black guillemot but any other suggestions? I must find that bird book.

Tomorrow is off down to Belfast Lough and probably into Bangor.

Wednesday 11th June. Islay to Rathlin Island

Wednesday 11^th June. Well we gave up in Port Ellen as it was too lumpy siting on the mooring and made a dash across the North Channel to Rathlin Island. It was a really pleasant beam reach with 15 to 20 knts but quite a lively swell coming from the west. Our preference was to go down the west coast but the wind from the west and the swell made the decision easy. Here's Alan helming over to Rathlin with Islay in the background.

By the time we got to Rathlin the wind dropped a bit and it was actually warm. I got a photo of the only upside down lighthouse with a red light in Ireland! Maybe I will try and get a photo up here if I can get access! - actually it didnt turn out too good so not worth showing!

The entrance to Rathlin harbour was easy but rather shallow in the harbour – methinks our depth gauge is a bit optimistic. We came in at slack water which helped. The pilot book said it could be difficult in strong W-NW winds but no sign of that.

Rathlin harbour was empty apart from one yacht. Parked the boat for the night although we did do a hair-raising maneuver to turn the boat into the wind because it built back again to over 20 knts and the slapping at the back of the boat would have driven Murray mad.

David, the harbourmaster gave us all the gen on the island. After showers (the showers were good – not listed in the pilot book!) and an hour of boat repairs (ie finishing the job Sam had not finished) Murray and Alan went off for a walk and Pam and I decamped to the Auld Kitchen. Two Guinness later we had even more info on the Island. Definitely a good stop over. Pam reckons it was more than two as I drank her's.

We booked a table for the restaurant tonight in the Auld Kitchen. It's the chef's first night and the first it's been opened up in the evening for tourists like us. I'll let you know how how the meal goes (it was very good and good value - worth a trip).

Overall 10 out of 10 so far for Rathlin Island – worth a visit and the Guinness in the Auld Kitchen was great.

Monday 9th June. Dunstaffnage to Islay

Monday 9^th June. A 9 hour beat down the Sounds of Luing and Jura were not too much fun when you have 20 – 25 knots coming at you. At least it was all on one tack so we made good progress but the sea was rough. Top speed of the day was 13knts SOG with 6 knts of tide behind us. Good job we weren't going the other way. I must say whoever worked out the tides did a great job – oh that's right, it was me.

Plan A was to make it down to Port Ellen on Islay but by 5 O'Clock we were knackered so on to Plan B and into Craighouse on Jura. The entrance was easy to find and plenty of mooring buoys free. The pilot book didnt score it well for anchoring saying it was full of kelp. It was very shallow (circa 3 -4 metres deep) but you could see big patches of sand on the bottom so maybe not as bad as the book says to drop the hook. During our sail down we had overtaken a slightly smaller yacht and around an hour after we got in, Namaste turned up with Bo of RoBo fame on board. We watched them try to pick up a buoy a couple (?) of times then spend 2 hours on the foredeck sorting out ropes.

The wind kept up at 20Knts + until late in the evening so we declined to go ashore as the chop was excessive. Tom and Andy had left us in Dunstaffnage and we had been joined by Murray and Alan for the next 10 days.

Rob had completed the drinks cabinet late on Saturday and had christened it with us on Sunday afternoon so we gave it a thorough test drive.

Tuesday morning and the wind had swung more north westerly but was still blowing 20+. At least the direction was good to get us round the bottom of Islay before the last hour of beating up into Port Ellen. We picked up a mooring buoy in 25knts of wind rather than try and get on the pontoons given the lack of space there. All of mooring buoys were empty so we had our choice and picked one up at the third attempt using the new “buoy picker up thingy” that Pam had bought in Dunny (it was blowing hard!). it looks a pretty nifty bit of kit. Top speed today was 8knts but we did have two reefs in.

As I'm writing this there is still 25knts blowing and the dinghy is firmly tied up waiting for it to subside so we can get ashore. The sun however is shining and and the Duogen going round and round at warp speed. The forecast is for high pressure to build to the west of Ireland and for strong northerly winds to develop. This will certainly be good to get us down to Ireland later in the week. We'll decide how long to stop here when we get chance to get ashore.

Back in the water

It looks like Dunstaffnage Marina has done a great job and lifted the boat, cleaned it and put on a couple of coats of nice silver antifouling. Shame it doesn’t stay like that for more than a year! It’s now back in the water and all set to go …….once Rob finishes the drinks cabinet! That is due for completion tomorrow (Saturday). Pam’s happy she has more space to store other things now the whiskey, gin and wine plus all the glasses have somewhere nice to go.

 

.......and here it is - the finished drinks cabinet. Rob came over with it on Saturday night and its all now in place and up and running. Rob gave it a test drive before he left.

 

The plan is to head of down to Islay early next week. It sounds like there should be high pressure over the country by next week so maybe some reasonable weather. Hopefully there will be more internet access than over the past 10 days so I can keep a running log of where we are.

There’ll be four of us for the next part of the trip with Murray and Alan joining Pam and I for the next 10 days.

Thurs 29th May - Banavie to Dunstaffnage

 It was still rather damp and soggy waking up to our last day in the canal and an early start at that – 8 o'clock to start the 2 hr decent through the Banavie locks. Wooden spoon for the day has to go to Ant (or was it Dec?) in the fishing boat in front. The pair of plonkers had bought the boat on the east coast and were taking back to Portree. A one stage the decending a lock the rear line got caught on the cleat and the water went done but the boat didnt. Ant managed to kick it off just in time. 2 locks later the same thing happened but it was beyond kicking off. Out came the knife (more like a six foot broadsword) and saved the boat from suspending itself six foot out the water.

