Its nearly noon and I’ve found yet more free internet access, well, its nearly free as I’ve purchased a coffee! Yesterday I was in a really old fashioned library – it was fabulous, with the librarian really spending time with the kids, helping them with their research and telling them local stories and not minding a bit if anyone talked!
We are leaving soon to head back to Ireland and moor at a place called Ardglass….see you there!
Its nearly noon and I’ve found yet more free internet access, well, its nearly free as I had to purchase a coffee to be here! Yesterday I was in a really old fashioned library – it was fabulous, with the librarian really spending time with the kids, helping them with their research and telling them local stories and not minding a bit if anyone talked!
We are leaving soon to head back to Ireland and moor at a place called Ardglass….see you there!
Kids walk on water in the Isle of Man
Peel as we exited the marina
Peel, Isle of Man
Its now 2.30pm and we are having a gorgeous sail away from the Isle of Man. The weather is gorgeous, with a lovely 12 knot wind driving us forward, making good progress in the sunshine. Mike is the skipper for the day and he has everything in hand. Here he is making his first VHF broadcast!
Mike makes his first VHF broadcast
Living on a boat for so long does change the way you view things in life. For starters, just thinking about possessions. I have my own cabin, and whilst its luxurious in terms of living on a boat, its a very small personal space by most standards, and has just a little cupboard and a shelf for storage.
I’ve nicely filled my cupboard, yet have very few things with me really, however, if I were to re-pack, I could easily halve the items I’ve brought. It makes you think about what you really need to exist in life. We surround ourselves with so many possessions, we are so very lucky, but what do we really need?
The other thing is washing! I always used to change my clothes everyday, now I make things last a few wears; I used to shower twice a day, now its more like twice a week – and I’m absolutely fine – well, at least no one has made any comments, and people still seem happy to sit next to me at dinner!
When you are busy at work, you just get your head down and carry on with the hum drum of life. Sailing however, gives you lots of time to think about things and work out what is really important in life. Many of us on this trip on RBE have said it has changed us in some ways – maybe it is because of the time we have to think?
We are all strangers brought together by a desire to learn to sail and to take a life changing experience, as such, we have to learn to get along with one another and live harmoniously in a confined space. Like learning to sail, this can also be more of a challenge for some than others, however, I think I have made some lifelong friends on this journey.
Its now midnight – and Im updating the blog – have just read through what I typed earlier today and realise I must have been in a philosophical mood earlier – sailing does give you time to think indeed!
Our sail was lovely and we only had to motor for the final part of the journey. Reaching Northern Ireland, we can look back and still see the Isle of Man – much better visibility then when we sailed there the other day. Bringing a 45 ft yacht into a marina is always an interesting business and very challenging (there goes that “C” word again!), however, this time we had been given the choice of 2 berths, both side by side. Remember when you learned to drive a car and went shopping – were you like me and tried to park miles away from the supermarket as you looked for 2-3 spaces together just to make it easier – its no different with a boat really – so we were in luck today. However, as we approached the berth, the harbour master raced towards us and indicated to another berth which was a tight squeeze – right next to his boat. With just a “little” help from Fred, and the harbour masters boat narrowly missed, we safely tied up.
We have since discovered this “gentleman” whom we thought was the harbour master was no such thing at all, and we have yet to understand his motivation – we do meet some strange people!
Completing our passage safely, Chris radioed Belfast coastguard to inform them we had safely arrived
Chris makes her first VHF broadcast!
We took a little walk into the town whilst Mike cooked up another gastronomic delight – with only 2 days of cooking under his belt, he is under minimal supervision.
I forgot to mention last night that our skipper, Fred cooked for us – a fabulous rissotto with queenie scallops – here he is cooking
I didnt actually believe Fred could cook!
I think you should go onto "Come Dine With Me" Fred
One of the loveliest meals I’ve ever had – sorry for forgetting to mention that Fred! Anyway, back to this evening. Ardglass is a pretty little place, and looked very photogenic in the fading light of day
Ardglass Marina
Ardglass Marina Office
The Ardglass Vikings
I want one of these boats!
I found a lovely castle named after my very dear friend Jordan!
Jordan - you have your own castle - you are a princess indeed!
And eventually found a pub
We found a pub!
which had its own well
Well oh well!
As well as a friendly landlord who chatted away to us, and we almost understood what he said!
The meal was fabulous, thanks Mike! Whilst the guys went off to the pub, Chris and I settled down to a DVD together.
Time to sail tomorrow to the last destination of this leg of the RBE – Bangor! I got very excited when I saw this itinerary for this trip as I really wanted to sail through the Menai Straits, but had no idea there was a place called Bangor in Northern Ireland………better look at the map, sorry, chart! Goodnight!
