A lovely day in Glenarm

My friend Tonny left on the 10 o’clock bus to Larne this morning in order to get to Belfast airport to catch a plane to Gatwick
Before long however I was delighted to welcome Peter aboard, along with Lucy and Will, my new crew mates.

We spent an enjoyable afternoon chatting  drinking tea and eating strawberries before Peter had to get home to tend to Molly his cocker spaniel.

In the evening we were interested to watch some rehearsals for the Orange day parades which all take place on Thursday
Tomorrow we’re off to Bangor...... early start to catch the tide!!

More headlands on route to Glenarm

The excitement from yesterday’s football took its toll on the crew, so a gentle morning was spent reading the papers and generally recovering.

As lunchtime approached we felt ready for the arduous task of motoring the twenty miles to Glenarm in a flat calm sea.

After passing several headlands like this one:

we arrived at Glenarm by early afternoon.

This is a very pretty town with a picturesque Main Street and two welcoming pubs.

They are also hosting a traditional All Ireland’s  wife carrying contest here next month , in Glenarm Castle. Sadly I will miss this as I undoubtedly would have won.

Tomorrow we bid a sad farewell to yet another crew mate. My friend Tonny has been a great support in enabling us to negotiate the treacherous tides of the inner Hebrides and I am most grateful to him for his help. In his place we welcome Will & Lucy who are here to not only provide local knowledge and expertise in our journey South but also take over the running of the boat whilst the skipper has a rest in anticipation of the semi final against Croatia.

(Backup) Goodbye Bonnie Scotland.... hello Ballycastle

Well here we are in beautiful Ballycastle.

We were sad to leave Islay, particularly as we did not get to visit the Laphroig distillery but this disappointment was easily replaced by the excitement and joy of sailing to the North of Ireland.Ballycastle was most welcoming and we enjoyed watching the second half of the football in the Harbour Inn.

My friend Tonny made a new pal in Alistair who was able to give him a full and comprehensive .... although somewhat one sided...rundown of Northern Irish politics in  about 4 minutes.... He left feeling fully enlightened by the conversation.

Ballycastle is a lovely seaside town with an expanse  of sand and interesting history. It was once a thriving industrial town famous for its coal mining glass manufacturing and soap making.The marina is well protected from the elements and ideal as a stopover en route South. Tonight, after a tasty meal in the Ballycastle Hotel, we have enjoyed listening to music and planning our trip to Glenarm tomorrow, where there will be a crew change.

Into the Atlantic swell etc..... continued

Tomorrow we head for Northern Ireland... how exciting is that!

Her are some other photos from the last 2 days adventures

This is a distillery in the Sound of Islay

Port Ellen

Yet another picture of the boat in a marina at sunset ..... note that Calismarde is the smallest and the only wooden one!!

Into the Atlantic swell..... then out again

Yesterday , after a peaceful night in Tobermory we decided to circumnavigate Mull and sail past Iona on route to an anchorage in Oronsay which is a small island just south of Colonsay

The weather was such that the Atlantic swell was rather too much for the skippers stomach and he disgraced himself by being queasy over the side.

He was relieved to arrive at the anchorage where the crew all enjoyed a hearty supper

There was only one other boat in the anchorage. It was from Germany and looked rather like a conservatory on water. My friend Tonny  says he would like one but is worried that his tomatoes may taste salty and that a greenhouse in the garden would be significantly cheaper.

Today we headed down the Sound of Islay, which is s narrow passage of water not a new music fad. We passed lots of distilleries  which all make Islay whisky, including Laphroig...which  is my favourite malt whisky Sadly y we  arrived in Port Ellen too late to pay any of them a visit. Despite this, my friend Tonnyand I thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of Islay beer, before heading off to the Islay Hotel for an enjoyable supper. We then enjoyed watching the ferry arrive and demonstrating to the skipper how to properly manoeuvre a boat.

Here’s the story from Tobermory

Well here we are in Tobermory on a swinging mooring just like the Swale..... well not quite!

After a gentle sail from Oban we arrived at 2.30 in time to do a bit of shopping and have an early supper. It certainly is a quaint town with all its coloured buildings along the seafront and clearly is popular with the super yacht community as can be seen in the photo

We plan to head further South tomorrow and aim to get to Antrim by the weekend in order to complete the next crew change 

Locks Rocks and Lochs

Today was the day we had to leave the Caledonian Canal and with stiff competition to secure one of the places on Neptunes Staicase at 8 am ,’we had to be smart. We were up against large Swedish and German  boats with all the  aggression that goes with that, but having befriended the lock keeper and by hovering close to the lock gates at 7.45 we managed to be the first inside

What a relief!

We then enjoyed a gentle motorsail down Loch  Linnie having been overtaken by all the other racing boats with big thrusting engines and enjoyed the challenge of passing through the Lynn of Larne where there are lots of jagged rocks separated by narrow stretches of water.We arrived at Oban , the ‘Fishing Capital of Scotland’ in time to watch some of the football and then enjoyed ..... guess what..... a fish supper.

Oban is a lovely Victorian town dominated by the ferry. The restaurant was packed but the manager told us that on one day in February this year they had three customers one day and it is completely dead out of season.

Tomorrow we hope to reach Tobermory unscathed.