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.


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