22. Heading South

Our passage south has been a mixture of wet, windless weather and lots of motoring.  We left Oban on Tuesday 9th July in pouring rain and a strong wind from the south.  It was very tempting to hang on another day but we needed to start heading homewards.  The only thing in our favour was a fair tide, taking us up to 10 knots over the ground in the Sound of Luing.  

We had intended to go straight from Oban to Gigha but after 4 hours in the pouring rain we gave up and bailed out to Crinan, anchoring off the Crinan boatyard moorings.  

The wind died (but not the rain) and we had a quiet night.
The passage next day to Gigha was pretty boring, never enough wind to sail (what there was was on the nose anyway), rain and drizzle and mist.  

After 5 hours motoring we picked up a mooring in Ardnaminish Bay.  

Again we had a fair tide virtually all the way.  We have a problem with boat speed under power, maybe barnacles on the prop or something similar, as we would normally cruise at 5.5 knots at 2000 revs but we are struggling to make 4.1 knots at the moment.  We think that the log is under reading a bit but we have consistently better boat speed when sailing than we do under engine.

On Thursday we set off to cross the North Channel to Glenarm.  No rain this time but what little wind there was at the start faded away completely so the 42 mile passage was under engine again.  

Bright sunshine was nice, no waterproofs for a change but still a little chilly.

 We think we caught a brief sighting of a minke whale but other than guillemots we saw very little wildlife.  

The harbourmaster at Glenarm had a berth for us overnight but as there was a music festival over the weekend the harbour would be full so we knew we had to move on.

Friday’s passage was to Bangor marina, on the south side of Belfast Lough.  After half an hour we were able to sail for a change.  This lasted until we got to Belfast Lough when the wind died and the engine went on for the last hour and a half.

We had briefly been in Bangor before so we knew there were good facilities.  We refuelled on the way in and arranged for a two night stay to do a bit of catching up.  The weather was good for a change and the town was in holiday mode.

 Debbie was entranced by the marina’s flock of guillemots, which were breeding in nesting boxes in the harbour walls and were quite used to being close to people.

 An evening walk to the Royal Ulster Yacht Club in their splendid clubhouse nicely rounded off the day.  On Sunday we didn’t have to leave until 1300 to suit the tide on our passage to Ardglass so we had time for a stroll along the seafront west of the marina, enjoying the sun with the rest of the holiday makers.  

Our passage started off well with enough wind to sail pretty well straight out of the harbour but within an hour the wind had dropped and the engine took us the next 5 hours, arriving in Ardglass at 19.38.

Ardglass was much as we remembered it from our visit in 2015 when we sailed around Britain except that it seemed somehow a little tidier and more organised.  The showers were a big improvement on our last visit.  

The tight entrance channel hadn’t changed though!
Our next passage was 55 miles from Ardglass to Howth, which called for an 0800 start so we were up early.  

Yet again the wind started off calm but by 12.50 there was enough breeze to sail.  At first we could only make 15 degrees low of our straight line course to Howth but the increase in boatspeed was worth it.  The wind eventually backed enough for us to lay our course, which was great.  Off Lambay Island we had to reef for a while when the wind funnelled around the island but it soon dropped off once the island was cleared.  Approaching the north entrance to Howth by Ireland’s Eye Island the wind eased and we dropped sails ready to enter the harbour.  

Howth marina is owned and run by Howth Yacht Club, a very active club.  The entrance channel  is narrow and prone to silting but we didn’t have any trouble.

 We were only planning a one night stay but the water pump started making a strange noise and we found that, yet again, one of the pipe connections had pulled apart.  Another job to do in the morning and a second night at Howth.  

Tuesday was a club racing night and we chatted to Brian and Leo who had been racing a Puppeteer, a 22 foot one design keelboat similar to a Sonata.  

The clubhouse was full, a pleasant evening sat outside on the club terrace.
On Wednesday morning we topped up with fuel and left at 11.00, aiming to make the 39 mile trip to Arklow on the basis that there would be some west in the wind and that the forecast veer would happen by midday.  This proved to be a bit optimistic.  The wind was firmly in the South and we were not prepared for 39 miles of beating or motoring so we abandoned our plan and headed into Dun Laoghaire marina to wait for the change in the wind.  

Even David’s Tilley hat didn’t want to carry on and went over the side, quickly recovered by Debbie’s eagle eye and man overboard drill.  
If the forecast is to be believed tomorrow should be good for a reach down to Arklow and a long passage from Arklow to Milford Haven on Friday.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings!