Bangor to Ardglass

I am back on board Cervisia now, aiming to take her back from Bangor in Northern Ireland to Portishead. I am a little nervous about what the weather has in store for us over the coming week, but so far things are looking quite positive. I have scrapped the initial pan to go back along the welsh coast and am now planning on sailing down the east side or Ireland and then crossing the bottom of the Irish Sea on either Thursday or Friday.

Today I have had a bit of a mixed sail from Bangor to Ardglass. We started off in nice sunshine and ok winds. There was some interesting navigation between some islands and the mainland at Donagnadee Sound. We did this passage against the tide and in light winds. It took quite a lot of time.

The wind has been a bit odd all day really. It has shifted massively in direction throughout the day over short periods of time and has also changed in strength. Towards the end of the day the wind died completely and we had to motor for the last three hours. We got an absolute drenching just before that in quite an intensive rain shower.

What has been quite nice all day has been the views of the Mourne mountains. They started out just popping up behind lower hills closer by, but now in Ardglass they look pretty close and large. I think I will see them all day tomorrow as long as the weather holds out.

I am going to have to get up early tomorrow to make the most of the day. I am hoping to get somewhere near Dublin but I suspect that I won't get quite that far. I just have to hope that the wind behaves.

I might find it difficult to update the blog when in the Republic due to roaming charges. I should be back in the uk on Friday night. Whether I land somewhere with coverage is not totally clear. There might be somewhere in the republic with wifi where I can update the blog instead.