Concerto
Well-known member
Time to move again. After checking the best time to enter Strangford Lough would be 18.50 and back working to when I should leave Carrickfergus, the big guess was what was going to be my average speed over the ground. Well my estimate said I should leave at 13.00.
That gave me a bit of time to do a few things before leaving at a civilised hour, including using the drone. For once I left at exactly to the minute. The wind forecast was for S veering to W 6 to 8 knots. Yet another forecast that did not match reality. Leaving Belfast Lough meant a course of 091 degrees. I raised full main and tightly trimmed the sheet with the wind very close to the centre line of the boat to motor sail. So the wind was ESE, not in any forecast I saw. As I started the turn at Orlock Point, inside the Copeland Islands, the wind remained on the nose. There was still a little bit of adverse tide and a few white caps, so definitely more than 6 to 8 knots.
There were a few other yachts out sailing northwards and several following me under engine. One boat had a slightly strange off wind sail up that looked too small and set without a pole or the tack fixed like a cruising chute.
The more the course turned southerly, so the wind kept veering. There was no point in trying to beat with a headsail as I would arrive later than the ideal entry time, so I continued motor sailing. However I decided it was better to tack the main on a regular basis as it would flog otherwise. I was only tacking through 20 degress, but it did make a big of difference. About a mile and a half before the buoy to enter the lough, I dropped the mainsail and rigged for berthing both sides. Fitting 4 fenders each side and lines took quite a while, so I nearly overshot the buoy. According to the tidal guides it should be slack water but it had just turned and was entering the lough. Great fun entering the narrows doing between 8 and 10 knots over the ground.
The plan was to enter the Portaferry marina, provided there was space. When I tried the land line and mobile numbers, there was no reply. The approach is not too bad provided you are close to the shore. There are some green cans to help you in, but the cross tide eases rapidly once in the entrance. On the end of the hammerhead is a plan showing which are visitor berths. I wanted to berth into wind and tide, and the best berth for me was inside the hammerhead. Not quite enough room to turn straight in, so a little reversing to assist swinging the stern with propwash and forward on full helm got me correctly lined up. Gently easing into the berth, I hopped on the pontoon and secured the aft spring and then the forward spring, then both brest ropes. A little final adjustment and I was completely tied up in about 2 minutes with no assistance. An almost perfect mooring up, if I say so myself. It was now 19.30 and I had travelled 38 miles. The log showed there was only 0.12 knots of tide flowing through the marina.
Once I had tidied up on deck, the marina manager came over to tell me the gate code and point out the toilet and shower. He had seen me moor up and said I did it very neatly. When he realised how far I have travelled this year, he was impressed as I was singlehanded. To me it is nothing unusual.
Slightly later I noticed there was a warm glow from the sun and decided to capture some shots of the marina.
Drone view of Carrickfergus marina
The odd looking downwind sail
Concerto in Portaferry Marina
They squeeze them in tight here
For anyone wanting to read the reports from the start, this is the link to first one.
Round Britian day 1
That gave me a bit of time to do a few things before leaving at a civilised hour, including using the drone. For once I left at exactly to the minute. The wind forecast was for S veering to W 6 to 8 knots. Yet another forecast that did not match reality. Leaving Belfast Lough meant a course of 091 degrees. I raised full main and tightly trimmed the sheet with the wind very close to the centre line of the boat to motor sail. So the wind was ESE, not in any forecast I saw. As I started the turn at Orlock Point, inside the Copeland Islands, the wind remained on the nose. There was still a little bit of adverse tide and a few white caps, so definitely more than 6 to 8 knots.
There were a few other yachts out sailing northwards and several following me under engine. One boat had a slightly strange off wind sail up that looked too small and set without a pole or the tack fixed like a cruising chute.
The more the course turned southerly, so the wind kept veering. There was no point in trying to beat with a headsail as I would arrive later than the ideal entry time, so I continued motor sailing. However I decided it was better to tack the main on a regular basis as it would flog otherwise. I was only tacking through 20 degress, but it did make a big of difference. About a mile and a half before the buoy to enter the lough, I dropped the mainsail and rigged for berthing both sides. Fitting 4 fenders each side and lines took quite a while, so I nearly overshot the buoy. According to the tidal guides it should be slack water but it had just turned and was entering the lough. Great fun entering the narrows doing between 8 and 10 knots over the ground.
The plan was to enter the Portaferry marina, provided there was space. When I tried the land line and mobile numbers, there was no reply. The approach is not too bad provided you are close to the shore. There are some green cans to help you in, but the cross tide eases rapidly once in the entrance. On the end of the hammerhead is a plan showing which are visitor berths. I wanted to berth into wind and tide, and the best berth for me was inside the hammerhead. Not quite enough room to turn straight in, so a little reversing to assist swinging the stern with propwash and forward on full helm got me correctly lined up. Gently easing into the berth, I hopped on the pontoon and secured the aft spring and then the forward spring, then both brest ropes. A little final adjustment and I was completely tied up in about 2 minutes with no assistance. An almost perfect mooring up, if I say so myself. It was now 19.30 and I had travelled 38 miles. The log showed there was only 0.12 knots of tide flowing through the marina.
Once I had tidied up on deck, the marina manager came over to tell me the gate code and point out the toilet and shower. He had seen me moor up and said I did it very neatly. When he realised how far I have travelled this year, he was impressed as I was singlehanded. To me it is nothing unusual.
Slightly later I noticed there was a warm glow from the sun and decided to capture some shots of the marina.
Drone view of Carrickfergus marina
The odd looking downwind sail
Concerto in Portaferry Marina
They squeeze them in tight here
For anyone wanting to read the reports from the start, this is the link to first one.
Round Britian day 1
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