Carrickfergus

On our last morning there was a large pod of bottlenose dolphins frolicking outside the harbour so we were looking forward to getting going and passing through them as we headed east but first I have to fix up with Charlie.
I was pleasantly surprised when she rounded down the length of ‘Eureka’ to 10 meters. That boyfriend must have left only good memories.

Jim & Angela helped me to cast off and soon followed me out of the harbour.

When I reached the dolphins they came over and stayed with Eureka for a while.
Their behaviour was very similar to the pod at Cundaff Bay and I was wondered if they were one and the same.

There was a little bit of wind outside the harbour but I scared it away when I hoisted the main so down it came again.

This was my third time going through the North Channel but I don’t remember the first as I had been crew on a racing yacht and could have been down below sleeping off watch.
When I headed to Scotland on ‘Eureka’ in 2018, I had been surprised how close Scotland is to the NE coast of Ireland.
It’s less than 11 miles between Toor Head in Antrim and the Mull of Kintyre.

We hadn’t yet decided where we were going to end up tonight so as we approached Glenarm, I called up Jim to see if we were calling in or continuing on, “continue” I was told and so on I went.
The only ripples in the water was from our wakes. It was hot and totally windless as we continued on for Carrickfergus.
As we approached the entrance to Belfast Lough we at last got a little bit of wind as a sea breeze sucked air into the lough. I happily unfurled the genny, turned off the engine and had a nice gentle sail into the lough for the last 6 miles. Looking astern I saw that Jim was going the same.

Despite phoning ahead and being told there was plenty of space when Jim contacted the marina earlier in the day, we were now told they were full just before we entered and that we’d have to go to Bangor.
Feck that for a lark! We were not impressed. Another hour motoring across to the south side of the lough after a long day. No thanks.
Jim soon sorted out a berth on a hammerhead and I rafted to them as there wasn’t enough room on the other hammerhead where the marina wanted me to go.

We spent the evening exploring the town and had a lovely meal ashore before taking a few photos of the castle and returned for a good night’s sleep.Read more