With a foul tidal stream in the morning for heading south we put on our walking boots and headed out along the coast from Bangor to Ballymacormick Point. Although the air was unseasonably cool the skies offered the odd glimpse of sun which lit up the patches of bluebells and sea pinks at the side of the coastal path.
Back at the boat we readied Sùlaire for the 45 nautical mile passage to Peel on the Isle of Man. Peel is subject to a cill, gate (to keep the water in the inner harbour) and pedestrian swing bridge which are only open for 2 hours either side of high water so we aimed to arrive around 2100 which meant leaving Bangor at 1330.
The adverse tides pronounced by the tidal atlas and chartplotter out of Belfast Lough and past Copeland Island failed to materialise and were, in fact, favourable driving us south. With variable winds we motor sailed with genoa only in the following seas. We made good time, seeing little traffic or wildlife apart from a couple of uninterested common dolphins and arrived into Peel Bay at just after 2000. A call to the harbour master (Douglas HM as out of hours) and he confirmed that the gate would be lowered and the bridge swung at 2030. We joined a French yacht (Cavok) sitting on one of the 4 waiting mooring buoys in the outer harbour and awaited instructions to proceed.
The harbour master called us forward at 2030 and we had a spot on a pontoon finger straight ahead after entering the inner harbour. Tied-up we took a stroll in the dwindling light to stretch our legs after our passage and agreed it was a pretty port. With so much to see and explore on Mann we thought perhaps a 2 night stay would make sense…night..night.
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