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Northern Ireland
 
-- July 2nd to 9th, 2024 --
 
After more than a month in Scotland (including the Shetland), here we are in a new territory, on a new island: Ireland! More specifically Northern Ireland, so close yet so different from Scotland…

More pictures, of meadows and city, and a film on our page Pictures.



108 miles sailed
1248 miles since the start
Our stops, click on the names for more details:
Glenarm (pontoon), Carrickfergus (pontoon),Copeland (anchorage), Ardglass (pontoon)
 
2nd July : Port-Ellen – Glenarm (41M)
There’s heavy chattering on the pontoons in Port-Ellen. We are three boats aiming for Ireland today, between yesterday’s strong wind and tomorrow’s gale warning, and we are all a little nervous. We can still see gusts running on the water at the end of the jetty; there will be some swell where we are exposed to the stream, says the Englishman onboard “Izabel Rose”; and we need to cross a busy cargo lane, adds the Irishman onboard “Puffin”.

Yet based on the usual weather models it should be do-able. Being the smallest and slowest, we are also the first to leave at the end of the morning. Oh, this is not a fast start, Junior has difficulties beating against the wind until the channel, but once we can put up some canvas (double-reefed mainsail), the progress is already easier. Once out of the channel we bear away with two reefs and furled genoa. Gusts are strong, and in anticipation of wind increasing yet again, we prepare the 3rd reef.


Islay and thus Scotland vanish away in the wake...


Ah, there was still a little piece of Scotland on port side, but the famous Mull of Kintyre is now behind us too.
For the moment no need to put it up though, the boat is gliding happily and Bob is steering. The waves are high, but it is a long swell causing no issue at all. Saltimbanque runs over 5 knots despite the contrary tidal stream, which is not so strong luckily. On our left, the Scottish “Mull of Kintyre”, on our right, Ireland is coming up fast! Only 12 miles between the two countries at the narrowest.
We reach the cargo lane with a stable wind and a pleasant long oceanic swell. Not a hull on the horizon, we cross the lane easily, while the tide is turning and the stream starts running with us. Of birds, we see a lot more! Guillemots, puffins coming from Rathlin island just on starboard.

Guillemots and puffins in front of Rathlin island, with big sister Ireland in the background


First glimpse of Northern Ireland, definitely not the Highlands any longer!
Everything is well in the best of the worlds, we are even thinking that this wonderful wind is starting to ease a little too much as we drop below the 5 knots! Up goes the 2nd reef, then the 1st, then the whole genoa is out as the wind dies entirely. Luckily we have the stream with us, pushing us to the lee of the island and we are well sheltered from the swell when the wind disappears entirely! Here was a passage which we feared on the pontoons before starting, but ends up in a very calm stroll in the end…

The last 7 miles are motored rather than sailed – and credit goes to the stream to, contributing for half of the distance! We have time to admire the landscape. Rolling hills covered with cultivated fields separated by small hedges, this reminds us of southern Ireland all of a sudden. So different from the often desolated Scotland.
As we reach Glenarm, surprise gusts from the west are shaking us up a little. We enter the harbour in a convoy, just after our Irish friend and before the Enghlishman – all equally happy with the fast and pleasant passage. And we get settled for another gale, over the next couple of days…

Arriving in Glenarm surrounded by clearly well-watered fields!
3rd – 4th July: Glenarm (ashore)


Windy but rather dry, we do appreciate a break in the rain!
The wind is strong as forecast (although not as strong as in Islay), but the sun is shining! Well, most of the time shining, we will still experience a few showers and a couple of interesting episodes of “mist maker”: bright sunshine, blue sky just above, and yet some thin droplets flying horizontally from god knows where to cool us up in case we are getting too warm!
A lazy morning later, our first steps on Irish soil lead us to the quay where red-legged guillemots nest (there are called “black guillemots” actually ;o) )

First surprise: there is a gate, with wires and boards warning “no access to unauthorized people”. That’s a change compared to the little community run pontoons in Norway and Scotland! The harbour master is very kind however, sitting in his grilled-windowed office… we wonder what can be the danger in this sleepy little village (and we are still wondering)…


The marina entrance, welcoming isn't it?


