Day 28 16th July 2011 Ballycastle to Glenarm Departed 0645 and arrived 0915 We did this 22 mile hop in 2.5 hours!!!! We planned our passage to use the flood SE going tide. This was to start soon after 0700. As we approached Fair Head in a calm sea we were doing 4.5 on the log. I asked Sally to check our speed over the ground (S.O.G.). We were doing 10.8 knots. Six knots of tide…. We rounded Fair Head and for the next hour we had a very rough ride. There was a F4 against us and a mad tide with us. The sea was piling up in to a short 4 metre swell which was breaking in places. At times our log was showing 1.5 knots while our SOG was 8.8 knots. It got ... read more

This was a sail which started off beautifully. We slipped the anchor in Lough Swilly at 0715 and with the ebb tide had a beautiful sail to Malin Head. As we entered the Inishtrahull Sound I was conscious of the words in the pilotage book.... this is the most challenging Sound on the north coast, more so than Tory or Rathlin. ut we had the tide with us and a gentle F2 on the nose after we turned east into the sound and it was a 6 - 7 knot motor to Inishowen Head. So now though we were safely through the passage the tide turned against us and we took over three hours to make the last ten miles to Portrush. We arrived in this bustling seaside town (think Kilkee by fifty) and tied up ... read more

Departed Aranmore at 1230 and arrived Tory Island at 1710. We were delayed leaving because none of our instruments were working. No Log, and no depth. It took a few hours of chasing cables (the control panel needs a major redoing) but eventually we got them sorted. We hoisted the main, started the engine and slipped the mooring. There are good transits into Aranmore and we used them to get back out. We immediatley met a large group of bottlenose dolphins who gave us a wonderful send off for at least fifteen minutes. They were BIG dolphins. We passed west of Owey island and inside the Stags before making straight for Tory. We kept the engine going all the way partly because the winds were very light and partly because I wanted to see how it ... read more

Depart portnoo at 10.30 and arrived aranmore 17.30 . we covered 15miles in 7 hrs...the day began almost too well in bright sunshine. we raced along at 6kknts towards the tip of Aranmore in a northern breeze. From the southern tip of Aranmore to Tory is only 20 miles we decided to continue about 8 miles west so that when we tacked we could make tory.As we headed west the wind freshened to a good force 5 and the wind veered NE. this sank our hope of making tory. we decided to make for Aranmore instead. for hour after hour we beat into the NE wind b4 rounding the northern end of the island, picking up the transits and finding some visitor moorings sth of calf island. Sally had her hand on the tiller for 7 ... read more

Departed Frenchport at 1900 and arrive next morning in Killybegs at 0700. This was the first night sail. The was an anti-cyclone 200 miles west and the weather was very mixed with four seperate forecast for four different parts of the coast. There were gales in Munster. F6 in the Irish Sea. But Donegal Bay was promised good for Tuesday night Wednesday morning so we decided to go for that. Its 63 miles and the longest leg so far. We talked about our options over breakfast in the hotel and John realised that he was under time pressure and that landing in Killybegs early Wednesday would be very awkward for him so he decided to head back to Cork. We had only spent three or four days togethe but I really enjoyed his company and his ... read more