2025 June 15th, Days 78 - 79 Knockinelder Bay south.

Facebook posts:

06:40: The forecast this morning is not good, light to moderate winds on the nose but there may be westerly or even NW this afternoon or evening that would help. The next few days are worse from here with possible F6 later tomorrow, so I’m going for as far S as I can manage, hopefully The Skerries, once there there will be more options.

Currently (06:43) bashing through the over falls off Strangford under engine with the SSW wind, that has just increased from F2 to F4, and the tide right on the nose, making them worse, when the tide turns in an hour or so things should be more comfortable. Hoping it doesn’t rain to much.

07:10? Through the worst of the over-falls but now F5 on the nose. this water was dead flat as I approached in light winds, a few minutes after the wind increased it was like this. At no time was I within the charted area (just) as soon as I saw it I headed further out helped by the tide from Strangford - if the tide had been going in I would have been further out to start with although the over-falls are worse on the ebb. It got worse after this but I had to stop filming.

08:45: Alongside at Ardglass. With revs for 5.5 knots I was struggling to make three against a short steep sea and that was before the tide turned into the wind. 3 hours to cover 9 miles and the first 3 were at speed in calm water.

The wind is unlikely to turn even to the W let alone NW before 14:00 and it could be light so it would be a VERY long day motoring and I’m not in that much of a hurry.

There was very heavy rain as I approached the harbour but mercifully brief and it had gone before I entered. The entry was rather intimidating as it was low water and the front pontoon was full so I had to go round to the back through a narrow gap with about a foot of water under the keel but I made it without incident.

I made a quick trip to the shop for bread and lunch before the rain started again, light but I am parked with the stern to the wind so have to have the hatch shut which is not helping my gear dry, the boots especially are still soaking inside, fortunately the alternate jacket that I know leaks but was dry when I left and not heavy with water was good enough to withstand the brief shower and the French spare boots that are rather tight definitely do not leak.

There is a chandlery here mainly catering for the commercial fisherman so I will visit tomorrow to see if they have a Guy Cotten jacket for when it's really wet and which does not get very heavy with absorbed water.

I'm not making any firm plans for a day or two until I see how the forecasts are trending but I am checking out the direct route to Anglesey which although a long leg with a TSS in the way should be doable in a SW wind without tacking.

10 miles over the ground in over 3 hours 😒

Monday a.m.

The tentative plan is to head south tomorrow leaving on the tide about 09:00 if the forecast is to be believed, earlier if it is calm, later if the wind has not dropped. Dundalk Bay about 30 miles away is the most likely destination but 45 miles to The Skerries is not ruled out. It Dundalk then it will likely be 20 miles to The Skerries on Wednesday, leaving early for the tide (the ebb runs south south of Dundalk) and hopefully to get most of the way there before the wind backs to the S or SE but I don’t put a lot of credence on that this far out.

Dundalk or even Ardglass direct to Anglesey can’t be ruled out but is probably unlikely, the forecasts are dependent on the position of shallow “waves” in the isobars that can’t be acutely predicted so who knows?

What happens for the rest of the week is anyone’s guess although easterlies might come along as a slack area of high pressure drifts northeast wards across UK but it probably means heading to Anglesey will not happen for a while, if at all.

At long last I might get a few warm or hot days.

Monday p.m.

Facebook Post:

I have been to the local chandlery and hopefully I'll not get soaked by rain again. French Guy Cotten top, very basic but quite long and waterproof to the highest PPE standard, ditto new boots made in Italy, they are particularly impressive, ISO standard with crush proof toe caps, non slip on steel, penetration resistant etc..

The top would not be as comfortable dry as a yachty design but it will only be used, probably on top of the Henry Lloyd (it is large enough), when its raining.

The price? Together £140, about half the price of the cheapest Musto offshore jacket and 10% the price of a premium Musto suit. If its good enough for trawlermen.....

Also, laundry done, water replenished, refuelled, a bit of shopping and ready for the off. 

The 12:00 inshore forecast looks reasonable for tomorrow, if it is W 3 - 4 after midnight and before c 06:00, The Skerries (see above) are a good possibility :

Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: South or southwest 3 to 6, veering west 3 or 4 later. Slight, becoming slight or moderate. Occasional rain or drizzle later. Good, occasionally moderate or poor later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: West or northwest, becoming variable later, 3 or 4. Slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight except in far north. Mainly fair. Good.

But the Met Eireann 12:00 forecast for the next 24 hours does not agree:

Irish coastal waters from Malin Head to Carnsore Point to Valentia and for the Irish Sea 

Wind: Increasing south to southwest force 4 or 5 imminent, occasionally force 6 in the east and on the Irish Sea. Later increasing force 6 at times in the north. Decreasing south-westerly force 4 or 5 by the end of the period.