The bright green fields around Glenarm
Second surprise: the looks of the place. We sailed only 40 miles, and yet we are most definitely in another territory. All the land is cultivated, shining with a gleaming green even through the grey light, and we can only see fields for ever, and houses which look much more English than Breton, with no slates on the roofs. And the trees are huge! Sign that we are on the lee side of the island… brutal change of scenery!
Glenarm is a tiny place and the few shops seem to be all closed. There are limited options for hiking, mostly the nice forest starting at the end of main street. Walking along the sea when there is no boardwalk is not so nice. The village itself is cute, pastel colored houses and steep streets fringed with flowers. There is a famous castle here, although it is private and cannot be visited without appointment…

A nice street in the tiny village of Glenarm
Just the perfect stop to work on the website ;o)
5th July: Glenarm – Carrickfergus (27M)


Birds alongside small cliffs
The westerly wind has eased a little, but is still strong enough for us to hope for a quick passage to Belfast bay, our next stop. Especially when the tidal stream helps, as it is very strong in the area.

To get the stream, we have to start very early. But it’s worth it, as it helps us to a 6 knots average speed through the whole morning, through gusty winds coming from the cliffs onshore. It is a pleasant leg, sunny and with many birds.
We have to put up the jib though in the end, in order to tack in the bay to reach the harbour of Carrickfergus. The bay is only ten meters deep or so, and with many cargoes and ferries crossing we are very surprised when we catch … (drum roll…) our 2nd mackerel of the trip! (Our theory is that we have been too fast earlier, or the water was too cold: it was 11 degrees for the last month, it’s 14 degrees today!)

The cute village of Whitehead at the north end of Belfast lough


The imposing Carrickfergus castle, dating back from the 12th century
Carrickfergus has a big marina, many local yachts (including an Allure 45.9, friend of our British friends on their Allure, it’s a small yachting world), a big office and lots of showers – we are back to civilisaton. Carrickfergus is also a place of historical significance, as we will soon discover in the castle around which the city was built.
Carrickfergus castle was built by the Norman John de Courcy after the Anglo-normans conquered the island in the 12th century. At that period the city was more important than Belfast, then a small hamlet at the end of a silted bay. During the following centuries, the castle was enlarged twice, and experienced several battles and sieges throughout the troubled Irish history. They renovated the castle and went a little on the tacky side with “realistic” decorations and mannequins on most floors, but the visit is interesting and a good introduction to the Middle Ages Ireland. For a glimpse of the more recent history, we hop on a train – 30min to Belfast

Real-size plaster characters show us how tacky life in a castle was back in time
6th July: Belfast (ashore)
A little dazed as we exit the station … so many noises and visual stimuli in the capital city of Northern Ireland (345 000 inhabitants).
We start with the newly developed riverfront, before walking around the Victorian city centre. No building older than the middle of the 19th century here, the golden age with this small town which saw over a few decades only the emergence of huge linen and ropes factory, as well as the biggest shipyard in the world. The centre boasts a few nice buildings of yellow and red sandstones, and several creative murals in the nightlife area.

A sample of the collection of art pieces (sculptures, statues or murals) that are found in Belfast


The Courthouse is not the only historic building left decaying unfortunately...
A couple of kilometres further we reach the place where public funding has been extended yet. For example the 1850 Courthouse, which is boarded and in ruins, waiting for private investment (“permitted for a hotel”, says the real estate sign).
We are near Shankill road, the heart of the Protestant working class neighbourhood. We walk further in: buildings are covered with large signs and murals, glorious images of heroism, calling to remember and fight, black and white pictures of the victims of the “Troubles” (the bloody clashes between Catholics and Protestants between the 1960s and the “Good Friday Agreement” in 1998).

One of the - numerous - aggressive murals remembering the "troubles" at the end of the 20th century.


