Farewell Northern Ireland

When I am tired and salt stained, after a long passage at sea, a marina is a very welcome place.  A secure berth, a hot shower, perhaps a meal ashore; all very appealing.  After a day or two however, I begin to feel restless and want to get away to something less standard, perhaps an isolated anchorage in a sheltered rocky inlet.

So it was that, after four days, I was delighted to leave the very fine marina at Bangor and set sail northwards.  We had seen some of Belfast, done some maintenance and waited out a nasty front that brought more wind and rain but now we could push on in bright sunshine and fair winds.

We sailed in close to the Gobbins and the tiny Isle of Muck (I kid you not) in an unsuccessful attempt to see some wild seabirds and then headed away from Northern Ireland, out across the North Channel towards the Mull of Kintyre, a mere 30 miles away.

The Gobbins & Isle of Muck

Visibility was slightly hazy but we could still see distinctive shape of Ailsa Craig to the east and mainland Scotland beyond.  The mountains of Mull appeared on our port bow.

We reached at good speed until the winds went light and variable, then we motored into Campbeltown and moored up in yet another marina.  And so was everyone else, because there was some really nasty weather on the way, with gales and heavy rain.  We tied Rapport with many lines to a substantial pontoon to await the worst!

Davaar Island off Campbeltown