Bangor to Dun Laoghaire

Although we were very settled in Bangor, the reality of Autumn was kicking in. As usual, the weather forecast showed one very windy day, then a calmer one, Naturally, the following week showed calmish winds until it became the current week when things reverted to the two day cycle. Jam tomorrow and all that. This shows the  nice peaky nature of the weather - the top is wave height off Norn Iron and the lower bit wind strength and gusts. an autumnal pattern of low pressure systems was firmly established:

There wasn't a weather window long enough to do the 32 hour trip to South Wales (Milford Haven area), However, there was a bit of a break that would let us get to Dublin without having some nasty head seas. What was the downside - well, a very early start that would be a bit bumpy until things calmed down. The tides and winds did not want to play nicely together,  Ideally, we would leave Bangor at 3am. Only then it would be much rougher out to sea. So, we opted for 4am to let things calm down a bit.

Leaving well before daylight meant replying on the FLIR to spot pot markers so we fired it up to check all was well:

You get to see the temperature differences between the boat structures and guard rails very clearly (black-cold).The image was a bit blurry as you can see so the lens had a good clean ready for silly o'clock the next morning. A 3:30 am alarm was not ideal. Things were still a bit windy as we crept out at low water with not much depth under the keel. Here is how the "office" looked underway:

Heading between Donaghadee and the Copeland Islands you get some serious tidal streams that try hard to push the boat off course which is tricky as the channel isn't that wide or straight anyway. This shows the level of tidal help and it hadn't reached peak flow yet either:

10 knots over the ground, 6.5 though the water. Pretty good really, although the captain didn't spend too long enjoying it. He was busier making sure we stayed in the wet bit as the stream grabbed our keel and wanted us to go in directions that were not too safe. Once we passed the rather worryingly named Skullmartin and turned more to the SW, things started to calm down, with some messy wave patterns on the beam. The further we got from the land, the less shelter we had and the messier they got. The stabilisers won the battle though.

There were several clusters of fishing boats, some well clear of us:

Being a fish anywhere near that swarm of fishing boats was probably a guaranteed early demise. There was one particularly annoying inshore fishing boat that was dropping pots into the sea. He seemed to delight in changing course right in front of us to stress the crew who was at the helm. They probably enjoyed doing things that were basically unsafe and against all the collision regulations. We kind of hope that their pots were pretty empty.

The tides work in a collaborative way from Bangor down to Dublin. As you take the flood tide southwards, you meet a tide that has been running in the other direction pretty much as it changes. So, lots of tidal help which then drops off and picks up again in your favour. Up to 12 hours of help if timed nicely. It makes the trip way quicker - door to door our run took 14 hours after leaving at a less than optimal time. If we tried to do it against the tides, the Time Zero software calculated a 19 hour run and we think that is optimistic.

Here is the route for the 98 Nautical Mile trip:

As the wind dropped so did the sea state and the sun came out to join us too. It was a rather nice run down towards Dublin Bay until the wind shifted again to the SW (as forecast) and the clouds built just as we were approaching Lambay island, to the North of Howth:

At the entrance to Dublin Bay, you get to see Baily lighthouse:

only we were busy slowing down to allow a cargo ship to go into the bay ahead of us, through the shipping channel. We slowly kept going at around 1.200 rpm and 3 knots over the ground which felt pretty pedestrian as we just wanted to get there - tired folks on board by 5pm. We duly let the big guy pass us:

and headed across the bay towards Dun Laoghaire using the "approved" route. Only then the Dublin Vessel traffic Service called us on the radio to say that a dredger which had been pretty much stationary was about to head to the spoil ground to dump its load and they asked us to turn inland, following the cargo ship and then to turn astern of the dredger once it left the bay area. Being obedient folks we did so. Then we heard a call to the cargo ship to say their berth was not clear yet and there would be a 15 minute delay, they were asked to turn around and do a loop around the bay. Wonderful, sure enough we were called and asked to wait for them to turn and then go astern of them. Hence the odd track through the bay:

That added a fair bit of time to the trip, just when we didn't need it but such is life - the entrance to the Dublin docks is pretty manic in shipping terms. We finally entered Dun Laoghaire harbour, avoiding the yachts and dinghies that were racing and onto a pre-arranged berth. It was good to turn off the engine and electronics and contemplate dinner, after check-in at the office of course.