We have seen several of such arches in the protestant districts. The message seems to us like: "we have England and the King with us".
The streets are lined with small, identical brick terraced houses, decorated with British flags, but also orange flags and in the colours of the different UVF battalions (Ulster Volunteer Force). Intrigued by this display, we enter a flag shop on Shanklin Road. The saleswoman explains that everyone is preparing for July 12, the big parade which celebrates the victory of William of Orange in 1688/89, the one which definitively eliminated the threat of a papist English king and ensured the domination over England and Ireland to the Protestants. Kind and eager to share her enthusiasm, she hands us several “educational” booklets, listing the feats of arms of the Protestant militias over the centuries, telling the fight to maintain the Union with England, names the UVF militants who died as martyrs when the bombs they were preparing for the opposite camp exploded too soon... On Shanklin Road, several arches, memorials and posters leave no chance of being forgotten.
A little further, the “Peace Wall” became a touristic attraction. It is one of the 97 pieces of wall or barrier raised to avoid contact, and conflict, between the two faiths. There was a plan to remove them after the “Good Friday Agreement” but a 2020 survey amongst Belfast population showed that 42% still feel safer with the walls up…

The no-mans-land between the catholic district on the left and the protestant one on the right... Slighly heavy...


On the other side of the wall, we find exactly the same murals... only the flag is different.
Along the wall, through a grilled door, through the no man’s land and another grilled door… we are in the Catholic working class neighbourhood, on Falls Road. The same memorials, the same pictures of dead young men in black and white, the same murals remembering heroes… the flags have different colours (green white orange), acronyms have three different letters (IRA) and posters are printed in a different police (of Celtic influence). The surrounding streets are lined with small, identical brick terraced houses, no decorated at all. Here and there a Palestinian flag only, like an echo to the few Israel flags seen on the other side; conflicts mirror and identify to each other across time and space… on the way back to the city centre, we pass a school closed by tall grills and barbed wires, and we feel so grateful to have grown up without the need of barriers…
As a transition, our steps lead us to Hotel Europa, where most statesmen were staying, and was therefore bombed 33 times between 1971 and 1991 – granting it the enviable title of most bombed hotel in the world (together with Holiday Inns in Sarajevo and Beirut). Still a little shocked, we have a break and a coffee at St Georges Market (nice Victorian building), before heading to the docks.

The opera, typical "anglo-exotic" style, with the Hotel Europa right behind.


The dock where the Titanic hull was outfitted, the pump house on the right, and in the background the two giant gantry cranes built in the 60-70s: Samson and Goliath.
The Harland and Wolff shipyards have dominated British naval industry at the end of the 19th and early 20th century, and are most known for the construction of the (then) largest ships in the world: the Titanic and her sisters the Olympic and the Britannic. Construction has stopped now, there remain maintenance and design activities – and a resolute turn to tourism with a large museum / shopping centre along the mile long promenade along the former drying docks. At the very end of it, where the Titanic was built, a whiskey distillery is now hosted in the former Pumphouse. A beautiful harbour landscape as we like them, cargoes and cranes moving in the distance, several ships turned into floating museums… some sea-breeze before coming back to the boat :o)
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7th July : Carrickfergus – Copeland Island (11M)
It’s been a while we hadn’t seen such a forecast: light winds, or even flat calm for more than 48 hours… as much as it is exhausting to keep dodging the strong winds and seek shelter, a sailing boat still needs a little wind to move forward! We decide against motoring all the way to Man (50NM), and choose to do shorter legs along the Irish coasts instead.
And what if … we could even enjoy the calmer weather to anchor for the night? Copeland Island looks well sheltered from the weak Northerly which may come. It is however close to a narrow passage where tidal streams run strong and we spend the morning calculating between tides and streams, what time we need to be there in order to still have the option to leave in case the anchorage is not safe.

Flat calm...


