It was a sunny, cold and still morning. It is so often the best time of day.The wind soon filled the sails though with a gentle force 3 from the south. It was on with the auto helm and sit down and listen to the radio with a cup of tea, the news was of droughts in the south east and the farmers being worried about crops. It was also Prince Philip's 90th birthday and the commentator revealed that he is regarded as a god in the pacific islands. They believe he originated from the spirit of a volcano apparently. Its amazing the stories the British Embassy must put about in some places! The Irish news was full of discussion as to where the cuts would be made Cameron was in Northern Ireland.He was saying to them that public spending was 25% more per head in Northern Ireland than back in England. Furthermore the cuts would be more like 8% than the 19% in England. Look what we are doing for you he was saying.I should have thought that if they are spending 25% more per head on the public sector that it will encourage the Irish government to be fairly savage. There is a view commonly expressed on the radio that the Irish public sector is full of people who have been employed because they are related/ friends with a politician. No evidence is ever provided. Its an easy kick to take,
The Mountains of Mourne started to recede and the land became much more low lying.There seem to be some interesting places along that bit of the coast, which is spoilt only by the inevitable caravan sites.
There is a holiday resort called Newcastle, i was too far off to see it properly, but it seemed to have a large red coloured castle low to the shoreline.
I was very tempted to enter Stranford Lough. it is a beautiful sunken valley connected to the sea by a narrow inlet. However, I needed showers and washing facilities and the forecast was for it to be wet. Belfast Lough was better for my current needs. The tidal flow in the inlet reaches about 8kn, so you have to time your entrance carefully. The tide was on the ebb so there was no way I could have entered at that time anyway. As the water pours out of the lough it forces a stream of water out to sea which causes turbulence a mile or so out. It was very lumpy going through it even on a calm day
As I rounded the eastern most part of Ireland i passed a very rocky and awkward area of water, which required careful navigation. On South Rock there is the oldest rock based light house in Ireland.It no longer works and was replaced by a light ship, which has only recently been removed,
Out to the east I could see the Isle of Man.I was tempted to go there as e TT races were on, though on the radio the rain was stopping the racing
The marina at Bangor is very impressive. It has 550 berths and very good facilities. It costs me about £15 a night to stay and when I compare it to the 28 Euros (£25) I paid for that place in Arklow they are like chalk and cheese. Whenever, I'm in a place like this Hylje always looks like a toy alongside the other boats. Some could probably sling her from their davits and use her as a tender.
Bangor itself looks like a wealthy commuter suburb of Belfast.It is here the Harland and Wolfe shipyard built the Titanic, the Ark Royal and the Canberra.
Despite my careful planning there seemed to be no stage when I had the tide with me today. By comparing my speed through the water with my speed over the ground there was always between 0.5 and 2 kn against me. The difference it made was that I had actually travelled 53nm, but I had moved 70nm through the water. This compared with 50 and 53 respectively for yesterdays trip to Kilkeel.I was on the water for 11 hours and yesterday for 9.
I met a chap this evening who is doing the same as my trip but in stages. He takes a few weeks of in the summer and leaves his boat wherever he gets to and returns to it the following summer. this is his third season,
My journey so far now looks like this:
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