All in all not a bad run considering the weather conditions, the captain had to hose off plenty of salt spray but it really wasn't unpleasant at all. Despite Brexit having happened since our last visit here, we were still warmly welcomed and several local folks wanted to chat about the boat and where we'd been.  Nordhavns are still far from common and elicit lots of interest from yottie types.

Maintenance News:

The starboard navigation light refused to fire up which is just what we wanted at 3:45 am when we were getting ready to head off. The replacement bulb that lives in a handy drawer was fitted and it still did not work. This was very bad news. We discovered that the new spare bulb already had a broken filament, not what you expect or want. Especially as they are expensive little beasts being the higher powered versions. Luckily we keep 4 spares on board so we have a nice green light again.

Campbeltown to Bangor, then a most enjoyable time

Going south there were compromises, as always. If we left at the optimum time for the fastest passage, we would run into some very strong SE or SW winds before we arrived. Leaving earlier meant less tidal help and some initial sideways shove but a gentler sea state for the last 90 minutes or so. We opted for a slightly higher fuel burn and more comfort, naturally.

As we left Campbeltown, there was not much of a breeze going on:

4,9 knots pulled up barely a ripple across the bay. One local inshore fishing boat was being annoying and forcing us to take the long way around him but apart from that, most gentle. As we headed out and passed Devaar island, so the minehunter that we'd seen alongside the NATO fuelling quay was heading back into the bay area, burning off some of the fuel they had bunkered:

When we passed Sanda, the little island just SE of the Mull of Kintyre we allowed the tide to shove us to the west, knowing that when it turned we would get a gentler shove to the east but one that would last longer. Picking a compass course to steer that ought to negate these effects by the time we arrived was part science part guesswork, despite having the help of the Time Zero software. It didn't work out too badly in the end. As we plodded south, so the wind picked up as per the forecast:

and stayed coming from the SE, building bigger and bigger waves. We threw quite a bit of spray around but the ride was not too uncomfortable, with the waves on the port bow and the stabilisers countering any roll. A fair bit of pitching of course, the biggest waves were around 2 metres high, averaging less of course, until we got into the shelter of Belfast Lough.

From the track, you can see how the closer we got to Bangor, the better we are sheltered from SE winds:

During the run, we had some showers and some very thick areas of drizzle, the radar was busy once more. Approaching Bangor, things brightened up until we saw the obligatory cruise liner anchored off the harbour with tenders scuttling back and forth, dragging the passengers back on board for dinner:

We were happy to head into the harbour, secure the lines and kill the engine then enjoy dinner. An OK trip really, around 7.5 hours and no real dramas. We did, amazingly, see one small yacht that was heading around the Mull of Kintyre singlehanded which was on a collision course with us so we had to slow down. The only pleasure craft we saw during the whole run and it had to be on a collision course. The odds of that are pretty remote really.

After a good night's sleep, we got real and removed the bimini cover as some fruity winds were forecast (F8 gales) and we kind of like it the shape it is at the moment. Then a rather nice social time unfolded with an invite to dinner out, coffee and excellent scones with friends (the scones are SO good here) etc etc.  The bikes came out for a trip along the Lough towards Belfast too but a stop for coffee and scones at the Crawfordsburn Country park was spoiled by a thousand wasps joining in. Yes, it must be autumn now. 

