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Sunday, July 21, 2024

Ballyholme Bay - Peel

As the westerlies and northerlies have been few and far between, we took the option of leaving in the evening and arriving in the morning at Isle of Man, and waiting for the +-2h of the high water to enter the harbour. At least that was the plan.

We turned the engine on at 16 and motorsailed in calm conditions through the Donaghagee Sound. While in the Sound we had 2 knot current with us so we were making very good speed. As we were past the last fairway markers and the standing waves were behind us, we rolled out the genoa in a gentle 8 knot wind.

After a bit of genoa sailing the wind started to pick up as expected and we changed over to stay sail when it was still measely 11 kn. After the sail change was done, wind rapidly went from 15 to 20 to 25 knots and we were absolutely flying along with a 2 knot current.

As the wind picked up earlier than expected we also got the higher winds in the North Channel, so after a 4 hour sail we were already 1 hour ahead of our schedule. Which meant that we were constantly getting better winds as we expected.

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The sailing was good. Suski was hand steering with the biggest grin on her face. The wind kept being variable and waves big, so steering the surfs down the waves required concentration and a bit of muscle power.

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As the sun set, we realised we were definitely going to make it in already during the night. With the northerly wind and swell. Not optimal, but we decided to go in anyway. As the seafloor kept getting closer to the surface, the waves kept growing bigger, and more confused.

Exactly what we wanted to avoid in the first place by arriving around sunrise, but here we were, four hours ahead of schedule. We motorsailed through the swell and made it inside the breakwater. There we contacted harbour office on VHF to book a bridge opening and dropped the sail.

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After the bridge lights turned green, we carefully motored in through the somewhat turbulent waters. Fishing boats lining the walls made the narrow fairway even narrower and in the darkness estimating distances is so much harder. We found the assigned C pier, but couldn’t see a single number telling what spot it is, so we went in to a slot with no other boats, as by this point the stress of getting in was taking its toll and simple things were becoming hard. We tied the boat into the pier, and confirmed with harbour office that we can use this box. Were happy, we were in, sometimes it’s not the how, but the end result.



From the logbook

Time Position Course Speed Log Weather Remarks
20.07. 14:49 Z 54°40'10"N 5°38'37"W 166° 0kt 5427.2NM wind 4.3kt 16° baro 1005 hPa Started main engine
20.07. 14:55 Z 54°40'15"N 5°38'40"W 349° 2.6kt 5427.2NM wind 4.2kt 12° baro 1005 hPa Anchor up, motoring
20.07. 15:00 Z 54°40'39"N 5°38'41"W 358° 5.2kt 5427.5NM wind 3.8kt 21° baro 1005 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 15:02 Z 54°40'50"N 5°38'36"W 15° 5kt 5427.7NM wind 5.5kt 23° baro 1005 hPa Autopilot activated
20.07. 15:59 Z 54°39'2"N 5°30'36"W 109° 3kt 5433.3NM wind 8.7kt 352° baro 1005 hPa Motor stopped, sailing with Main, Genoa 1
20.07. 16:00 Z 54°39'1"N 5°30'31"W 107° 2.7kt 5433.3NM wind 8.3kt 355° baro 1005 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 16:07 Z 54°38'55"N 5°29'46"W 96° 4.8kt 5433.8NM wind 17.4kt 344° baro 1005 hPa Sails set: Main, Staysail
20.07. 16:16 Z 54°38'46"N 5°28'30"W 98° 5.4kt 5434.5NM wind 17.3kt 345° baro 1005 hPa Started watermaker, 170ppm
20.07. 16:39 Z 54°38'0"N 5°25'8"W 115° 5.9kt 5436.6NM wind 17.8kt 340° sea state 3/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1005 hPa So far 1.5kt current with us
20.07. 17:00 Z 54°37'7"N 5°22'7"W 114° 5.5kt 5438.6NM wind 17.8kt 336° baro 1006 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 17:56 Z 54°34'23"N 5°13'1"W 89° 6.9kt 5444.6NM wind 25.7kt 337° baro 1006 hPa Autopilot deactivated
20.07. 18:00 Z 54°34'9"N 5°12'22"W 133° 6.6kt 5445NM wind 23.8kt 331° baro 1006 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 18:10 Z 54°33'32"N 5°10'46"W 115° 6.9kt 5446.1NM wind 25.6kt 332° sea state 4/10 clouds 8/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1006 hPa Starbuck windvane on steering duty. Nipa couldn't cope.
20.07. 18:25 Z 54°32'35"N 5°8'28"W 129° 6.5kt 5447.8NM wind 24.6kt 338° baro 1006 hPa Sails set: Main (1st reef), Staysail
20.07. 18:28 Z 54°32'24"N 5°7'56"W 130° 6kt 5448.2NM wind 25.3kt 337° baro 1006 hPa Stopped watermaker, 168ppm
20.07. 19:00 Z 54°30'33"N 5°2'44"W 115° 6.5kt 5451.7NM wind 26.4kt 328° sea state 4/10 clouds 7/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1006 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 19:33 Z 54°27'47"N 4°58'12"W 146° 7.6kt 5455.6NM wind 23.1kt 333° baro 1006 hPa Tightened the Starbuck steering line by two links, seems to steer a lot better
20.07. 20:00 Z 54°25'42"N 4°54'21"W 126° 6.1kt 5458.7NM wind 21.9kt 341° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 20:24 Z 54°23'54"N 4°50'45"W 119° 6.9kt 5461.4NM wind 25.3kt 333° sea state 4/10 clouds 2/8 visibility 8/10 baro 1007 hPa Current and wind reducing somewhat, but se state is still quite something. Peel in horizon
20.07. 21:00 Z 54°21'14"N 4°46'18"W 153° 7.7kt 5465.3NM wind 17.6kt 321° baro 1007 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 21:24 Z 54°19'10"N 4°45'13"W 167° 4.5kt 5467.5NM wind 19kt 305° baro 1007 hPa Called Peel Harbour on VHF. Need to call again near breakwater to get a berth and bridge opening
20.07. 21:58 Z 54°16'32"N 4°43'29"W 159° 4.7kt 5470.3NM wind 17kt 310° baro 1008 hPa Autopilot activated
20.07. 22:00 Z 54°16'22"N 4°43'22"W 149° 4.9kt 5470.5NM wind 12.6kt 305° baro 1008 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 22:37 Z 54°14'14"N 4°41'56"W 191° 3.9kt 5472.8NM wind 12.2kt 298° baro 1008 hPa Sails down, motoring
20.07. 22:43 Z 54°13'50"N 4°41'41"W 146° 3.7kt 5473.2NM wind 9.9kt 324° baro 1008 hPa Autopilot deactivated
20.07. 23:00 Z 54°13'24"N 4°41'52"W 175° 1.6kt 5474NM wind 5.7kt 349° baro 1008 hPa Hourly position log
20.07. 23:10 Z 54°13'20"N 4°41'54"W 93° 0kt 5474.1NM wind 1.2kt 10° baro 1008 hPa Stopped