Click here for the next leg south.

2024 June 24th Days 88 - 90 Ballyhome Bay to Ardglass

An 05:20 start to reach Donaghadee Sound as the tide turned south, I was sailing as soon as I was out of the sound until approaching Ardglass.  The timing was good as I carried a little tide the short distance down Belfast Lough and entered the sound at slack water, or as slack as it gets, at the southern end it just switches almost instantaneously.

Donaghadee Sound at "slack" water.

Exiting Donaghadee Sound. 

The route from Bangor through the sound.

With the northerly wind is was a dead run for much of the way and a little too strong for the cruising chute as a "storm" spinnaker although towards the end I could have carried it but decided not to as the wind was quite variable.

Facebook post: I really, really dislike this mode, more specifically the agro setting it up with a 150% headsail, but the wind is gusting above what, these days, I consider a safe max for the cruising chute from the pole. But here I am on a dead run in F4-5 having just gone through Donaghadee Sound, but it is better than beating against a F5. Hopefully I’ll be at Ardglass fairly early this afternoon.

Note: for a downhaul I am using the spinnaker guy, this keeps the pole aft,
using the normal down haul it would be pulled forward, the sail would not set
properly and it would induce more roll. 

Lighter winds on the last leg no longer running, much better!

A narrow entrance, be sure to stay inside the laterals and
well outside of the cardinal mark on the approach.

And keep close to the pontoon if going to the back of it, more
work to get on to but more turning space when you leave.

I was on a berth at Ardglass just short of 13:26 with plenty of time to re-store, to leave the next day (Wednesday) but it was clear that this would not be a good idea with the wind forecast to initially very light then turning to the south and fairly brisk. As I had a lot of laundry needing doing I decided to stay put and sort that as the next chance will hopefully be Newlyn. I refuelled immediately before a much needed shower - no point in getting smelly from handling diesel and getting up a sweat after the shower!

34 miles in 8 hours.

The marina at low tide. When full screen it

works better slowed down a bit.

Thursday was a non-starter with winds forecast to be up to F7 later in the day, the forecast at the time of writing (Thursday lunch time) is not that positive for Friday:

Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Southwesterly 4 to 6 veering westerly 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 in north, decreasing 4 or 5 later. Slight or moderate, becoming rough in north, and occasionally very rough in far north. Rain or showers. Good, occasionally poor at first and moderate later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: West 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first, becoming variable 2 to 4. Mainly slight or moderate, but rough at first in far north and occasionally smooth later in south. Showers then fair. Good.

But the forecast models show that winds will probably be OK from late morning so the current plan is to leave then and sail to Dundalk Bay which should be OK for a short overnight stop as the brief northerly wind should only be a few knots, Dundalk would give a good start to get to The Skerries in the forecast light winds on Saturday. If that does not work a very late arrival at The Skerries (a 10 hour run at 4 knots) or an overnighter to the Dublin area. 

After that the wind should be generally favourable but rather brisk at times through Tuesday, the main problem might be finding somewhere to park overnight on Sunday when the forecast is for wind to briefly go the the NE at 15 knots, at this point there is no point in over thinking that as things are likely to change, but as a fall back there is always Howth or Dun Laoghaire (Dublin).

I took the enforced stop in warm weather (what a relief from the cold, thankfully it was warm and not very hot) to do some cleaning and do a couple of jobs.

Scrubbing the hull.

Despite some work in Stromness my best speed was still low and getting worse and, as well as I could calculate with infrequent engine use until Tobermory, the fuel consumption has steadily increased. The port side was regressing quickly and I spent over an hour on it before warping the boat to the finger on the other side of the bay. With easier access to the starboard to the skeg and rudder than at Stromness, this is what I found:

Facebook post: 3 coats of Seajet top of the range “Emperor “ in July 2023 “good for “up to” two years”, power wash in March and another coat, part scrubbed in the water in Stromness and this is what it looks like now. No wonder speed is down [and fuel consumption up] 🤬🤬🤬. Not impressed.

I spent a couple of hours cleaning the starboard side but still could not get all of it off, the problem being weed etc. was strongly attached and the "Scubis" cleaner is intended to remove slime and dead stuff. It was hard work.

I managed to achieve this on the skeg, the keel is untouched, the
rest I did what I reasonably could.

Hopefully it was worth the effort.

Fore hatch leak

I have been chasing minor leaks for a long time, the only remaining one was very minor from rain - just a drip now and then, and not much worse when taking waves over the bow but it seemed worth the effort and turned out to be about 7 hours work that helped pass the time.

The wood frame removed and a seemingly minor
issue bottom left.

But on closer inspection the section over one of
the hinges was loose, I suspect not properly secured
when the hatch was modified and new hinges fitted.

