Rock and roll to N Ireland

Friday morning came and we had a late start - leaving Port St Mary at 9.30am. The plan was to go to Peel and wait for decent weather for the sail to Northern Ireland, a relatively short trip. But things went better than we could possibly have hoped. 

We had banked on making a large detour around the southern bit of the island, to avoid the notorious waters between the main island and the Calf of Man. But when we arrived at the scary bit, it was calm and we couldn't see any white water. So Lesley helmed slowly past the lighthouse that marks the channel, through strange eddies and turbulence. Once out the other side we were jubilant - we had saved 2 hours. That could make the difference between just tootling into the marina at Peel or stretching ourselves to do the whole leg to Bangor near Belfast, in the one day. 

We decided to risk it for a biscuit. Waved goodbye to the Isle of Man  (and the ludicrously expensive Manx Telecom charges for phone and internet use.) Nic enjoyed the new seat he had made from a plank of iroko which sits across the top of the cockpit coaming to allow a better view for the helm. 

The wind was northerly 3 to 4, which meant we had to motor sail again, all day. The sea state was slight to moderate but we knew bigger winds and rougher seas were forecast for later when we were closer to Bangor around the difficult-to-navigate bits.

11 hours into the trip and we reached the nasty bit. By now it was blowing F5 to 6 -  we should haven't strayed off our planned track but we ended up in the 'Ram Rac'e off Mew Island just before the start of Belfast Lough. It was rather like being in a washing machine, with the boat plunging and ducking and both of us attaching safety lines to our lifejackets. Earlier we had managed to put a double reef in the main sail from the cockpit, thank heaven, but it was very unpleasant indeed and a great relief when we finally turned into the Lough and towards calmer waters. By 10pm we were safe in the swanky territory of Bangor Marina. Starving hungry by now, we were desperate enough to visit a dodgy kebab shop 5 minutes from the boat to celebrate our triumph.