The cruise ship thing was ultra-busy in Bangor. Some huge ugly things anchored off and the mad situation here (the boatyard and hoist facility is not run by the marina manager who is also the harbourmaster) means BJ Marine get paid a shed load of money to close the boatyard for a day so the cruise liner passengers can come ashore via it. Wild. Then the Hebridean Princess arrived, way prettier and smaller - they just need the fuel berth in the marina to close for the day:

It was sad to see so many closed up shops in the centre of Bangor. Worse than a couple of years ago. The "regeneration" of the city by the council seems to involve digging up a perfectly good carpark and promenade to put in an events space. How the folks attending the "events" are going to park is a mystery. As for the scene of devastation opposite this "exciting new development", composed of closed shops and a derelict shopping centre where £14 million might have been better spent.... Keep paying the taxes.

Maintenance News:

The big Lugger (John Deere) ran nicely, nothing to report there. We tinkered with the big magnetron scanner radar and sure enough, once the range dropped to under 6 Nautical miles, the targets became indistinct and needed almost full gain. Above that, it works just as it always has. Annoying, probably a trip to the Furuno repair shop lies in the future, it seems like the power being transmitted at lower ranges is insufficient suddenly. Our backup digital radar works just fine on all ranges.

Keith, a serious local lekky man, had obtained a new remote control (wireless unit) for our crane to replace the one that went pop in a big way last year. That will be a fun job back in Wales, getting the right connectors, setting it up etc. A job for a nice dry day.  

One bit of tinkering was completed - the hydraulic oil in the steering system reservoir was topped up a bit and the system re-pressurised. The reservoir is a real pain. The "low and high" marks on the case of it don't coincide with the positioning of the little windows through which you can see the fluid. Rather stupid really Mr Hynautic, so it is easy to overfill. We don't lose much oil though, a little mist on the steering ram when operating so not too much was added. Perhaps 3cc over two years! Not going to break the bank.

Tarbert to Campbeltown

After a couple of windy days, the sun came out and we felt it was time to begin the slow trek south for the winter. We said our farewells to Robert and Deborah, tidied up the boat after a few days of being like a holiday flat and headed out to begin the slow trip south. The weather was most odd / mixed. These three images were taken all at the same time. First of all The Kintyre Peninsular as admired by Patrick and Kylie:

then the view down Kilbrannan sound:

and then the island of Arran:

You can see how the weather looks rather different as you scan across. We had an uneventful run back to Campbeltown, where we planned to wait for suitable weather to head to Northern Ireland as the next stopping off spot. The ever helpful Callum had put some cones out to keep a spot in Campbeltown for us and as we berthed, the wind picked up to deliver 33 knot gusts that wanted to hold us off the pontoon. The thrusters helped us berth, rarely needed but on this occasion.....

The main engine hour meter was as close to celebrating a Nordhavn 47 as possible:

Before you worry about the number of hours, that is just saying I am run in and ready for more. The engine is a big old John Deere 6068 that has been babied since 2009 with regular oil changes, coolant changes, valve gear adjustments and Stanadyne additive in the fuel etc. It is very very unstressed with a low output (166 HP) for the 6.8 litre displacement and should run happily for many many more hours. There, we have tempted fate.

We had a wander around the local museum that was most interesting. Luckily the chair of the trustees was around and he explained a lot about the building, collection and local economy. We learned a few things about daily life there, how the fishing and then Whisky trade made many folks wealthy and also the current decline in the town.  There were a few unexpected bits about the troubles in Northern Ireland too:

We clearly recall the helicopter crash there during that time which killed many intelligence staff. See Wikipedia link for more information on that and the initial attempt to blame the pilots by the RAF establishment.  

Portavadie, road trips and more social time

We mentioned that going to Tarbert allowed us to see the friends who reside in Portavadie. Well, we duly took the ferry over to see them:

The regular little car ferry, the Isle of Cumbrae, had been taken away to fill yet another gap in Calmac's flaky service to another island. So, the poor locals had no car ferry, just a passenger service operated at high speed by a Redbay RIB. Oh yes we thought, that will be a fun ride. Extra bonus, that was for free. It also meant that we didn't have the irritation of the antique car ferry starting up her engines a good 30 minutes before heading off each morning, berthed near us in the harbour. Noisy and a guaranteed early wake-up call. Typically the car ferry returned the night before we wanted to use the service.

