Summary on all the great journeys that we have done around Northern Ireland, Carrickfergus to Portrush, Glenarm and around Belfast Lough and Ardglass to Bangor.
We sat down to do our Sailing Northern Ireland video for the eight time. We had started the video in Liverpool, long before we knew that we would be coming back to Northern Ireland for the winter. Unknown to us the camera run out of battery half way through the take, we did this again but with a different camera. We then had a software problem where the camera recorded the audio, but only one frame of the visuals, we had a grainy picture issue and one take where the focus kept on moving around so much that the video gave you a headache, so although we both wanted to do the video, we were going to junk the whole project, if we didn't like this take.
We left Liverpool in late May and we sailed through the night to Port St Mary In the Isle of Man, we managed to just about get a cup of coffee, before it was the ideal time to go through the Calf Sound. You do need to get the timings right for this stretch and the best place for the tidal flow information around the island was the Isle of Man Government with this page on Tides and Flapgates (Link correct on day of publication). After we got through Calf Sound, we continued on our journey to Peel, which is a great place right in the middle of the Irish Sea.
Carrickfergus to Portrush
From Peel we went over to Carrickfergus which won our best Bathroom award, as it had a great bathroom, with a boat and excellent decorations. There we meet up with some people from Sailing and Cruising Northern Ireland facebook page. We joined them in a little flotilla going up the Irish Coast. We did the journey in two stages, the first stage going to Glenarm, using the tide to assist us. We then had a short rest while the tide reversed, so we were able to use the tide to assist us to get around Fair Head and Tor Head where the tides can be quite fierce.
The Sailing and Cruising Northern Ireland had organised a social at the Maritime festival in Ballycastle, with a group discount to encourage members to join them. There was lots to do, with the festival and socials where we met up with other members from the group and skipper James, who introduced us to a new drink called Buckfast. If I had any hairs on my chest, I would of lost them drinking that stuff and all I can say is, what happens on the boat, stays on the boat.
Quite close to Ballycastle is Rathlin Island which does have a small pontoon for visiting boats, but we fancied taking the ferry. Rathlin Island is a great place to go to see the local wildlife as they have a Puffin sanctuary there so you can see the Puffins in among the guillemots. You can also get quite close to the seals and see then too.
From Ballycastle we went along the coast, which is really beautiful to Portrush which we christened Port Slow as it was so quite, we practically had the place to ourselves apart from a dredger, which frightened Beverley at 4o'clock in the morning. The only great thing about the dredger was I was able to use it to get us a deal, as the dredger should not be part of your harbour experience.
From Portrush we went over to Scotland for which we have already created a Sailing Scotland Summary
