Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and Scotland

 

Pat, Jeremy, Sara, Kathy and Gaynor

We left Holyhead Harbour on Thursday 13^th July. Our repaired autopilot, Neco, was working again. Thank you Ed and the team at Holyhead Marina. Great job. The 55nm crossing of the Irish Sea was very wet. It rained all day. The winds were light and cold. We motorsailed the whole way to the Isle of Man. We put out two fishing lines, one each side. Some dolphins swam past the stern and soon afterwards, the lines tangled with each other. Jeremy spent two hours untangling the mess.

 

Jeremy and Kathy in windy Port St Mary

We tied to a visitors’ mooring buoy in Port St Mary outer harbour at 1735. It was still raining. When the tide was high enough, we moved to the inner harbour and secured ourselves to the New Quay. The water was clear enough to see that the bottom was not level which was no good for Sal Darago’s two keels to stand on when we dried out. Fishing boats had taken over the quay and the smell of rotting fish was overwhelming, so much so that it stayed on Jeremy’s shirt and gloves even after a hot wash in a washing machine. We untied all our lines and moved to the quay opposite. We secured ourselves once more. I noticed that the seawater pump tap in the galley was dribbling when the engine was in tickover. This had never happened before. The raw water pump in the engine was dripping.

 

Port St Mary inner harbour. Can you spot Sal Darago?

We spent five days in the Isle of Man. My sister, Pat, let us have the use of her house, car, washing machine and shower. Wonderful; thanks, Pat. She cooked cock au vin for supper. Delicious. Port St Mary Yacht Club offered us the use of the club and its showers. Neil, the Harbourmaster, offered us water, electricity and showers for £22 a night. We met up with Pat and sister, Sara for late night drinks on Saturday night at the Albert pub near the harbour.

 

Isle of Man steam train

During our stay, Pat arranged for family to get together at her house for a buffet and burger supper. It was good to see Nicky, Morgan, Lochie, Pherick and Ryan again and catch up on their news. Later on, I went to a music quiz with Pat, Sara and her husband, Geoff. Our team came fourth out of ten.

 

Nicky and Morgan

We used Pat’s car to fill our diesel cans at the local garage. Jeremy scrubbed Sal Darago’s hull when she dried out and checked all was well underneath. In the engine compartment, he found the rubber impeller in the raw water pump had broken fins, which blocked the flow of cooling water. This was also the cause of the seawater backing up and dribbling through the tap on the sink. He replaced the impeller and we were good to go again.

Broken impeller

On our last night in the Isle of Man, we had a meal at the Shore Hotel. Gaynor our niece, was able to join Pat, Sara Jeremy and me for another family get together. We were sorry to miss Miki, Chris, Isaac and Abigail who would be arriving in the Isle of Man soon and Ryan’s wife, Becky. 

 

Ardglass Marina

On Tuesday 18^th July, we had a wet motorsail in light winds across the other half of the Irish Sea to Ardglass Marina in Northern Ireland. It was still raining when we tied up at 1820. In the morning, we paid £35 for one night, enjoyed good, hot showers, walked into the village and bought a few groceries at the shop and post office. We just had time for a look at two of the historic castle keeps (I believe there are six) before returning to Sal Darago. We took the afternoon tide north in showery weather and anchored off Copeland Island, near Belfast Lough, in the evening.

 

Glenarm Marina

The next day we took the afternoon tide again and motored northwards in sunshine and showers to Glenarm Marina. Jeremy prepared a course for the island of Mull in the Western Isles of Scotland. We could see the Mull of Kintyre, which we hoped to pass on our way north. Our stay in Glenarm Marina cost £38 for one night with all facilities available. On Friday morning, we had showers and went for a short walk into the village popping into the well-stocked village shop for supplies.

 

Glenarm Castle

It’s 70nm from Glenarm to Crinan in the Scottish Highlands. It was important to leave at the correct time for the north going tide as it flows strongly across the North Passage, around the Mull of Kintyre and beyond all the way to Crinan. We decided to take the tide as far as Gigalum Sound in the island of Gigha and anchor while the adverse tide flowed past. Once again we motored in misty, hazy, drizzly conditions with little or no wind and flat seas. We swept past the Mull of Kintyre recording 7.8 knots on the Garmin GPS. The rain came down steadily in the evening. We anchored off the old ferry pier at 2045. We grabbed a few hours’ sleep before setting off again at 0300 in the dark. The bow navigation lights would not work, so we used our tricolour.

 

Passing Duart Castle, Sound of Mull

When it was light Jeremy mended the navigation lights by cutting and reattaching the wire. Unfortunately, he cut his finger on his Stanley knife in the process. We recorded speeds of 7.5 knots in the Sound of Jura. At 0830 on Saturday 22^nd July, we tied to the fuel berth at Crinan Boats and took on 100 litres of red diesel. Customs regulations allow a 40% discount for heating, but we found the diesel was marginally more expensive than white diesel from the garage in the Isle of Man.

We anchored off the Crinan Hotel near the Crinan Canal sea lock. We were able to have a few hours’ sleep before setting off for the Dorus Mor. It’s advisable to go with the tide through this narrow passage. We recorded speeds of 10 knots as we zipped along, motorsailing into the Sound of Luing. The tide swept us up through whirlpools to Fladda Lighthouse and into the Firth of Lorne. 