I carry an epoxy / fibreglass repair kit, epoxy glue, etc., so securing this was straightforward. It took longer to reprofile this and the frame to be a snug fit. 

It was also clear that there was quite a lot of "give" between the fibreglass hatch and the wood frame it only being secured in the 4 corners and with a pair of machine screws a third of the way along the sides. A couple of the blind holes for nuts used to secure the plastic "window" to hide in were not deep enough forcing a gap between the frame and hatch, those I deepened and I added a second pair of machine screws right through on the side, plus one in the centre of the front and a couple of screws on the back.

One problem is that I had less wide rubber strip than I thought so there is only a narrow strip along the back so its not fully sealed at the aft corners, hopefully any rain will drain forward through the drainage gutters and tubes. A wave over the front is likely to let some water in until I can get hold of more, the small chandlery here does not stock it. 

As an aside, the double sided tape used to attach this type of strip is normally a waste of time, silicone sealant (not glue) does a better job. 

The frame varnished and refitted to the hatch and the hatch to the boat.

Click for the Skerries.

2024 May 10th days 43 to 45, To The Skerries and Ardglass.

Again no wind and chilly with sea fret but warm at times, the wind came up twice but then disappeared within 10 minutes of setting sail and it increased a third time a mile from the anchorage.

On the last three passages across the northern entrance to
Dublin Bay I have had to avoid this ferry.

The Skerries from the anchorage where there was a nice spot
well separated from the surrounding moorings.

45 miles in nine and a half hours

The trip up to Ardglass was rather better, warmer much of the time and I sailed half the time with a pleasant, but chilly wind of 9 - 12 knots from the ESE.

A very large seal in the middle of the harbour entrance.

The narrow channel into the marina, the white marker in the
picture of the seal is shown as a yellow pillar on the chart.
The snapshot was taken as I write with the wind F6 in the
shelter of the harbour. It is rather bumpy so I hope the
wind dies soon.

The narrow channel into the marina, between the red (port hand)
and green (starboard hand) lateral buoys,.

Approaching low tide.

Ardglass is a pleasant stop off point with decent showers, local
shops etc., but its a pity they can't keep the visitors pontoon
clean; the other pontoons and the long walkways in the pic above
are very clean.

Monday was forecast to be blustery and very wet, that was not wrong, as I write it has been raining since late morning and the wind is about F6, as forecast in the lunch time inshore forecast. Aware that this was likely I had the boat refuelled very early.

The wind should die out this evening, the rain may hang around through tomorrow morning but, unless things change, I will be off at about 07:00 for Browns Bay to hopefully get across the North Channel before the wind turns northerly late on Friday or Saturday, unfortunately I suspect there will be more motoring required to get there. Once across I will have a lot more flexibility to make relatively short hops under sail as anchorages with good shelter are relatively plentiful. 

Click for the leg to Browns Bay

2023 June 9th, Day 57 Bangor to Ardglass,

I had the sails up as soon as the fenders and mooring lines were stored but for control I motor-sailed through Donaghadee Sound where the tide was running strongly even though I had reached the entrance at slack water.

Through Donaghadee Sound.

Donaghadee Harbour

Facebook Post 9th June:

Bangor to Ardglass

36 miles in 7 hours.

Click here for the Skerries

Round GB 2021, Day 61. Bangor to Ardglass.

I had  rather a disturbed night, after getting into the bunk early the anchor alarm went off at 01:00, the wind had gone from south west to north east and the anchor was not quite where I said it was and, with a tight set up and at low water, the boat went a few feet over the boundary. The wind then went a little north of west and the boat got a little rocky.

The boats track overnight shown after I had corrected the anchor
location, its never easy to get it spot on and I usually set the alarm
allowing for a larger merger of error.

I had difficulty getting back to sleep but even without the alarm I woke up at 06:30 just about right to make the optimum departure time for the tide, getting the full benefit going south and going through Donaghadee Sound inside Copeland Island, where the tide runs at 3 knots or more, on the flood.

Copland Island, the channel looks wide but the channel is only
about 200 yards across with over-falls possible at the southern end.
Unfortunately the sun was clouded over not long after the pic.

Once clear of Copeland Island the light wind picked up to a gusty F3-5 and it was a quick but cool trip down with the following tide, reaching under the reefed headsail until I had to come to the wind for the last 12 miles or so when I was beating with the reefed headsail and one slab reef in the main.

Ardglass marina is a little cramped around the edges.
 The commercial harbour is the other side of the drying rocks, a
few fishing boats can be seen in the background.

Victorian bathing hut, fish dock back right, entrance back centre
Marina off to the left, the mole just visible.

