We were in Abercorn Basin in Belfast. The wind was just too strong to go out into the Irish sea, but with Belfast right on our doorstep, there was lots to do. So we took a bus up to Queens University and explored the gardens, which has a beautiful glass house and a tropical ravine. After that, we explored the museum, which had some fantastic exhibitions from Game of Thrones, as well as some fantastic fossils. There was so much to see that you could easily spend all day there. We were certainly tired by the time we caught the bus back into the centre of town.

We had a really nice fish supper in the middle of Belfast, then Beverley went back to the boat, as she was tired, while Karen and I went out to see what we could see. The very first place we came across was an art exhibition, where they had invited guests for the opening. I just asked politely if we could see the exhibition and we were invited in. There was free wine, so I was very happy. There was a huge range of great pubs in Belfast and although we were there mid week, every night we discovered another back ally containing another great pub.

It might not of turned out to be the holiday, Karen wanted, as she had hoped for sailing, but it certainly was a good holiday for her with walks, culture and lots of socialising.

After Karen had left, we ventured up the lock to try once again, to cross the Irish Sea. When you are navigating a thin channel that is used by large ferries etc. it is very important to talk to the local Vehicle Traffic Service, as at one time they requested that we stayed in the channel, until one of the car ferries had left port. It meant that Beverley was driving around in circles, but that seems to be normal on Salty Lass.

We successfully dodged the other traffic and got out quite a bit, but we could see lots of white caps on the water, so we turned back to Carrickfergus, where there was a regatta going on. It was only a short sail back, but it was lovely clocking 6 or 7 knots, which Beverley and I are quite happy with. As we came in we saw Carrickfergus regatta which was great to see with all the yachts. The only issue was getting in as you had two lines of yachts coming in. This is where Beverley really scores with her navigating as she could see where she needed to be for the second row of yachts, not just the first.

Once in, we just contacted one of our subscribers and and invitation to the regatta party was obtained. The regatta party was a lot of fun. We met a couple of subscribers and we chatted to a few people.

Bathroom Review

I'm sorry, but while I was in Carrickfergus I had to do a bathroom review, the bath was just beautiful, it was in the shape of a boat and it had cleats for handles. There was plenty of hot water, so I was like a prune by the time I was done. Even if I had wanted a shower there was plenty of room to mess about.

Dominick and saving money

One of the people that I had chatted to in Carrickfergus Marina, was asking me how he could save some money with regard to his boat. He wanted a side fender, so I suggested that he tied two ropes in his current fender and use that. To be honest, he had not got the fenders at the right height for the pontoon, but he was on the right lines. he other issue he had was with a broken glass, so I suggested that he get a plastic bottle and cut it to size, I would of used the bottom of the bottle rather than the top, but it seemed to be working.

At last we leave

It had seemed like ages that we were in Belfast Lough, but at last the weather was calm and we could leave