We left Dun Loaghaire around 0800 and once again the prevailing winds were on the nose. We timed our departure to catch the tide at Muglins and sail down the coast passing Wicklow Head which according to the pilot books has the strongest tides on the east coast of Ireland, and we certainly did get a lift of about 3kts for a time. We then passed Mizen Head and duly arrived at Arklow early in the afternoon.

We decided not to go into the actual marina, but instead took a berth on the long pontoon on the Avoca River. This pontoon is just past the entrance to the small marina, and as we passed we noticed a boom across the entrance. We have no idea why this was there, as there were plenty of boats berthed in the marina, so it wasn’t closed for maintenance.

We were puzzled so decided to go round and check out the facilities, and at the same time find out the reason for the boom. But these were locked with no explanation as to where we could get a key, nor indeed where visitors should pay!

Later in the day a grumpy individual came down to the boat and we paid our just and lawful dues – it can fairly be stated that this guy does not have a career ahead of him with either the Irish Tourist Board or the Diplomatic Corp!

One of the boats in the marina was a Hans Christian (which I think are lovely boats) and it was being worked on by the owner who it transpires had recently bought her in Southampton. We were having a good chat and he invited us down to view her, but as we still had to go and get some bits and pieces before the shops closed, we politely declined and said we might come down later.

The sun was so lovely and warm and it was good to stretch the legs and enjoy the rest of the day ashore. We found an American Diner type restuarant called Eddies Rocket which is part of the new Dunnes shopping centre and just up from the marina. I have to say that it was a really neat place with excellent food and service with reasonable prices considering the quality. On the tables and adding to the experience there were mini juke boxes where you could choose and play a track for 20 cents – a fun place to eat.

In the evening a chap we had met earlier in the day came down to the pontoon to have a look at Sun Dog and chatted away for an hour or so, and he proved to be really good company with some interesting tales to tell.

We left Malahide and went round to Dun Loaghaire passing Ireland’s Eye on our way around. We assume at some point in the past there was a full arch and thus the name?

There is an unusual access system in the marina as they scan your fingerprints when you are “booking in” and when you wish to gain access back into the marina from the town you put your finger on a scanner which then states your name and let’s you through the gate. Once we had been duly booked in and fingerprinted, we went around to pick up the anchor, and thankfully Ian at Viking Marine had been true to his word and kept it aside. This was all the more honourable as the prices had gone up and he could have sold this for a greater profit, so hats off to Viking Marine. The anchor fits reasonably well in the stemhead but will need tweaking or a new fitting sometime in the future – but it’s OK for now.

The refuelling pontoon is well away from all the berths and you have to liase with the office who then send a chap along in a boat. He has to carry a case with all the gubbins up the steel ladder and then lowers the fuel hose down to the pontoon. However, for some reason he has to keep his finger on the control all the way through the refuelling process. He was bit quick off the mark when I went to put fuel in the other tank, and this meant he had to stop one transaction and start another thus preparing two bills for the fuel. I can see this being a popular process in the height of the season in a marina with some 800 boats.

We were chatting to the office staff asking if they had full occupancy this year, and they explained that two years ago there was long waiting list for berths, but given the economic situation in Ireland, they have as they put it, ” a fair few berths available”.

Anyhow tomorrow we move on towards Arklow, and it has been suggested that we might not want to go into the actual marina, but rather consider taking a berth on the pontoons in the river. We will check this out when we arrive.

Given the conditions we decided to stay another day and went for look around the town, which I have to say is lovely as it has all individual shops and has not as yet been overtaken by the big multi nationals or supermarkets. We also bought an internet dongle so that we could get online and catch up on all our e-mails etc.

Tomorrow will be a short day as we are simply going around to Dun Laoghaire (dun leery) to pick up the new Rocna anchor, which has been set aside for me by Viking Marine.

In the morning we sorted out the pass key etc with the harbour authorities, called them for clearance to leave, and set off at around 0900 heading for Malahide Marina. The forecast was for F4/5 occassionally F6 later with the wind from the West and then going round to the North West, so it all seemed to be stacking up well. We exited Carlingford Lough and had a lovely but slow sail to begin with, but with the distance to go and the required arrival time to enter the shallow and narrow entry to Malahide Marina meant that we had to eventually get a bit of a move on so once again it was back to motorsailing.

After an hour or so, the winds started building up to around F4 as forecast but didn’t stop at F4, the wind kept building F5,F6,F7 until we were getting squalls with the winds hitting 39kts true. I thought we would get a bit of shelter and things would settle down when we reached the Skerries, but wholly shamolly the seas just kept getting bigger and bigger, and in the time I’ve owned Sun Dog, its the first time she has been out surfing – exciting would be one word to use!! There must be some kind of “local effect” in this area created by the islands of Rockabill and Lambay.

Given the conditions and size of the waves, I thought it would be prudent to radio Malahide Marina for some local knowledge, but they simply reiterated what was in the pilot book. This stated that whatever the depth was at the safe water marker, one subtracted two metres from this depth and this would give the depth over the bar in the entrance.

We circled around thinking we had missed the safe water marker in the waves and poor visibilty, but I was wanting in and as I had calculated the tidal heights in the traditional manner and was therefore confident there would be enough water under our keel. Going up the narrow channel which is clearly marked, I became aware of just how narrow this was and couldn’t help but hold my breath going over the bar (and re doing some mental arithmetic) – but all was well. We had been allocated a berth number when we called the marina earlier, and it was a nice touch when someone came down to take our lines. I mentioned to this particular staff member that we hadn’t been able to find the safe water marker, and he smiled and said that came as no surprise to him as he pointed to it up on the hard standing. It is apparently due to be positioned within the next few weeks !

