Northern Ireland and the Giant's Causeway

Having waved goodbye to our visitors in Ardrossan we planned to go to Troon, then Stranraer.  In the manner of all good plans, we changed it because there actually was a decent breeze blowing in the direction of Campbeltown.  It wasn't our day, the wind didn't last and we had to resort to Motor Sailing - sadly this means that we have now spent £8 more on Diesel than on Calor Gas.



Drifting towards Campbeltown, Sprigs not happy. Ailsa Craig rock visible for the last time in the background.

Seven hours later we had completed the 40 nm trip and were rewarded with yet another Scottish Sunset over Campbeltown Harbour



We had already seen the Highlights of Campbeltown on our last visit, so spent our time there planning the crossing of The North Channel to Ballycastle (Northern Ireland).  Having read the Irish Sea Pilot Book, a stiff drink was required to summon up the courage to attempt the crossing!  To quote:  The Northern Channel constitues one of the greatest challenges to a cruising yacht in the waters of the British Isles due to its tidal races and overfalls.

We had certainly used up our quota of sunshine in the Clyde, and the Southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre was only just visible through waves of very heavy drizzle. Fortunately this only lasted a couple of hours and by the time we were in the North Channel we had a decent breeze and the sun was out again.  As we neared the race between Rathlin Island and the Irish coast we averaging 10kts SOG in 13 kts wind speed.

Ballycastle Harbour, NI

We never did find out why the fishing boats appeared to have Car Wash Brushes attached.

View to the West - Mull of Kintyre visible in background

Ballycastle Beach - perfectly formed surf, Rathlin Island in background

Ballycastle is a short bus ride from the Giant's Causeway - one of the Natural Wonders of the UK - it consists of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic activity. 

Legend has it that the Irish warrior Finn McCool (Fionn mac Cumhaill) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish Counterpart Benandonner.  It is justifiably the most visited tourist attraction in Norther Ireland and a World Heritage Site.

The Bushmills Whisky Distillery just happened to be a couple of miles away - Zilla needed a good walk, and it is the considered to be the oldest licenced distillery in the world.

It did look rather like a prison

Our next destination was Bangor, which involved sailing back into the Rathlin Tidal Race.  We left Ballycastle in 5 kts, wind against tide, and by the time we got to the race it was 13 kts and still wind against tide - an interesting sea with some spectacular tidal eddies.  At one stage we found ourselves going sideways and had to use the motor to escape the eddy.  We made good time to begin with, but the wind later died and it took us 8 hours to cover the 40 miles to Bangor.

East and West Maiden Lighthouses - clearly the place to go if you want to be really alone!

We arrived in Bangor in time to see the Race Fleet prepare for the Thursday Evening race - there were 6 Waverleys - the oldest ones built in the late 1900's, and this is the newest one in the fleet: circa 1954!



A 'New' Waverley paddles out to the race.

The Fleet struggle on in ever dropping wind.

The race is finally abandoned as a spectacular rainstorm hits Bangor!

So:  We have learnt that our 'Three Wise Men' have now become 'Four' - welcome to John Hume, originally from Scotland, who acts as a consultant for the Ancient Mariners and is following our progress from his home in New Zealand.

The Plan:  next stop Whitehaven (the home of the Brocklebank shipping line) - could be an early start for us, one for the watchers Down Under.