We reached Corpach lock and refueled and then out into the sea around midday. Target for the night was to get to Loch Aline and the sun made its first appearance as we got through the Corran narrows. 6 hours later in Loch Aline it was a stunning evening with no wind and wall to wall blue sky. Tom and Andy went off in the dinghy to do some exploring – good to see the outboard is still working. Found Tennison's waterfall and a few fossils.

Don't ask!

Friday morning and still wall to wall sunshine and no wind – so a motor sail up to Tobermoray. The wind picked up to 15knts as we got there but as it was bang on the nose again we declined to put the sails up. It is amazing how nice the west coast is when the sun comes out!

Mull in the sunshine

We found a mooring – not difficult as all 24 visitors moorings were free. The chain on ours however was very rusty – watch out if you go there! Pam and I went to eat in Javiers, the restaurant over the bar by the end of the pier. We'd been there a couple of years ago and it was excellent. It was good again this time although the range of seafood was a bit more restricted. Well worth a visit if you like seafood. It was then over to the Mishnish to met up with the boys and far too much to drink.

Tom watching the world go by - well an old boat anyway!

Getting up on Saturday morning was a struggle and a couple of Panadol later we were off down to Dunstaffnage. Wall to wall blue sky again and sailing in tee shirt and shorts. Even Pam was feeling warm. There was no wind when we left but the sea breeze picked up as for the day before but it was dead behind us. We put up the assymetric but then the wind died and it was back to motoring. By the time we were passed the bottom of Lorne, it picked up again and we were able to broad reach over to the marina.

So that's the first leg of the trip down south completed. The boat is being lifted out here on Monday to antifoul it and put some new anodes on ready for the rest of the journey south. The weather since thursday has been absolutely brilliant so here's hoping it will keep this way until next weekend when we are back. Hope also we get wind on something on other than the nose or dead downwind which isn't conducive to easy sailing.

Wed 28th May - Fort Augustus to Banavie

The restaurant in the Bothy was heaving again so a good job we ate on the boat. A group of 27 women turned up along with 2 men. Probably a Christian science group! Tom declined to go and chat them up.

We left Fort Augustus reasonably early at 9 ish heading for Corpach. It had gone cloudy and the rain started around 10 O'clock – set in for the day. Pretty uneventful other than the constant radio traffic between Laggan locks and Laggan Bridge.

Took a few photos in the Lock – including a lesser spotted golden retriever barking at a green balloon floating in the lock.

We started the wooden spoon award for the day and the first 3 nominations were:

• Tom for abandoning the boat in Cullochy loch to board a motor boat with 2 young ladies on board. We had gone in the lock 2^nd on our side and the cruiser came in rather too near us. Tom jumped on board to help them tie up to the boat on the other side and then became stranded. They didn't even offer him a cup of tea! .....and he escaped back before I could take a photo.

• Andy F, for his demonstrations of how not to throw a rope although the old guy on the lock didn't do us any favours.

• Yours truly for deciding the boat was dirty motoring down Loch Lochy at 6 knots and throwing a bucket overboard to pick up some water. The force knocked me onto the throttle, accelerating the boat to warp speed and nearly saw me pulled out of the boat.

And the award goes to .......me! Even I voted for that one.

We're now at the top of the locks at Banavie and it's still raining. My boots were leaking although it might have something to do with the hose pipe used to wash the deck down. Quite a wet day all in all. They wouldn't let us stay in the basin at Corpach so we will have an 8 O'clock start tomorrow to get down for mid day when we can get out of the canal and get an ebb tide to take us through the Corran narrows.

We're off to the Moorings pub for a meal tonight – which served a mean curry when we tried it last year.

Tuesday 27th May -Seaport to Fort Augustus

Tuesday 27th May. After a rather long evening session in the Clacknaharry Inn 
drinking Dark Island and then one or two wee drams back on the boat with Rick 
and Connie from Calaloo it was a leisurely start o tuesday morning. A few panadol 
for Andy and we were off up the Muirton locks with breakfast on the way. The wind 
was blowing a good 20knts which made it interesting going through the locks but 
it was a nice sunny day as a result of the high pressure sitting over northern 
Scotland and giving us good weather and the south of England a rough time (ha 
ha for once!!)

Loch Ness was a great sail. With 25knts of wind right behind us, it wasn't a day 
for the assymetric but after some struggle we polled out the Genny and off we went. 
Tom was pleased with the top speed of trip so far with a 9.2 knts surfing down a wave. 

At around quarter to three we heard it! Just about a mile short of Fort Augustus 
- “Laggan locks, this is Laggan bridge......”. This is an “in” joke from a couple 
of years ago so if you don't know then bad luck! ....and there were at least 5 
helicopters! Not much in the way of wildlife. No eagles, kingfishers 
or monsters. Just the odd duck – and a very odd looking one in seaport marina.

The plan was to stop at the bottom of the Fort Augustus locks for the night but 
as the fetch down the lock was so bad we decided to go up through them before 
they closed for the night. Just enough room at the top of the flight but the 
shower block was not as nice. Reasonable mooring for the night.

The pressure is dropping so it looks like the depression down south is coming 
further north so probably not as nice weather tomorrow. It wasn't quite warm 
enough to bar-b-que the steaks Pam had bought from the butcher by the locks so 
Tom grilled them on the cooker. It's off down the “Bothy” pub tonight for some 
more good beer and to see if I can find an internet connection to upload these 
notes – which obviously I didn't as I am so late posting them!