Ah Portaferry

The Pretty Marina at Portaferry
Day 18 - (18th June) Here we are, this evening, sitting on deck in the sunshine with a glorious blue sky and a gentle breeze. We arrived in the pretty little village of Portaferry, on the Ards Peninsula, which sits at the mouth of Strangford Lough. There is a little ferry that runs across the "Narrows" to Strangford on the other side of the lough.
Portaferry Quay

What we hadn't realised when we got here (and no mention of it in the Almanac) is the strength of the tide. It was racing in at 6 knots. We did have good tide with us all the way and averaged 6 knots which is very good for us. When we got in the entrance we were doing over 11 knots! To understand this better, imagine you average 50 to 60 mph in your car and you suddenly find yourself doing
120 m.p.h. Those of you reading this who know the Run in Mudeford, it was like that but times three. There were all sorts or eddies and whirlpools to negotiate. It was very hairy getting through the entrance as we had to turn sideways and sail through the narrow entrance into the marina. Thanks to Josh's expert skills we managed it. The Danish boat behind us totally missed the entrance and went whoosing down the lough. Luckily he had a powerful enough engine to turn the boat into the tide. When he came in we noted he had a pirate flag flying upside down, not sure why. If you fly the Union Jack upside down at sea it means you are in distress, but I do wonder how many people would know that it was upside down? If anyone knows what a pirate flag flying upside down means please let me know.

The tide at the entrance to the Lough!!! Not a submarine conning tower!
We had set out early this morning, leaving at just after 7a.m. to catch the tide to take us through the Copeland Islands, which we managed, so it was a good start to the trip. There was also some good music on the Radio. Today is Waterloo Day we had ABBA Waterloo followed by Up Town Funk. I was happily bopping away and being filmed by Ali!! Luckily this blog can't upload videos!!
However the middle of our six hour trip wasn't so pleasant as the sea was rather choppy. Nevertheless the 34 mile trip was worth it as Portaferry is very friendly as we were to find out.
Guinness in hand!
On our arrival we walked up Ferry Street to the pub that had been recommended to us by the harbour master, the M E Dumigan, which claimed to be  Irfelands Smallest Pub. They informed us that it had been misspelt so that no one could sue them in case it wasn't!

It was a very lively pub with lots of colourful locals who had obviously been there some time already by 2.00 in the afternoon! Apparently a local businessman is making whiskey and gin to export to America and he has called it Feckin Whiskey and Feckin Gin! Really or is this the Irish Blarney? We found out later that it does exist and the distillery was up the road. All in all a delightful little bit of Ireland.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day one and two of the Caledonian Canal - the adventure continues

Image
The Lunatic crew for the Caledonian Canal   We entered the  Clachnaharry sea lock at Inverness for the 1.30 lock and were met by a very helpful, calm lock keeper who talked us through. There was a large sign saying Ireland this way! Clachnaharry Sea Lock, the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, The Great Glen, Loch Ness and Ireland! The lock was timed so that you could then sail through the railway swing bridge, then on to the Muirhead flight of four locks. We had relaxed once we got on to the canal, thinking things could only get better and there is much less to worry about in a canal as opposed to being out at sea, no tides to think about for example. How wrong we were, we were forgetting this is the Lunacy cruise. At the second lock Mick fell in! We heard a plop and a splash and Mick had fallen into the lock between the lock wall and the boat. Josh's quick thinking saved the day as he put the long swim ladder over the edge and Mick managed to climb up before he
Read more

Day 48 and the return to our home port of Ramsgate.

Image
Lunar Sea and her crew back in Ramsgate  Dear Readers, we finally arrived back in Ramsgate five years after setting off on 1 May 2017. The weather then had been atrocious, but it couldn't have been more different for our return. It was promised to be the hottest day of the year, so we had plenty of sunshine and not very much wind. lt did pick up to about 12 knots as we approached Ramsgate, so we managed to get the sails up and the flags flying for our entrance to Ramsgate.  Leaving Dover, heading for the Eastern entrance,  on our way home now. It had been an uneventful 4 hour trip from Dover to Ramsgate, but for some reason the unusually hot weather had created an optical illusion and we had a really clear view of France as we passed Deal. Perhaps it is the high pressure, not sure why?  France, shall we go there instead? We had Josh's daughter Jo on board and Owen and Jordan, two of Josh's grandchildren, joined us in Dover for the day sail. When we got to the approach to Ra
Read more

Day 47 Eastbourne Sovereign Harbour to Dover

Image
  Passing Dungeness Dear Readers, a brief blog today as we are in Dover and just about to leave for our final leg to Ramsgate, which will be day 48 of this leg of the trip. We had a pleasant and uneventful motor sail to Dover, but it was a long trip of 9 hours. The time does go quickly when you are at sea, so it didn't seem so long. We had a couple of visits from porpoises, but they don't come and play around the boat like dolphins do.  Yacht trying to fill it's spinnaker, Eastbourne We had an exciting lock out of Sovereign harbour because it was very busy, so we had boats of all shapes and sizes jostling for position. We passed the remains of a wreck just outside the harbour, only the boilers remain and the birds seem to like it as a perch! Dungeness nuclear power stations. We passed Dungeness which is always interesting, as you get a good view from the sea of the two nuclear power stations, and the two light houses. There aren't many fishing vessels left on the beach,
Read more