After a slow trip on the 50 year old ferry, we met Sheila and Niall, together with Penny the dog. They took us on a road trip to Otter Ferry initially, where we walked to Ballimore House - they offer B and B if you are interested:

Quite a place and a most pleasant walk around their grounds. We did not abuse the Scottish "right to roam" laws though and kept well clear of the house itself. Otter Ferry itself was a place full of memories. Our last visit was in 2013 when we anchored inside the sand bar and had dinner in the pub there so we would use the WiFi to book some flights south. How the world has changed - a great phone signal there now and, if you want to give the nice Mr Elon Musk lots of money, satellite internet via Starlink too. 

After a lovely overnight ashore at Sheila and Niall's house, enjoying their excellent hospitality, we had a short car trip (mainly single track roads of course) and then walked to Kilbride bay where Penny the dog had a great time:

We recognise that ball in the mouth expression so well - very Izzy like. We had a good time too, here are the more photogenic humans:

The captain took one for the team - taking the picture and escaping being in it and spoiling the view, which was rather special too:

Arran in the distance, a little cloud hanging over the hilly bits, just perfect. Afterwards we visited the community run cafe in Tighnabruaich. The village seemed way more alive than when we visited in 2013 and anchored off the Royal hotel. More little shop units were open, the main street was busier too. 

We enjoyed a great time (as always) with Sheila and Niall.   Penny as well. It was a bit sad to leave them and get the ferry over to Tarbert again. However, this was tempered as Iolair was still around and the yottie folks had arrived on their posh Malo too. A rather civilised dinner in the yacht cockpit was enjoyed, even if Robert looks a tad grumpy in this picture (you should see the other one we took!!)

Catching up with the delightful Deborah and Robert, saying bye to the Iolair crew over a coffee, raiding the local Coop and generally chilling was rather good. Barney the dog was reported as trying to return to our boat, not his own after walks as he wanted the "fun boat" - where he gets to destroy toys. We kindly gave Sarah one so Barney could leave their saloon as a murder scene too:

Sorry Sarah....

Here is how another Nordhavn 47 looks as they headed off:

You can see that Neil takes his "checking the area for other traffic" responsibility most seriously. Plenty of waving too from the Skipper and Sarah (but not Barney bin Laden) as they departed:

The weather was no way as bad as they had forecast  - naturally. It got a bit unpleasant towards the weekend but the original forecast was way off yet again. Never mind, it made us spend a week in Tarbert and we had lots of quality time with some lovely people. All good.

Maintenance news:

The lucky genset had a brief run, the aircon compressor had one too, being used to put some load on the genset. Then the genset was treated to fresh oil and a filter swap. Dead simple as jobs go but satisfying and needed

Off to Tarbert and meeting folks

Where next? One of those decisions that we often face as itinerant floaters, pottering around with no fixed plans. Usually the weather and tides play a significant part in that decision as they did on this occasion. We were promised nearly a week of windy and soggy stuff with a couple of particularly nasty days too. What to do - well, the lure of Tarbert was strong. We could see the friends who live in Portavadie, Neil and Sarah were already there in Iolair another Nordhavn 47 and the yottie friends from Troon in their swish Malo were out and about, also threatening to turn up in Tarbert. Had to be done.

Naturally the tide times were all wrong for a trip north but as they are not too strong in the Kilbrannan sound, we just headed off, leaving Campbeltown astern on a nice sunny day:

For the first time ever, we saw a naval vessel on the NATO fuelling pier. Amazing. It was HMS Bangor, a baby minehunter and one that was resurrected from planned scrappage when the Navy realised that minehunting capability in deeper waters might still be handy:

She is the last of her class to survive in service and had just been through a refit. We are always staggered at how many people seem to work at the NATO fuel base when these is so little ship activity there. (We say work, maybe we should say "turn up in their cars"). 

