Didn't we have a lovely time, the day we went to Bangor......

The original plan to head down and anchor off an island on the way (Gigha/ Islay / Jura) was canned when the weather window became a small slit instead. One day of sensible winds then force 7 again. So, a run to Northern Ireland was planned.

It was one of "those" decisions though. Leaving Ardfern at the right time to get a calm trip past the Mull of Kintyre meant arriving NI in the dark (ie braving all the fishing markers en route to the harbour). So, we decided to go to Bangor as we knew the entrance and likely fixed obstacles! It is also very well sheltered against the promised northerly gales. The shorter run to Rathlin Island or Ballycastle didn't seem sensible - we were craving somewhere with real supermarkets and a nice train service in case the bad weather hung around.

As always, passage planning is a compromise. The forecast was for NE or N force 5's and so if we had the wind against the tide just south of the mull, it would have been pretty bumpy. Hence we timed it to pass there about an hour after the tide turned to go south allowing things to calm down a bit. Meant less tidal assistance for the trip overall but also much flatter.

The day started calm and sunny - Loch Craignish:

It seems strange to be in 139 metres of water (the sounder shows the depth under the keel) when you are so close to the shore:

5.5 knots was because we were pushing the tide to start with. Due to the eddies (see the little whirlpool pictures on the chart above) we would slow down to about 5 knots then speed up to 7 as we passed through the shallower areas and the spring tides swirled around the rocks. There were lovely views with the cloud formations above the islands (Jura here):

The Mull of Kintyre was nice and calm as we had optimum timing. Like the trip up, it belied its fearsome reputation for rough weather and we were able to pass close inshore. Here is the mull, with Sanda and the Ailsa Craig in the background:

Visibility was good so from the same spot, Ireland loomed in the distance (about 20 miles) although blanketed by cloud. A warning of what was heading over..

For info, the drunken horizon on this picture isn't down to the crew for once. Entirely the Captain's doing - we needed the stabilisers on shortly after this and there was no alcohol involved - trips are always "dry".

Just south of the Mull it was "sloppy" rather than rough as the forecast winds just didn't happen and so the officially moderate to rough seas were nothing like that. Just sloppy but the stabilisers sorted out the roll nicely. It was a night when using the AIS seemed optional for some of the commercial boats out there. The tug Tregeagle (used to be based in Fowey, one of our favourite spots and the port where the boat is registered) was towing a barge across to Stranraer with no AIS working. Here she is back in Fowey a while ago - proper tug shaped old stager from 1964 with a nice smoky antique 2 stroke diesel engine:

There was also a Scandinavian cargo ship heading up the west side of the mull and ignoring the traffic separation zone: same no AIS game. Shows that you cannot rely on the new technology to alert you all the time! Radar is wonderful if old tech now. 

Belfast approaches were busy and the amount of light from the shore meant we could sort of see a few yards ahead. Psychologically that helped us believe we could avoid the fishing markers! Into Bangor just after midnight, following an 18 hour trip that was way calmer then expected. The force 7 was promised (and happened) at about 8 the next morning. Here is Bangor at night:

No maintenance news to report - the big Lugger was very happy and no real excitement en route. Interestingly (if you are into that kind of thing) the engine room temperature was only 2 degrees less then when we made a similar length trip at the same rpm with an outside air temperature that was 10 degrees higher. You could work out the physics behind it but somehow, we can't be bothered.

Despite scrubbing the grass skirt off the boat from her 3 weeks of inactivity, the slime etc. on the hull was taking off about 0.5 of a knot at our usual cruising rpm of 1450. The trip and the sloppy bit around the mull helped regain 0.3 of that. Some of the speed loss will be down to fouling on the prop now and that would need a diver to clean it off. Hence it will wait until we lift her out for annual maintenance early next year. Lower mpg.... Good job we still have plenty of diesel left from Guernsey.