A lovely start to the day with glorious blue skies and sunshine to start the day, I had been awake since 4 with my brain whirring, and eventually got up about 7am and put the kettle on. Then Fred and I went in search of a greasy spoon for breakfast. We found a cafe, not yet opened, but the owner was being dropped off by her husband – who just happened to be the landlord of the pub we met last night – Ardglass is indeed a small community!
We eventually found a cafe which was open and serving and sat enjoying a latte looking across the sea and enjoyed the sunshine
Early morning Latte! The sign on the window warned us not to lean on it as it was broken.........
The marina is very shallow indeed and we could see the bottom. RBE has a draught of 2.1metres so this was a little worrying, considering we actually wanted to motor out. We therefore had a leisurely morning whilst we waited for low water to pass and for the water level to rise a little.
Chris beautifully steered us out of the marina – she is skipper for the day!
Chris as skipper under the watchful eye of Fred!
As soon as we were clear of the marina, the sails once more went up and we made best use of the little wind which came our way.
A little into the journey, I became weary having woken in the early hours, and went to my cabin to take a nap – as I lay there I wondered who on earth was on the helm as the boat took a sudden and distinct turn – we narrowly hit a basking shark! Typical, I’ve been waiting to see one of these and I miss it. Glad the boat missed it too as it might have taken our keel off – and I imagine given the basking shark a bit of a headache too!
As we steer along the Northern Ireland coast, you can still see the Isle of Man in the distance, but you can also see Scotland too – I’ve never before appreciated the close proximity of these three places before.
We were soon tormented by a plague of flies which suddenly descended upon us covering the boat. They soon stopped, then died and I swept them all away, an hour later, we entered yet another cloud of them – I think I might go mad and have a shower this evening – and I only had one yesterday, I really hope you dont think I’m getting too fussy!
Its now 4.30, (Im just flicking yet another fly off my screen as I type this) and we are nearing Bangor.
This is our last destination with Fred – he is flying back home to the bosom of his family in the early hours and we will then await the arrival of another victim, sorry, skipper, on Sunday – welcome Rick – do you realise what you have in store?!
Belfast Lough
Bangor, Belfast
A lovely trip into Bangor, and Chris steered the boat to the fuel pontoon, she filled us up and I then steered the boat into our berth – for the first time – it only took me 2 goes! Chris and I then connected us to the main then cleaned the boat – its girl power day today!
I know this might seem a little over the top – but I went for another shower, a little excessive as it was only yesterday I had one, but there you go! Imagine my delight when I found there was actually a bath! Wonderful how simple pleasures can make you very excited! Unfortunately, there was very little hot water, but I still insisted in lying in the lukewarm soapy water for as long as I could before I hurried into the shower to warm up!
Back to the boat just in time to find Mike concocting another gastronomic delight! He is very nearly trained, and will get his certificate of competence from me once he has improved on his lumpy mashed potato stage!
Dinner finished, Fred hassled like mad for signatures on all our logs before he leaves us, then head out to the pub. We found a bar with loads of atmosphere and some guys doing an acoustic set
Some talented locals
and interesting characters and women drinking cocktails from tea pots. I met a woman who had a fabulous wolf whistle, and we must have looked very attractive as she tried to teach me how to do this complete with tongue sticking out and fingers pressed into awkward places – I failed but will try to do my homework!
More Guinness!
I made a new best friend, in fact, he became the new best friend for the whole of the crowd in the bar.
Irish Characters - we meet so many of them!
he grabbed my camera and insisted on having his photo taken with me!
Back to the boat at 1am – just in time for Fred’s early night as he is getting up at 4.30 ready to catch his plane home! I bet he is going to love his three and a half hour slumber!
Goodnight!
