United Kingdom
Church Bay

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    • Day 53

      Heaven!

      July 15, 2021 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      It was flat calm this morning so we motored the whole way to Rathlin Island.
      Leaving the Portrush harbour we motored past ‘The Skerries’ a chain of small islands about 2 miles in length before we came to the causeway and were able to see it from different perspective.
      As we got close to Rathlin a long lazy swell built up which was probably something to do with the strong tides what are between the island and the mainland.

      ‘Second Chance’ tied up first then Jim and Charlie, the harbour master or maybe more correctly mistress help me berth on the marina.
      Charlie who is female was delighted when she saw ‘Cork’ on the stern of ‘Eureka’. It turned out that she once had a boyfriend from Greenmount in Cork City and see seemed to have good memories of the relationship.
      It was strange to have a woman from Epsom where you'd have expected her to be running a horse racing stables instead of a marina.
      She was a great source of help and information and couldn’t have been friendlier while we were there.

      The three of us had hardly got ashore when we turned to each other and asked “Will we stay a second night”, none of us had to be asked twice.
      The relaxed feeling we got about the place plus the heatwave made Rathlin one of our favourite places that we visited on our trip.

      We had a walk around the bay before it was time for drinks and dinner.
      The heat was draining and I had an early night while looking forward to more exploring tomorrow.
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    • Day 54

      The Birds!

      July 16, 2021 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      There was a bit of noise from the next pontoon in the morning.
      A small cruise ship, the ‘Island Sky’ had anchored off the harbour and many of its passengers were coming ashore, landing on a leg of the marina opposite us where they had set up a ‘gate’ for checking covid certs etc.

      We got a small bus up to the sea bird nature reserve on western end of the island.
      There were lovely views of both the island and the coast as we travelled on the islands only road and once we got there we were amazed at the thousands of birds, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Puffins etc. However you need to be prepared for the smell of guano.
      Also within the reserve is Ireland’s only upside down lighthouse. The light is at the bottom of the tower with the accommodation over it. Built that way to keep the light low enough to be visible in low cloud or fog.

      After we returned to the harbour we walked along the shore to the other side of the bay before returning but only getting as far as the pub where we quenched our thirst.

      We returned to the boats and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon before dinner on 'Second Chance' and a second visit to the pub which had a large patio area overlooking the marina and bay.
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    • Day 23

      Rathlin Ireland

      April 25, 2023 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

      I’d was keen to go back to Rathlin, it was more than 10 years since I had been there, and it wanted to see if it had changed. We had a perfect hop up the coast in glassy conditions, a few dolphins and a burnt nose. Paul cooked spaghetti carbonara which is is his signature dish, before we went to the pub. Paul set me up with Antares maps and a bunch of destinations to visit as we head up the west coast. (mostly good restaurants) they were all great stopsRead more

    • Day 132

      Rathklin to Banghor.

      August 12, 2023 in Northern Ireland ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

      After a quiet night in we were up early, the weather variable from 5 kts to 30 knots . But was due to reduce and settle down to some light drizzle down wind sailing in the 15 to 20 kt bracket. Almost perfect. This is a very beautiful bit of coast and the clouds formations only added t the atmospheric feel of free wheeling south. We were on a schedule but there is not much you can do to speed up a cruising boat.
      We had to wait for the tide in Rathlin to start to move south once it had changed managed to carry fair tide from 10 until 4pm after that we only had a gentle current to fight as we approached Bangor as the sun started to dim. We tuned the radar so we could see the squalls coming in. There was one last big on on the way and it through the best double rainbow I have ever seen. It was pretty mesmerising. The Belfast ferry even pasted through it at one point . Being the cheapskates that we are we decided to anchor up in the bay to the east of the marina just outside the yacht club. Which was a perfect landing spot for the dinghy on the way to town for beers.

      10 minute walk and we we in Bangor town centre and it was Saturday night and town was pumping many loud bars short skirts and doormen. Who looked a bit bemused at a couple of old guys trying to get in for a pint. After a couple of pints and a kebab we decided to walk home. We were drawn into a quiet hotel bar for one last sharpener, which turned into 3 . We had the pleasure of meeting, and chatting with a couple who were so wasted they thought we were interesting. They even asked us back to there camper van for who knows what. We declined, they said we were English tossers as we left. In the warmest of Northern Irish accents.

      Back to the boat for whisky and bed.
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