Salt water bathing in the Irish Sea

I last wrote as we relaxed in a serene anchorage in the North end of Strangford Lough, considering leaving the comforts of Strangford and heading back out into the wilds of the Irish Sea towards the North Channel.  

Anchored off Mahee Island, Strangford Lough

Our final days in Strangford were, unbelievably, as blessed by sunshine and warmth as the first few. We motored back to Quoile in time to finish off some husbandry work on the deck (renewed the non-slip paint on the top of the deckhouse and cleaned and applied 'Semco' teak treatment to the deck - no small task considering the amount of deck involved!). Aside from the warmth and comfort of Quoile, and the friends we had quickly made there, we had a parcel arriving - a spare part to hedge against what appears to be the imminent failure of part of the boat's charging system (not being able to charge our batteries from the engine would be problematic).  Parcel in hand, we headed around the lough to Strangford village which sits at the entrance, where we had been promised good Guiness (as well as a shop for supplies and a convenient place to stand by for the departure tide).  I would be remiss here not to mention that the welcome we received from the Commodore and members of Quoyle Yacht Club throughout our time in Strangford Lough was nothing short of exceptional - we will certainly be back! 

The Guiness proved to be just as good as promised, and we prepared the boat for what we expected to be a tricky passage up through the North Channel pass the Mull of Kintyre to Campbeltown.  Tricky because of the nature of this difficult bit of sea, but also as the forecast promised variable breezes followed by a stiff Northerly (hard work) then forecast to veer to a stiff Easterly (much better for a close reach towards the Firth of Clyde.)

Theory (Red) Practice (Blue)

Aside from the variable weather, the main considerations for this passage are the strong tides and rough seas that occur through the North Channel and off the Mull of Kintyre, towards the end of our passage.  My plan had been to fight for as much Easting as we could to give the Mull a wide berth, as the tidal currents ease significantly offshore.  Trying to knit together a variable forecast and getting the timings right did not - quite honestly - go that well!  The result was an entirely safe but tough sail into the teeth of a very cold and occasionally quite strong wind, enlivened by a 2-3 meter steep sea on or around the nose!  The promised veer to the East never materialised and the wind, after a frustrating period of near calm which spoiled any chance we might have had of hitting the tidal gate, made it as far as NNE or occasionally NE.  With progress hard against a gentle wind and a strong tide, we anchored briefly in the lee of Copeland Island (at the entrance to Belfast Lough) before heading back out when both the wind and Northbound tidal stream appeared. There was then no shortage of wind, and Tuesday night found us heavily reefed with our No3 Yankee (Smallest of the headsails on the bow) making a debut appearance as we bashed along into short and rather cold seas.  The sail change to the No 3 was a somewhat emotional experience; Contour does not have any form of roller-reefing on any of our sails, so putting up a smaller sail consists of taking down and securing / un-hanking one sail, and (unless already on deck) moving up, hanking on, and attaching sheets to the new sail, before hoisting.  Easy to type, harder to do in a seaway! It involves prolonged fun on the bowsprit, which in these conditions meant spending a lot of time buried in large chunks of the Irish Sea.  

(I thought Hazel was steering at this point but it turns out she was taking pictures & laughing!)

Cold weather watchkeeping

Freezing jets of seawater made their way a surprising distance up the inside of my waterproof trousers (eat your heart out James Joyce), although for reasons which were not entirely clear to the more sane member of the crew, I came back aft with a huge grin on my face having very much enjoyed the view!  The investment turned out to be a good one as, whilst the wind and sea both increased further overnight to a good going force 6, Contour was beautifully balanced and took it all in her stride, fine sea-keeper that she is - the autopilot taking most of the strain. Whilst we were sailing fast, we could rarely get much (or any) East into the course, and this lead us closer to the Mull of Kintyre than was ideal - we started to really suffer from the tidal currents, such that most of Wednesday morning was spent beating back out East (through occasional hailstorms) so we could round the headland and Davaar Island South of Campbeltown and enter safely. After what felt like a long day, we made our way into the well-sheltered Campbeltown loch, slightly getting under the feet of HMS PEMBROKE as she dashed in for a boat transfer, and happily anchored off the town to warm up, indulge in a sizeable (and admittedly fairly early) nip of whisky and a debrief in the afternoon sun (still with plenty of layers on).

Arrival

Tough sailing always teaches you things, and we learned a few good lessons; whether sail management (we had stowed the large No 1 Yankee given the forecast, but given the chance of weather worse than forecast we should also have prepared the small No3 in advance), eating more in bad weather to sustain energy levels, some technique points about using our lifelines and jacklines (I got very wrapped up in mine when changing sails) or (perhaps most amusing in hindsight) Hazel learning (again!) what a terrible idea it is to open the fridge on the Starboard tack......

Changing a damaged hank

We spent a quiet afternoon tidying up the boat and servicing gear we had used, utilising the ever useful YouTube to learn how to change a broken sail hank, before cooking an enormous stir-fry and collapsing into bed.

I'm writing this comfortably moored alongside in Campbeltown marina, which we are sharing with several participants in 'Exercise MCM Warrior', most notably HMS BITER and what seems to be most of Northern Diving Group.

Hail!

My memories of Campbeltown revolve chiefly around fleeting visits to the NATO fuel jetty when operating in the Northern areas, or the occasional long bus-ride from Faslane to join a boat-transfer. As is perhaps often the case, I had previously not entirely recognised quite what a stunning setting the town enjoys. Hazel and I headed off for the afternoon to climb Ottercharach Point at the South East end of the Loch and circumnavigate, by means of a prolonged rock-scramble, Davaar Island (accessible at low water over a Causeway). Again the weather has been kind, with bright sunshine and only the briefest hail-storm to remind us that we are indeed in Scotland in March.

View across to Arran from Ottercharach Point

Davaar Island Light

Davaar Island from the Loch

Teeming sea-life on Davaar beach

The weather is set to blow hard from the North for the next day or so, and so with a bit of time in hand there are (as always!) boat jobs to get on with as well as some life admin (and Hazel's job) to keep up with so we expect to be here 2-3 days before we again sail Northwards towards Rhu. We might in the margin also perhaps try and work out why Campbeltown is known as the 'Whisky capital of Scotland'......! 

Never a shortage of weather....

We are hoping to make at least one stop en-route, perhaps on Arran, although with the Firth of Clyde before us there is plenty of choice....

You can follow our progress on our boat page at noforeignland.com