The coffee Sara made once the boat was tied up tasted like nectar, as we hadn’t really had anything since breakfast and the conditions had not been conducive to boiling water/preparing food in the galley. It was a real shame, that on her birthday, the weather Gods couldn’t have been just a wee bit kinder -but if nothing else Sara now knows that Sun Dog can indeed take a sea.

This photo was taken the next day at around mid tide and looking out to sea.

This was (in our ownership) the first time we had to raise a courtesy flag on Sun Dog – so that was a really neat moment.

Another early start this morning as we left Ardglass at 0700 heading for our chosen destination, Warrenpoint. The weather was fantastic with a blue sky and sun shining, however the wind was on the nose again so it was up with the mainsail to steady the motion and we motorsailed all the way down to the entrance to Carlingford Lough, where the tides can run strongly both on the flood and the ebb. Sara took the wheel and took us in past the Haulbowline Lighthouse and up between all the lateral markers in the narrow channel.

As the tide was going to neaps the tide was not running so fast, but as you can see it did add a bit to our 6knots boat speed.

The day before we had phoned Warrenpoint Harbour (a must do) and arranged a berth on the visitors pontoon in the Town Quay, and they reiterated that we needed to call them on the radio before we reached starboard marker 23 to get the required clearance up the narrow channel to Town Quay.

Turns out this is full of commercial vessels, but it’s really neat being that it is in the centre of town. We had a good walk around the town and couldn’t decide on a suitable restaurant, so we took the easy option and simply got a Chinese takeaway to take back down to the boat and watch another episode of Lost. Now we know that most of the UK population have watched this particular TV programme but we never saw one single episode. So, for this trip, we bought a boxed set to watch on the laptop when we were in a lazy mood, or the weather was poor, and must say that we have enjoyed the first few episodes.

Our next port of call was Ardglass which is located just south of Strangford Lough and we had to get the tides right for going through Donaghadee Channel as this has a bit of a reputation for strong currents. So it was an early start at 0545 with the intention of being at the narrow channel at 0730 just at the turn of the tide. All of which worked out according to plan.

We had a good trip in ever improving conditions and I was really looking forward to sailing past South Rock Lightship the last remaining Lightship in Ireland, only to be disappointed when we approached its position, to find that it had been replaced by a marker buoy, not quite the same! When we altered course at this point our course had us in a sloppy beam sea which was not really a lot of fun.

Our approach into Ardglass meant we would have the seas behind us, pushing us into the harbour which in the pilot book looks tight, but in truth it is straightforward and a really interesting and I would say, quite unique harbour. There is still the commercial fishing docks with the marina further in the harbour past the second breakwater. We parked the boat up and went for a wander around the town which is delightful.

A couple of local guys asked where we were heading next and when I said probably Carlingford Lough Marina, their advice was to head further up the Lough to Warrenpoint which is apparently a mussel fishing harbour. The authorities have provided a visitors berth, so this might indeed be an option – who knows. As I type this entry Sara is busy cooking a meal and it smells delicious so I’d better shut this computer down and go do it justice.

Had to get up really early to check the winds had moved round to the west and the forecast was OK for us to set off to Ireland. Thankfully all was as forecast and we cast off at 0700 so that we would be off Sanda Island for 0900 as this would be when the tide turned and we would get the associated advantage. The decision as to whether we would go to Glenarm or Bangor would be made once we knew what the conditions were in the North Channel.

Sanda Island

The reality was that we had a really good trip and made good time down to Belfast Lough in F3/4 westerly winds with the sun shining – as Dell Boy would say….jubbly.

Upon arriving at the entrance to the Lough we decided against going to Bangor, but rather continue along the north bank of the Lough to Carrickfergus as this was a town we hadn’t visited before. The waters around the entrance to the marina and adjoining harbour would need consideration if you were sailing a deep draught boat in big seas/low spring tides.

The entrance to Carrickfergus has leading marks but they are a bit hard to see. However once spotted you simply follow these in and then turn sharplly to starboard to enter the marina. We had been told to take the hammerhead when we came into the marina so parking up the boat was pretty straightforward with the benefit of easy access to shoreside.

The town and area around the marina and Carrickfergus Castle

is relatively new and it all had a good feel to it, so we decided to stay another night. The marina gives your second night free of charge, so that was a wee bonus. Slight downside was that whilst the marina has a five anchor award and has a waste pump out station etc, it does not have any diesel facilities!

There is however diesel available in the harbour next to the marina, so it was about the shortest trip ever taken by Sun Dog. Out of the marina –into the adjoining harbour for diesel (expensive)– and then back into the marina that we had just left.

The weather forecast was a bit grim with driving rain and the wind coming from the south (the direction we needed to go) with the forecast indicating F4/5 occasional F6. By this time we were getting cabin fever and really keen to make a move and start our trip. Therefore we decided to get out the marina and go over towards the north of Arran and if Kilbrannan Sound was too lumpy we would simply divert to Tarbert or Portavadie.

When we arrived at the north end of Arran we decided that the conditions, whilst not ideal, were manageable enough to let us get down to Campbeltown and be well positioned to cross the North Channel. The visibility was very poor, the sea lumpy and when we arrived north of the shallow banks in the middle of the Sound, I took one look at the size of the waves (wind against tide situation combined with a shallow bank and uneven sea bed = really lumpy water) and quickly altered course to starboard and went over to the Carradale side and down to Campbeltown.

Finally after seven hours we entered the calm of Campbeltown Loch and took a berth at the marina tired but pleased we had finally started our trip, and celebrated with the ubiquitous Fish n’ Chips.