Port Bannatyne to Bangor (warning, early departure)

There was a day when the rain and wind was supposed to stop. At last we thought. Then we looked at the tide times for a run back to Bangor. We decided it was time to head south now as it seems that autumn is well and truly here and the weather is going into that "3 days of low pressure systems, wind and rain then maybe one day of nicer stuff" cycle.

The only downside was that the non blowy day co-incided with tides turning north from Belfast at around 13:30. We didn't want to push them in the north channel area where they run pretty strongly so working back for our 79 nautical mile trip, departure had to be just after 2am to optimise the tidal flows. Yes, 2 in the morning. Rubbish this boating lark,isn't it? We planned to leave a little later and push the first of the north going tide as we approached Bangor but the knowledge that an alarm call was pending stopped us from sleeping properly. So, we got up around 1.30 am...

As a complete change, there was little wind to begin with:

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1.7 knots true wind speed after a week of force 6 and above was quite a treat. As you can guess, the view of Rothesay as we passed by was less than inspiring:

although the compass looks quite ethereal.

To give you an idea of what life looks like from the pilothouse, here is our night time vista:

The FLIR image of the sea ahead and what the radar can pick up for us are most useful. This trip we would not have even tried without the FLIR knowing that there are several areas of pot markers to avoid before we get into open water / daylight.

This picture shows a plotter image alongside the radar display - there are three screens in the pilothouse that we can use for the many varied tasks.

 

You also get to enjoy a little but very boring light show on the port side too:

from the VHF (and HF but it was not powered up for this picture) radios, the autopilot and the stabiliser control panel. There is plenty to keep you amused on night passages. Usually the FLIR picture and the radar are the most popular - we try to avoid running into things!

The route simply heads down the well sheltered eastern side of Bute and then Arran before heading down to Ireland:

and the only slightly bumpy bit was as we came out of the shelter of the Mull of Kintyre where the remaining waves from 4 days of strong NW / W winds were gently decaying. We did get the fun of watching three dolphins play in our bow wave to enliven things - not that common in this area so we hear.

As we approached Belfast Lough, Ken, Debbie and Annika on Juniper came out to say hello and a photo opportunity had to be taken in the (rare) sun:

They kindly took some pics of us too - not quite as shiny or rapid as the Hardy:

and yes, it was a bit sunny. A nice welcome back to Northern Ireland indeed. 

For those of you who remember the rather nice birthday card that the captain had, featuring Black Head lighthouse, here is the real thing:

Although this picture was taken the same afternoon, and we passed by the lighthouse, we cannot claim credit for the image. George, the owner of Cuan Fisher was brave enough to nose in close to the rocks and capture this one for us.

Arriving in Bangor, we had a shore party ready to take our lines. Debbie and Annika were kindly standing on the hammerhead of G pontoon, only we had been to to go to H. Their sprinting ability was impressive, especailly as Debbie had a poorly hind paw. 

The evening was a very quiet one after the 2am get up time. We did enjoy this little penguin diversion though:

 

We do wonder if Patrick thinks he has adopted us. If so, his parenting skills are rubbish.

Maintenance news: Nothing exciting to report. The main engine stern gland is dripping a little bit faster now but nothing dramatic and as it is running nice and cool we have no intention of tightening it up until we get to Penarth again and the boat gets sort of laid up for the winter. The wing engine had a good half hour run as we approached Bangor - it has some elderly diesel in the separate supply tank and we want to burn that off before topping it up with fresher stuff from the storage tanks.