We were in Peel and we put our sailing gear out to dry in the wind. We had got ourselves seriously soaked the night before, The light weather gear, from a down pour, while our foul weather gear was drenched in sweat and needed a good airing. While, our gear and Salty Lass, were airing we discussed our entrance in a little bit more detail.
We had arrived at Peel after 11 and we circled around in the outer harbour inside the break water, getting our fenders on. Once we were ready, we contacted port control in Douglas and told them we were ready. Initially we had to continue circling because the gate is only opened at certain times, but once the opening time arrived. Douglas then found that the swing bridge had failed and they could not open it remotely, so they contacted an engineer. We were told that we could either continue to circle or come in to the middle harbour and tie up to the fuel pontoon, which is what I decided to do. They had offered that I could come further in towards the dolphins, but I was looking for sea mammals rather than concrete posts, so I didn't understand the area that they were talking about, while I could see and understand where they meant for the fuel pontoon, so that was why I told them I was going there. The engineer, came out and managed to fix the gate with only 15 minutes of tide remaining, so by the time we were tied up, we were shattered.
We went onto the harbour wall at Peel, because that was part of our 40 day deal. Now at Peel, unlike Douglas there is very little electricity, so if you come onto the wall then you must be able to make your own electricity like we do. While we were on the Harbour wall, we answered one of our viewers questions and that was to do with the TT races. They wanted to know if there was an exclusion for the TT races and there is not. In fact there are lots of boats that come over already and use the deal, just to see the TT races and then they come over again for the amateur races around the August Bank holidays.
That day the queen passed away, so we had to look at flag etiquette. On one web site, it was suggested that we decorate our flag with a black ribbon, but reading another web site that was for flags flown at an angle like ours is, but indoors. According to the government, the correct etiquette was to remove the flag, so that was what we decided to do. However, the more I thought about it, I soon reasoned that there was no difference between showing respect and just plain forgetting, so I added the black ribbon and flew our ensign as normal.
The next day, we had to depart because the bridge was scheduled for repairs, so we decided to depart just after high tide, but as the swing bridge was swung, the mechanism needed to swing the bridge failed again, so we prepared Salty Lass, so that as soon as the bridge was fixed we were ready. The engineer did manage to fix the gate, so we were out like a shot.
Once though the gate, we thought of ways in which to lengthen our journey, one of them was to anchor in Port Erin, while another was to sail away from the island, then sail back, because of the wind directions, this was the method we chose as it best suited the conditions. But that is what sailing is about, accessing your conditions and making the best of it.
