The black Guillemots are everywhere. they are such great characters. They seem very tame and let you get pretty close.
I thought I had been in Bangor for 2 nights, so my marina bill was a bit of a shock. Some places charge for electricity if you hook up. Others don't. This one did- an extra £2 a night.. I shall have to check before I connect in future.It was deceptive in the marina. The wind was a force 5/6 once clear of the breakwater. Suitably reefed I took off across Belfast Lough on a broad reach doing 7.6Kn at one stage. It surprises how well Hylje goes sometimes. Much bigger boats don't seem to go much faster half the time.
Out to the east I could see the Mull of Kintyre, under a brooding cloud. Its tides are a challenge as the water surges in and out of the top end of the Irish sea. It means timing is important, which is why I'm going a bit further north to reduce the crossing distance.
The coastline continues to be stunning, and I still can't believe how low lying some of the development is. Don't they ever have strong easterlies here in winter? As I passed the Isle of Muck and closed on the Maidens (there's a phrase that I might not get away with elsewhere), the wind turned into the North West, which meant I had to motor sail the last few miles as the wind was almost on the nose.
Glenarm is a very small marina about 25miles north of Belfast. It was half the distance of the passages I have been making. The tide was with me all the time so it only took me about 4 1/2 hours. It was nice to do such a short leg for a change.
In the harbour walls in the old slots they used to have timbers to keep old sailing boats from rubbing against the stone there were black guillemot nests.They have a plaintive little call.The harbour master says that every year the Council wants to remove the grass growing on the harbour walls and each year he has to stop them so that the birds have something to land on when they are flying to their nest holes
Glenarm is a charming tittle town. It's so obviously an estate village at its core.The estate would have been for Glenarm castle.There has been one in the town since the 1200s, but the current one was rebuilt by Alexander the 5thEarl of Antrim. sometime in the mid 18th century.He had a bit of a horse racing problem and squandered his money on it it seems. It is now owned by Lord and lady Dunluce, who kindly posed for this photo. Though not for me!
The house opens to the public occasionally and everyone is exited about the Dalriada festival, which takes place there this weekend.I texted Joe to ask him whether the General Fiasco were big at all.
The walled gardens are open to the public and they were amazing. I like going around gardens and these were the best kept ones I have ever seen. Everything was so healthy and lush.
I was very taken with a range of former garden worker's cottages. The terrace runs up a hill and the roof line follows the slope. This means that the windows and doors have all been made to take account of the angle. Imagine what your average builder would do nowadays!
The greenhouse was fully intact, unlike the usual ruins you come across and there was an incredible line of nepita or cat mint running along its whole length.
I spoke to one of the two gardeners and said what a lovely place it is. He seemed equally enthused. He said he is a local and lives on a nearby hill which looks like a volcano and is said to have been somewhere St. Patrick had a herd of sheep.
I also spoke to a bus driver who was having a look around. He had lived 1 1/2 miles away all his life but had never been there before. How often do people say similar things?
In the town there was a jewelry makers, with 3 or 4 crafts persons turning out some good quality stuff. As the harbour Master had said there was a couple of pubs,a cafe and a woodland walk,I reckon he had undersold the place. Its utterly charming..
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