It was a gentle sunny flybridge trip enjoying the views and dolphins until the top of Arran when the wind picked up and we retired inside for lunch. The yottie friends from Troon were also underway and said they could see us. We are pretty distinctive whereas a white yacht with white sails is a touch harder to identify when there are a couple more about. However, we saw them on AIS and knew in which direction to wave:

The pretty route feels strange - you start close to the Kintyre Peninsular, then graze the west side of the island of Arran near Lochranza, then hug the peninsular once more:

Just before the big "hang a left" into Loch Fyne, we had our closest encounter with the friend's yacht and as they were the only one sailing in that direction, spotting the right white flappy things was easy:

As we approached Tarbert, the lovely old paddle steamer Waverley passed us:

Actually that is wrong. She was astern of us, was the give-way vessel, but just aimed for us as she headed towards the harbour too. Being nice people and knowing that she handles like a pig on ice, we eased up on the rpm and let her go ahead of us. She wriggled her way onto the dilapidated pier and disgorged loads of day trippers into the village. Not quite as bad as our usual liner curse as they all left very soon afterwards to head back towards Glasgow:

The berth we'd been allocated was, naturally, occupied. We find that a lot in Tarbert, folks kind of pick what they fancy it seems. Five hours of rather lovely scenery and all in all a chilled time.

Lots of work was going on in Tarbert to prepare for a new boat lift facility. No use for us as it is only for 25 tons, not lardy things like Nordhavns. The noise as big chunks of rock were tipped from trucks and then moved into place was pretty impressive, especially for folks moored nearby. Thankfully we were not. Health and safety wasn't priority #1 either - no safety boat out and about and these guys just stood in the water directing operations:

Nobody was in real danger of getting swept away though.  It seemed "sensible safe" rather than H&S compliant safe that would have cost way more.

Neil and Sarah on Iolar, with Barney bin Laden the Border Terrorist dog were most welcoming and we enjoyed dinner together in a local Italian inspired place that many moons ago was an acclaimed seafood restaurant. The next morning we dragged ourselves around the harbour and up to the ruins of the castle, with sone good views of double Nordhavn 47 trouble:

From higher up you get a nice vista over the harbour but miss out on our boat thanks to the trees:

Looking out to Loch Fyne makes you remember just how beautiful the area is and why we love coming here:

Neil and Sarah joined us on board for coffee, Barney had a great time shredding two of Izzy's old toys (sorry Izzy) that now reside in the bin, sans stuffing. His desire to go for other dogs is so strong that he tried to rush this toy dog wearing glasses in the opticians shop in the village. The glass door stopped him:

He learned however, the following day he walked past with that "I never did anything silly here" expression. 

Short hop to Campbeltown then some exploring

After all too short a sleep, we slowly roused ourselves and imbibed vast amounts of medicinal tea. That helped dull the lack of sleep feeling, even though it was decaffeinated. The weather was supposed to be dry for a few days so we fancied going to Campbeltown as there are some good cycling opportunities from there. 

The little pontoon area gets pretty busy so the crew called the very friendly and helpful Callum who said that several folks had headed off and there was some space for us. Anchor up (no kelp, just mud this time) and we headed off. You can see the "backtracking" from the anchorage to Campbeltown on our MarineTraffic route:

You will see how much closer to the land we went as it was daylight and dry - pot spotting was much simpler. Approaching the entrance to Campbeltown Bay:

and then heading towards the town, with Davaar island astern:

Despite being tired, we had a wake up shower then a good walk around town. Dear old Calmac still cannot run the summer only service here from Ardrossan which must hurt the local economy. The road trip around is quite a long one in comparison to sitting on a ferry:

There is an alternative involving taking a ferry to Arran, then another from Lochranza over to the Kintyre peninsular if you really want to.... The CalMac terminal here looks seriously sad - they haven't bothered to update their scruffily taped message  in the terminal that is now 3 years old either:

All very sad for "The Wee Toon" as it is known. The expansive harbour area now seems to survive on a few fishing boats and some timber exports. The building of wind turbine blades ended quite a while ago so that export traffic has gone. One of the pilot boats was out for maintenance:

and we were amazed to find two more laying around, waiting for something to do:

How a place that has so little commercial traffic needing a pilot justifies having 3 pilot boats is beyond us. Bet the pilotage charges are high!