With F6 (+?) winds forecast for tomorrow evening I will be here for at least a couple of nights. I’m not sure when I can move out, Irish marinas etc. are closed due to Covid-19, so if going south I need a long window because on shore or northerly winds restricts anchoring options and going east also has issues with some wind directions.

35.6 miles over the ground in a little over 7 hours averaging 5 knots mostly under sail and taking it easy.

Slide show all of my pictures Bangor to Ardglass. Page through by clicking the arrows or click in the centre of the pic to view from Flickr in a new window or full screen:

Click here for the next leg to Dundalk Bay.

Stages 7 & 8, Dublin – Dundalk Bay – Ardglass.

Another generally dull overcast day with a few light showers but with a decent wind. I left at six o’clock to get the benefit of some northerly flowing tide across Dublin Bay, progress was good and I was reaching at a decent speed for most of the day. 

Dalkney Island just east of Sorrento point guarding the southern

approach to Dublin bay with its castle and Martello tower.

Muglins, Dublin Bay

Lamby Island, north of Dublin.

The wind piped up to 15 knots plus as I approached Dundalk Bay and I started to get a bad feeling about my chosen anchorage on the south side which would give most shelter from the south westerly wind. 

I’m not quite certain why I decided not to anchor there, in theory it looked good with a sandy bottom and good shelter but it is very shallow, as is much of the bay, and the echo sounder was not quite agreeing with the charted depths (the chart is marked "Owing to the age and quality of the source information, some detail on this [area] may not be positioned accurately") so having manoeuvred round a couple of charted shallow areas (c 1m) I started to get cold feet. Also the wind was forecast to veer to the west or north west (again) which could put me on a lea shore sometime during the night. 

Update: I would have been a bit more comfortable if I then had the Admiralty Leisure Folio for the area (SC5621), sheet 3 has Dundalk Bay with much more detail than the Imray chart or the plotter, although shifting banks would still be an issue.

The question was, what to do instead? Ardglass was 5 hours away and has a narrow entrance to the marina so I discounted that, which left the choice of the exposed northern part of Dundalk Bay or going into Carlingford. 

I set a course for somewhere in between and consulted the Pilot and chart, I could easily get into Carlingford and there are a few places to anchor but I could have difficulty getting out against the tide early next morning so I went to have a look at the north western side of Dundalk bay, tracking along the shore as far west as it seemed sensible to go in the very extensive shoal water. 

I was right on low water so calculation was easy and I knew depths would only improve with time and if I did hit an uncharted mound I would float off, just in case I went slowly under engine and turned when I reached four metres, giving me a couple of metres and a bit in hand. 

Dundalk Bay is about 7.5 nautical miles wide (roughly north to south)
and about the same east to west at high tide.

The wind was now blowing 20 knots but as I moved south and the fetch reduced, things got a little calmer and I eventually dropped the hook just short of the narrow drying channel into Dundalk in 3.6m. With 30 metres of chain out the boat was certainly quite lively, occasionally pitching quite badly but not rolling. I left the chart plotters anchor alarm on for a while but having got a good transit turned that off after an hour or so. 

I turned in with the wind still quite strong and gusting past 20 knots but knowing that the anchor was holding, I had a mile of water behind me and if something went wrong when the wind veered I would then have miles of sea room to leaward.

I woke in the morning to a F3 westerly and relative calm, wanting to get to Ardglass before the shops shut I was away by 6:30, although that was not without incident – the anchor (a 10Kg Delta) had, under the rigors of holding the boat the previous evening, buried itself so deeply that the windlass would not shift it. 

With the chain vertical I engaged the chain stopper and pulled in a link or three whenever the opportunity occurred and eventually the boats motion freed the anchor before I had to resort to the engine or wait for the tide to rise significantly. Worrying at the time because although I thought I knew what had happened  I might have fouled something but reassuring that the anchor is worth its “high holding power” rating.

Sailing was pleasant until approaching Dundrum bay when the wind dropped so I bit the bullet and motored the last 12 miles or so. Arriving at Ardglass, which I had last seen in 1972 when I was stationed nearby with the RAF, at 12:40. It was then nice to meet up with Liam, a 30 year Achilles 24 owner for a quick chat late in the afternoon.

Sunday was spent revictualing the boat, laundry, filling up with diesel (by porterage) as the next convenient opportunity on the planned route would likely be Tobermory, and getting the blog up-to-date.  The plan is to move on to a suitable bay north of here before crossing the North channel and making for Islay.

One of 2 seals in Ardglass harbour hoping for a free lunch, the 

anglers sometime oblige.

Dublin to Ardglass – 78 miles and 16 hours.  

Slide show all of my pictures from Sorrento Bay to Ardglass. Page through by clicking the arrows or click in the centre of the pic to view from Flickr in a new window or full screen:

Ardglass - Browns Bay - Port Ellen