Scotland Trip:
Leg 3-4: Dun Laoghaire- Ardglass- Bangor (100 nm)
The new crew for Sipadan had gathered at Wexford Railway Station for the train to Dun Laoghaire, where she lay waiting. It was a trigenerational crew, with my Dad, Tom Higgins, a non sailor, Tomás Higgins, a 12 year old yachtsman in training, and myself Gareth Thomas Higgins as skipper and general dogsbody. The name Thomas had been something of a tradition in the Higgins family going back well into the 18th century, though the last 2 generations had tried to shake it up a bit. I had taken the opportunity to do a supermarket run in Wexford while waiting for the train. As a result, we looked like a motley crew (literally) when we boarded the crowded carriage with our shopping, bags and sail bags full of bedding and clothing. Arriving at Dun Laoghaire, it was getting quite late and the logistics of finding a restaurant and also getting the boat ready didn’t appeal. Thankfully Dominos deliver to the marina!
The first job in hand was the zip on the sail bag, the slider of which had been ripped off on the passage up the previous week when I forgot to detach the rope I use to pull in closed. There’s always something. The rep from Doyle Sails had said that they were too busy to fix it, but that he would leave a new zip slider for me at the drop box at reception. He had asked was I any good with a needle and thread. “Not bad” I had replied. The job of unpicking the stitching and putting the new slide back on and restitching the end of the webbing had to be done in the dark, with a head torch.
The wind in the marina seemed a lot more than what was forecast, gusting more than force 6 through the marina. I took a wander around the berths and there was a crew of 6 on a 32 foot yacht struggling to tie her alongside. They were all in matching heavy weather gear, and to a casual observer, they looked very professional. They told me that they had had to turn back from Wicklow Head on the way south as the conditions were too difficult, I didn’t mention that I was planning to leave the next morning in similar conditions, relatively shorthanded with an octogenarian non sailor and a tween. Once off the dock the next day however, I would be on a dead run across to Howth Head, followed by a broad reach all the way to Ardglass, our destination the next day.
Up at 5 am I roused the crew with some coffee and rashers and with the help of Tomás and a bow spring to motor against, we were off the dock and reversing out, before heading out into Dublin Bay. Too bad there was no-one awake to see my perfect manoeuvre. Any time I had messed it up I had had plenty of spectators! Crossing Dublin Bay, we briefly had to motor upwind to get around the Irish Ferries Ulysses as she crossed our path, en route to Holyhead. Once around Howth Head we were on track, though the wind had really picked up passing Lambay Island and all the way to our destination it didn’t drop below Force 6, well into the 20s.
Despite the strong winds the sea state was not too bad, although the fetch from Dundalk Bay while passing Carlingford did make for an uncomfortable sea for a time. Carlingford did look dramatic and the Mourne Mountains are genuinely imposing as they “sweep down to the sea.” We very nearly had to duck in, as I couldn’t get the engine started as the electronics had somehow drained both the house and also the crank battery. Luckily once we shut everything down, and the solar panel did its thing for an hour the engine eventually started. It later occurred to me that I had a battery starter pack stashed below that I had bought on impulse from Temu. I made a mental note for any future incidents.
St. Johns Point lighthouse was very dramatic with the Mourne Mountains behind it and a mixture of forbidding cloud and shafts of sunshine illuminating the waves. Preparing for our arrival, I telephoned ahead to reserve a berth at Ardglass Marina. The person on the end of the line was extremely soft spoken, with a very thick accent, and I have to confess, I couldn’t understand a word he said. I had managed to gather that I should come in and grab whatever berth I could find but little else, I eventually had to pretend that it was a bad line. I would just prepare lines and fenders for both port and starboard and approach cautiously.
Ardglass Harbour consists of three separate areas. There is a large breakwater and then a large industrial fishing harbour, the next inlet is the marina with floating pontoons and luckily for us there was a space immediately in front of us as we approached, next to a brand new French Allures 40.9, my dream boat. The third area is a little drying harbour that appeared little used with a single old fishing trawler that had seen better days. I soon realised why it had been so difficult to contact the marina. The caretaker was in his late eighties and was asleep in an armchair when I arrived. When I was paying the marina fee, he asked me to point on a sheet which length was my boat and to tell him what was the fee as he was blind, though he could see well enough to get around the town, as I saw him walking home later on with a trolley for his belongings.
Ardglass, was a sleepy place and there didn’t seem to be a lot going on, though there was a busy mobile home park outside the marina. The code we had been given opened a large slightly military looking metal gate, the security slightly reminiscent of the Troubles, years ago. Up the hill was quite a nice main street, and the whole place had an old market town feel to it. In the local bar we enquired about a restaurant and were told there wasn’t one, at least there wasn’t one open that day. There was quite a nice fish and chip shop but it would close in 20 minutes, so Ardglass was definitely not a foodies paradise like Dungarvan or Kinsale. That said the marina was very adequate with good showers and facilities.
We had planned to strike for Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre directly from Ardglass, but this would require another early start to meet the right tidal currents off the Mull of Kintyre, which can be treacherous in wind against tide conditions. Though everyone was game, I felt it was more humane, to allow everyone a lie in the next morning and then strike for Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough. Thus we had a leisurely breakfast and struck out for Bangor, with a relatively uneventful passage up the coast past the entrance to Strangford Lough. Looking at the map, I had always imagined Strangford Lough to be fjord like with towering mountains. The reality was much more subdued, relatively flat, with rolling green fields. Coming into Belfast Lough, we entered through the sound inside Copeland Island, approaching Bangor Marina from the west.
Bangor Marina is a very big very sheltered modern marina, with a chandlery and all facilities. I managed to mess up a perfect approach to my berth after jumping off with my lines, as there was a strong side current or wind pushing her back off the dock. I managed to get my spring on but the bow swung over to the very expensive looking J Boat opposite. After a bit of a scramble to get her tied alongside, there was no damage thankfully and the only cost was a can of Padstow Brewing Company beer from our trip last year that I gave to her skipper. The international currency of sailors!