We were happily berthed and on a good spot for photography from the fish quay opposite:

Several visitors were taking pictures of the boat, not sure if they were Nordhavn dreamers or just thought she was a strange looking thing amongst the yachts.

After a decent night's sleep we dug out the bikes and cycled along the waterside, heading south. Here is the southern side of Davaar island with the Isle of Arran in the background:

Not too bad really. Just to prove there is still some timber being cut and shipped out, this was a small stack along the roadside:

with that lovely fresh cut timber smell too. We headed back into town and then around the north side of the bay / loch. Some nice houses there and this hotel looking impressive:

We remember it as the place that poor Roland, the marine engineer who did lots of Nordhavn work, almost stayed in. We say almost as he got there stupidly late, fell asleep on the bed fully clothed and left again before breakfast to carry on repairing the Kintyre Express ferry. For the full story look at this previous blog post. We still miss Roland and the random phone chats we had so much.

Back in town, the pet shop has a sense of humour:

which is much needed as a lot of the shops are empty, as are two old hotels etc etc. Sad to see as the location is beautiful and the buildings show just how wealthy the area was in the past.  Now it seems as though the only things flourishing are coffee shops and hairdressers. Only one of these is of any interest to the less than hirsute captain.

Another cycle trip took us across the peninsular to Machrihanish:

We hadn't completed the 100 miles walk mentioned on the notice board. More like 6 miles on the bike. 

The area is one we've only heard about in the shipping forecast when they report on the weather conditions there. It hosts Campbeltown airport which has the odd flight to Glasgow but a long military history. Oddly, in the 1980s it was a designated emergency landing place for the US space Shuttle! That would have been quite something to see.

There is a glorious beach in the area:

and we imagined trying to prize Izzy the doglet off there when we want to leave - it would not go well. They also have a rather swish Golf Clubhouse that some kind insurers paid for after a fire in the old building:

with an amazing course running alongside the beach itself. Our friend Niall had  a moment of glory there, coming second in a big open competition. It is nice to know someone famous.

All in all a good stay and plenty of bike exercise too. 

As a post-script, this lovely image of our boat passing Toward Point was posted on Marinetraffic by the Nordhavn dreamer folks we met in Stornoway. Tom is a serious photographer as you can tell:

Thanks Tom, hope to see you again soon.

Maintenance news:

The fuel polishing filter was replaced and the main engine temperature sender connections got a clean up. A few little jobs ticked off the list. Hopefully the cleaning up of the contacts will stop the strange behaviour of the temperature gauge that happened on the last long trip. We often see a quick reduction or increase in temperature as the second higher temp thermostat in the cooling system opens or closes. This behaviour was a bit different, more like a poor connection. If it happens again we will drain a bit of coolant, spin out the sender and give the contacts a really good clean - it was hard to access them fully in situ - then a coat of Stabilant 22 on the pins to help.

The big drive belt on the main engine was checked for wear too - a bit of full frontal, naked John Deere for you:

This full frontal is unlikely to make much money on the Only Fans website we fear.

We also measured up the pulley and belt as an alternator swap is being considered. This one works fine but (there is always a but) it needs 100% field current and quite a few rpm to wake it up. That causes fun when the external regulator tries to swap from bulk charging to float. So, some investigation into a nice new Arco replacement to go with the Arco external regulator was investigated too. Might well be a 2027 project.