Day 37

 This morning finds us in the middle of the St George’s Channel.  We have just had a weather forecast that is of concern.  We are currently in a lumpy sea with the wind around Force 4.  During the night we motor sailed to increase our distance South and to change our angle to the waves.  This gave us a bit of relief to the beating and let us sleep when not on watch.

The weather forecast is predicting the wind coming round to the South West and increasing potentially to F5.  In addition the following 24 hours is forecast to be even worse at Force 7.

Anyone of a certain age will remember the Fastnet disaster of 1979.  Not comparing but……..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Fastnet_race

This is the same area that we would be in as the poor weather hits and the sensible thing to do is to divert and run for Milford Haven, before we even have to deal with the Force 5 if we can.

As it played out we did exactly that, we motor sailed to get maximum speed of around 7 knots.  As we were approaching The Smalls (rocks marked by a lighthouse in the middle of nowhere) we gained an escort of 3 Common Dolphins.  We were very happy to get to the Dale Anchorage at the start of the channel into Milford Haven around 8pm, not having enough daylight left to go down the channel. 

There is a pontoon in the middle of this bay that we have tied to and will get a good nights sleep and motor down to the marina tomorrow.

Our warning

The Smalls lighthouse, zoom into the middle.

Our track from deciding to come in

Saint Ann’s Head lighthouse

Following a big ship into Milford Haven

Day 36

We made good overnight progress under sail.  Dodged a few fishing boats and have changed our proposed course, to sail to the wind we have, plus we had stronger winds after passing the Isle of Man.  This meant we got a good tack quite far South.

Our track at 07.37am

Unfortunately during the day the wind moved more to the South West and strengthened.  This has been a bit unpleasant as the boat is moving a lot and occasionally slamming into the waves.  We have also slowed   Our progress South down quite a bit as the tacks are not going in the direction we want to travel.

We have also been keeping a careful listen out to the Coast Guard weather forecast as any further strengthening of the wind would not be welcome.  We have started thinking about our contingency plan to go for Milford Haven rather than go round The Lizard and Lands End.

Day 35

We left Bangor at 09.45 to catch the tides for our long run down to hopefully Falmouth or Plymouth.  

We passed the Copeland Islands in thick fog, a bit of a disappointment, we could see them but only just.

We made slow progress but around 6 pm a Minke whale cheered us up, it surfaced so close to the boat we heard it take a breath.

The real problem we have is the wind is South Easterly or Southerly.  This means we can’t sail directly in the direction we want to travel and we don’t want to motor all the way down.  What that means is that you have to tack either side of the wind at about 55 degrees, the downside of that is the distance you have to travel is increased by about 50% over the straight line.  Not a problem on a day sail but a big problem on a 300 mile straight line sail.

As Paul said “we are widdling down the Irish Sea!”.

Bangour harbour ready for the off

Great first evening sailing

The Mountains of Mourne

Our track

Day 34

 We left Balleycastle for Bangor in a Pea Souper, you could hardly see 200 meters, always a concern.  

It took us about an hour to escape the fog bank.  It was a bit eerie looking back at the land from our clear patch.

On the trip to Bangor we passed the Gobbins, a spectacular cliff walk built in Victorian times.  

https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/the-gobbins-p710801

The photograph of the Gobbins 3 below has been photo bombed by a dolphin directly below the second windmill from the right.

We arrived at Bangor around 5.00pm, 43 miles from Balleycastle.  We need to refuel and restock with food here before our big sail departing tomorrow, initially planned for 3 and a half days to Falmouth or Plymouth.  We have one eye on the weather though as there is a possibility of strong winds.

Sailing in fog.

Looking back to a fog bound FairHead

Photo bombed by a dolphin

                                                                        

On approach to Bangour

The entrance to Belfast Lough

Our track

Not a vegetable in sight

Day 33

 Today was a rest and recuperation day in Balleycastle.  The boat needed a good clean inside and out, we also needed water.  In the evening we had dinner in the Basement restaurant.  The food in the restaurant was pretty good and a lot better than the local delicacies Paul treated us to.  Namely Wheaten Bread and Dulse.  We were spared Yellow Man, as Paul couldn’t find any for sale, although as it is honey based it probably would have been better than the Dulse.  Dulse is purple seaweed, very salty and tough as old boots, you have to have strong teeth to make a dent on it.  The Wheaten Bread on the other hand was very good with cheddar or smoked salmon.

Balleycastle is an old town with lots of history in farming and a very famous (in Northern Ireland) song expounding it’s virtues.  The Old Lammas Fair.

https://youtu.be/LDJTpUDYXXo 

Balleycastle beach

Dulce in the middle of the Wheaton Bread sandwich

Day 32

 So today it is time to say goodbye to Scotland.  We left Ghia at 07.50am in a mixture of low cloud and sunny spots.  We had to motor for a short while to get out of the lee of the island.  The weather forecast is NE F4 to F5 occasionally F6, sea state slight to moderate.  Hopefully not too much F6 as everything else sets us up for a great sail to Ballycastle in Northern Ireland.

Ballycastle is a small seaside town with a lot of history in farming markets but it has an interesting approach from the sea.  To get in you have to pass through Rathlin Sound, this means passing between a very significant headland Fairhead some 600ft high and the small island of Rathlin.  For Game of Thrones fans FairHead was used as the basis of Dragonstone cliffs.  In the middle of the channel there is a very big undertow, formed by the Macdonnell race, and if you get the tides or the winds wrong you can’t get through.

https://antrimcoastandglensaonb.ccght.org/fair-head-murlough-bay-torr-head/

In the extreme it can push you a long way back from where you want to go.  In addition to get to this channel, you have to come across a Transport Seperation Scheme area.  This is a deep water safe passage for large vessels.  A bit like a motorway for trucks.  A small vessel like ours is required to enter at right angles to the “motorway” and steer a consistent corse through the water.  That means if a tide is running you enter at one point and come out well up or down the other side.

Nick has therefore had to carefully calculate our entry point and time of entry for tidal strength to allow for our exit point to be close to where we need to be to safely pass through the opening for Balleycastle.

We arrived at 3pm covering 43 miles sailing 6 hours of the journey.

Goodbye Ghia and Scotland

Large arrows show direction of ships. A to B course to steer, C to D actual course over the ground.

Ballycastle

Ballycastle marina

Our track

Day 31 running report

 Paul as usual when we make landfall went off for his run.  This time only 13 miles, but to be fair to Paul that is the whole island of Ghia!

He couldn’t find much off road running but there was almost nothing on the roads or the beaches.  Stunning views across to Jura, Islay and the Mull of Kintyre.

A fantastic finish to find the others with a beer in the sunshine.