Our daughter, Emily, husband, Ben and children, Ellie and Sophie had driven to Oban and were boarding the 1815 Isle of Mull ferry. We thought we might see them at Craignure but it was not to be. As we approached Loch Aline in the Sound of Mull, we saw the ferry in the distance, passing Lismore Island. By the time we anchored towards the head of Loch Aline, they were on their way to Tobermory.

 

Jeremy steering on our way to Loch Aline

Today, we have had a rest day in peaceful Loch Aline. Tomorrow, we hope to sail to Tobermory, which is only about 2 hours away. We’re looking forward to being reunited with Em, Ben and the grandchildren whom we have not seen for six months.

Terceira, Azores to Holyhead Harbour, Wales

 

The Azores High

We were in the marina office at Angra do Heroismo before 0900 on Wednesday 28^th June. Customs and Immigration were already there. We paid our marina bill and were stamped out of Europe by Immigration. We expected easterly winds (we wanted westerlies) but we did not expect 16-24 knots blowing in the outer harbour as we stowed our fenders and lines. I started taking Stugeron.

We decided to head east along the south coast with the wind behind us, go round the west end of Terceira and set a course northwards. The winds were fluky at first. When we were off the west end we found ourselves in an acceleration zone with variable winds up to 45 knots. We hoped this would be short lived. S/V Vagabond, whom we’d spoken to on our way from Bermuda to the Azores appeared on our AIS (Automatic Identification System). Jeremy called them on the VHF radio to warn them of the conditions. They were on their way to Angra do Heroismo.

 

The spiral driving cable fits inside a tube

The forecast easterly wind blew from the ENE, so we were sailing close hauled with two reefs in the main and a tiny genoa. The wind gusted from 16-34 knots, the sea was rough and boisterous and the sky was grey and cloudy. The barometer climbed from 1026mb to 1041mb in 24 hours. We had forgotten to close a cock in the heads and consequently we had quite a lot of water in the bilges when Jeremy checked.

 

The stern end of Neco's steering arm

Gradually, the wind eased to 17-20 knots but remained stubbornly ENE. The grey clouds cleared and the sun shone. The barometer continued to rise steadily. At long last on Friday 30^th June the wind shifted to the E and calmed down so much that we were motorsailing by 1000hrs. Having reached 1045mb the barometer started to fall slowly and the wind shifted to NNW.

We were still motorsailing the next day in calm weather. Then our autopilot, Neco, that steers Sal Darago when she is under engine, broke. It was my watch. I hand steered and called Jeremy up to the cockpit. He investigated and found that Neco’s steering arm had a broken spiral driving cable. With great difficulty, working under the stern berth, Jeremy removed the steering arm. He accidentally dropped the stern hatch cover on my hand, cutting the knuckle of my little finger. Neco could not be fixed at sea. A new spiral driving cable was needed.

 

Wind and waves lashed Sal Darago

Fortunately, we still had the Hydrovane, our wind vane steering device. When the winds were light and we were motorsailing, we helped Heidi to keep on course. When we were sailing, Heidi steered by herself. This process continued all the way to Holyhead. Better weather followed for a few days, but the barometer continued to fall steadily.

On Thursday 6^th July we were back to strong winds gusting to gale force from the SSW, big seas and breaking waves. However, it eased overnight and in the morning we made 2 loaves of bread. In the evening the barometer dipped to 999mb. We began to pick up the weather forecast from Valencia Coastguard Radio. We were about 50nm from the SW coast of Ireland when we heard the first gale warning. We had 2 reefs in the mainsail, close hauled with Heidi steering. Waves broke over Sal Darago and we sheltered in the saloon, mopping up as water came in through the main hatch and heads vent. It was a scary night. 

 

Several sail slides broke in the gale

Winds of gale force 8 reached severe gale force 9. One wave almost took off our starboard side dodger. Jeremy went into the cockpit, rescued the dodger and tied it back on. The barometer bottomed at 993mb on the morning of Saturday 8^th July. Two hours later the wind dropped from gusts of 43knots to 16knots. The barometer rose 13mb in two hours and the sun shone. The difference was stunning. By the afternoon we were motoring in light winds. Jeremy found the second reefing cringle and block had parted on the mainsail. We had also lost a man over board light from one of the stern horseshoe buoys.

 

Many letters need to be sewed back on

At 0600 on Sunday 9^th July we took the inshore passage between the Tasker Rock and Carnsore Point. We were in the Irish Sea. Hurray! A pleasant, sunny, day sail followed all the way to Holyhead Harbour. We motored in at midnight and tied to a yellow buoy. The next day we learned that we were not on a Holyhead Sailing Club mooring. We moved in wind and rain across the harbour and secured ourselves to a visitors’ buoy. Jeremy began to make enquiries to find out if anyone could fix Neco. Holyhead Marine suggested we try the marina and soon we were talking to Ed, who thought he might be able to help.

 

Lunch at the Waterside Bistro, Holyhead

Ed and his team rose to the challenge, sourced a new spiral driving cable, made adjustments so that it would fit the steering arm, took everything apart and put it together again. We were impressed and delighted. As I write this, Jeremy is tackling the challenging job of fixing Neco’s steering arm back in place.

 

Jeremy with Holyhead Harbour behind

We have been impressed by the hospitality shown to us by Holyhead Sailing Club and Holyhead Marina. The hot showers in the club were most welcome and the laundry facilities in the marina were good. Our mooring fee of £27 per night included the use of the SC launch, driven by either Chris or Nick. They came out to the mooring in all weathers to take us ashore and we appreciated it.

 

Putting Neco's steering arm back in place

Tomorrow, we set sail for Port St Mary, Isle of Man, 55nm away.