The best-hatched plans...

Tuesday morning dawned grey and threatening. All night the boat had bucked and rolled 
in her berth with warps squeaking in the strong winds. We knew the trip up the North 
Channel from Glenarm in Northern Ireland to Port Ellen in Islay would be tough with 
force 5 or 6 northwest winds, most of it motor-sailing north in tricky wind-against- 
tide conditions.

We set off in good heart knowing the boat was totally capable of coping. But two 
hours in, the seas built as the tide turned to be with us, but against the north west 
winds which by now were blowing force 6 and often 7. With a double reef in the main, 
Sirena IV was plunging up to her nose in the green waves. Both of us had our safety 
lines clipped on at all times. 

The huge  amount of spray was having an unexpected effect.When it was Lesley's turn 
to go below for a rest, she discovered that a shower of seawater drops was falling in 
the main cabin, dripping from the old metal-framed hatch above the table. The water 
ran down the headlining and fell on the bunk cushions and the beautiful teak wood of 
the table and the cabin cupboards. She tried putting gaffer tape around the inside of the hatch but the flow continued. 

It wasn't too easy moving around the cabin in the extremely bumpy conditions. We held 
a hurried conference and decided that there were 3 or 4 hours at least of these conditions 
still to go and it was possible they would get worse. The ingress of water would harm 
our main cabin fittings and could prove very expensive. 

Reluctantly, after only 2 and a half hours, we decided to turn back to Glenarm. Once 
we'd turned around, we were steaming along with the wind on our quarter, surfing over 
huge white tipped waves. It was disappointing to chug back into Glenarm Marina but    
Billy the manager was waiting to take our lines and had already called around to find 
someone who could fix our hatch or replace it. How long that would take was anyone's guess. 

Then came the good news, badly needed. Our friends John and Margie, who had been cruising in  Scotland, were now on their way back to Northern Ireland and were heading for Glenarm. We laid plans to cook a big stew in time for their arrival.