Paddy and the RNLI, Bangor, Douglas and a return home

Those of you following the blog closely will have noted the absence of any posts recently. That has been because of the absence of any reliable wifi where we have visited in Northern Ireland and in the Isle of Man. Here are some belated posts to bring you up to date:

Wednesday 6 July - Glenarm to Bangor

We had a relaxing time in Glenarm, the seat of the Earl of Antrim in Glenarm Castle where we had taken our afternoon tea yesterday. We left at 1100 bound for Red Bay where the lifeboat sponsored by Roger is based. There was no wind and so we motored (again!). As we passed the headland between Glenarm Bay and Red Bay the wind increased considerably, from straight ahead, and we increased the engine revs to power our way through the wind onwards to the part of the bay where Paddy, Roger’s friend and coxswain of the local RNLI, and said a mooring buoy would be ready for us. Unfortunately another boat had taken the mooring, but Paddy came out to move one of his boats off a mooring buoy so that we could use it. We were then taxied ashore in a RIB by Paddy who then showed us around the RNLI station and took us to Harry’s Restaurant (owned by Paddy) where we treated a wonderful meal. Paddy asked that £10 be collected off crew members for the meal and donated to the CF Trust. Thank you Paddy!

Travelling back after our lunch we stopped off at Red Bay Boats, a factory that builds RIBs used by the RNLI and commercial operators as well as private individuals. The factory is owned by Paddy’s brother and exports boats to many countries. We looked at one boat that had been adapted for use by its wheelchair-bound owner.

As we returned to Blue Star Paddy pointed to a small, aged motor boat being launched, saying that he saw lots of people in boats that seemed, perhaps like that one, ill prepared for sea, that he ended up having to rescue. Paddy ferried us back to Blue Star and as we prepared to leave, the boat Paddy had pointed out lost its power and requested help from Paddy and the RNLI, having come only 100yds off shore!

We set our headsail and sailed away out of the bay, then soon took in the sail and motored as the wind came from ahead. We motored on past Glenarm once more, and onwards down the coast for some six hours to Bangor. The sea state became lumpy, then flattened out; the light faded and we put on our navigation lights. Finally we crossed Belfast Lough and entered Bangor marina. It is a large marina, staffed for 24 hours per day and has wonderful toilets and showers!

Peter's jokes:

1. I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me!
2. Jokes about German sausages are the wurst.

Looking back as we are taken ashore at Red Bay

The lifeboat station at Red Bay

The Blue Star crew with Liam and Paddy of Red Bay RNLI, (L-R: Roger, David, Liam, Robert, Paddy, Peter, Mike/me)

Thursday 7 July - Bangor to Douglas

We left Bangor at 0800 after refuelling. There was no wind so we motored. Copeland Island lies a short distance off Belfast Lough southern edge, and we navigated carefully between it and the Irish mainland. There are two sets of small green and red buoys that have to be found, and passage made between them to avoid various groups of rocks. After passing Copeland, another yacht, Ajax, was following us past Copeland Island and then followed a course along the coast whilst we set a course for the Isle of Man. The wind slowly appeared and we set the mainsail and motor-sailed. Eventually the wind veered and we were able to make way under sail alone. Our course took us into the large waves that were rolling towards us and passage was at the limit of comfort for a while before the sea flattened out once more. A fishing boat came towards us; we are required to keep clear so we altered course. The fishing boat altered course so as to head towards us again. We altered course again, and so did the fishing boat. Eventually we resumed engine power and crossed ahead of the fishing boat.

We planned to pass through the Sound of Calf, the small stretch of water between the Isle of Man and the island (the Calf of Man) at its southern tip. The tide was ripping through at 3 knots against us as we powered ahead at 7 knots through the water. The water was very confused and we spun this way and that before forcing our way through into the smooth water beyond. Once on the ‘English side’ of the island we noticed that the sun came out, the wind came from behind us, the sea settled down, and we enjoyed a relaxing sail for a few hours. We envisaged an enjoyable end to the day sailing to Douglas. Not a bit of it! Just then a cold fog drifted in from the east and visibility reduced to no more than 100 yards! We continued to navigate with the help of our electronic chartplotter, relying on our radar and AIS to be seen and to ‘see’ other vessels. We felt confident, but all of a sudden a ‘ghost ship’ appeared out of the mist, about the size of a large tug, although it looked like a passenger vessel. It had no AIS representation (it should have!) and hardly gave any echo on our radar! We detected it only by mark one eyeball when it was about 100 yards abreast of our port side. Did it actually exist?! It powered past us and was not seen again!

As we approached Douglas harbour we radioed ahead for permission to enter, and to check there were no other vessels leaving that we might collide with. Suddenly there were lots of loud foghorn signals from the harbour, and another yacht, Drumbeat, was also radioing in. As we entered the harbour Drumbeat and several other yachts appeared out of the murk and followed us to the waiting pontoon. We had to wait until about 30 mins past midnight when the tide has risen enough for us to enter the marina, passing a bridge that had to be raised for us.

The next day (Friday 8 July) we cleaned the boat, walked into Douglas for coffee, ate a crew dinner out, booked our tickets home for Saturday and watched Shep throw his ‘oilies’ into the bin – they had been slowly falling apart during the week! Because of difficulties with the timing of high water over the next few days, and anticipated bad weather, we decided to leave Blue Star in Douglas for a while instead of proceeding to Fleetwood, before resuming our voyage with new crew in a few weeks time.

Another joke from Peter:

I tried to catch some fog but mist!

A very dodgy joke from me:
* Mooo!
* What's that?
* Calf Sound

Looking back through Calf Sound after we had powered through it

Looking through the fog towards the harbour entrance after arrival in Douglas

The fog is still dense later in the evening

David throws away his oilies after a lot of ribbing from the crew about them falling apart!

Roger and I in Douglas

The marina in Douglas

On our way home - the Liver Building in Liverpool is the home of Amaze who have sponsored our trip (see the link to the right of this page). Amaze are amazing!