Belfast to Bangor

Day 16...Ali B our friend from Broadstairs Sailing Club joined us yesterday and seems to be enjoying being on board. He has also brought us some good weather, as we woke to a bit of blue sky and intermittent sunshine. We set off from Belfast Marina at 11.30 on high tide to undertake the 12 mile trip to Bangor, along the coast from Belfast. The sun remained out as we sailed down Belfast Lough and it made it pleasant to be on deck and have a good look around.
Life on Lunar Sea - always something to laugh about!
We did get radio-ed up by Belfast Harbour to a rather gruff "Strike your sails Lunar Sea" because weren't supposed to have sail up until we got out of the harbour channel past no 12 buoy and into the Lough. Oops!

There were two cruise ships in and Ali was tempted to jump ship at that point and travel in style!

However, he didn't, and things got even better as we managed to cut the engine and actually sail for about half the trip which was very pleasant. Our first sail this trip. In true Lunar Sea style things didn't stay that way. Josh was on the phone and Ali was on the helm when an unexpected gust of 22 knots hit us just as the ferry was going close by and we caught a large wave from it's wash. We tried to put the engine on and it wouldn't start, so Josh had to dash below to start it manually. Panic over and from then on we had a pleasant motor sail into Bangor and arrived in good time, finally mooring up in the marina at 14.30.

Not the South of France but beautiful Bangor, NI.
The sun remained out so we spent a very pleasant afternoon drinking wine and engaging in entertaining conversation... just a reminder Ali, what was said on the boat this afternoon stays on the boat, OK? Another first for this trip, sitting on the deck in the sunshine. Perhaps the weather has finally turned a corner and we can expect some more sun.




I went for a quick wander around the town, but being Sunday most shops were shut but it seems a pleasant Victorian seaside town. Looking forward to spending a day here tomorrow.


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