Happiness at the anchor...
In the end, after 3 hours of a quiet motoring, the bay turns out to be very nice, protected from the stream and from the wind, and we drop the anchor in 4m in front of a small beach, with seals and terns as the only company.
Alas our tranquillity will be short-lived, as four other sailboats will anchor around us in the evening... But we took the best spot in front of everyone and therefore have a clear view of the seals! Of course it's not a warm Caribbean anchorage, but we spend a superb evening outside enjoying nature from our nice anchorage!

We spent the evening at the bow of the boat watching the seals...
8th July : Copeland Island – Ardglass (29M)


Laure picks up the anchor and we leave in the sunny and calm early morning.
Yet another early start to make the most of the stream (in the absence of wind)! It may be absent today, but has decided to return tomorrow and much stronger than necessary: force 6-7 from the North-East, so we will have to take shelter again in a port…
There are not many options in the area, so we head for Ardglass about 30 miles to the South, a charming little marina and fishing port. It is again a motoring job, sometimes assisted with the sails. But that’s ok because today... – drum roll – …it’s summer!!!!!!! For the first time since the May 22nd in Norway, we are having a summer day... The sun shines in an almost cloudless sky, and even though it is still chilly when sailing, as soon as we reach the pontoon we dig up the shorts and T-shirts!!! Yes indeed!!!

Lunch in the cockpit wearing shorts and T-shirts, a first since we left Norway, you know the famous tropical country!
After a lunch outside in the cockpit, we set off for a walk on the coastal path, so happy to stretch our legs in the sun. It's even hot! We rediscover the sensation of sweating, while enjoying the very nice views of the rocky coastline and the Isle of Man on the horizon. At a bend in the path, a small cove with transparent water, not a soul around, the perfect place for Laure's second swim of the season!


Nice little bay on the coastal path, with the Isle of Man on the horizon


Splash, Laure jumped in the water :o)
After drying in the sun we reach the hamlet of Ballyhornan and its beautiful sandy beaches. We were expecting a seaside resort… but tourism must be very limited and we had trouble finding an ice cream! The micro-shop (2m long by 1m wide!) has a few popsicles in a freezer, that will do the trick :o)

The shore in Ballyhornan, Northern Ireland.


Old church and Irish backcountry.
On the way back we pass by the ruins of an old church dedicated to Saint-Patrick, offering beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. Then return to the boat for dinner in the cockpit as the highlight of this memorable day!
9th July: Ardglass (ashore)
This year, summer was the 8th of July… on the next day we wake up to the sound of beating rain and strong gusts, with a chilly 13 degrees. Today will be spent indoors (preparing the next legs, work on the website, small repairs)
We risk a head outside in the morning to do some shopping, then come back onboard and wonder where we can hang all our dripping clothes… luckily the harbour is very welcoming, with a big building equipped with kitchen and a small book exchange / office with a good wifi connection. The tariff (27.5£/night for our size) is relatively cheap (compared to the rest of the area), electricity is for free and it is a quiet place. We find here too an “honesty box”, and the security is entrusted to a former employee who became almost blind – and the marina’s cat – we feel better than being barbed wires!

This is it, summer is over!
We hope for calmer winds tomorrow to leave Northern Ireland, and head for its Southern neighbour…
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Philipe exAUMADATROI et nouveau ETONELL - 22/07/2024 07:06:27
Hello les Saltimbanque ! Le SUD vous attend et ON vous attend ;-)

SuDad - 19/07/2024 23:01:36
Bon, autant prévenir vos lecteurs de s’habiller, même à l’abri. Parce que ça décoiffe, là-haut, à tous égards. Eh ouais, c’est la vie de nos filles. Pas frileuses. Pas craintives. On « prend des ris », sur Saltimbanque, mais ça avance vite, semble-t-il. Les traces de la guerre civile sont explicites de ce que les fanatismes, notamment religieux, peuvent montrer de pire. En ne laissant même pas la moindre chance à l’oubli. Heureusement, on trouve son compte de vieilles pierres et de verdure. Le charme irrésistible de ce pays. La coque de bateau fleurie le représente assez bien, et trouve instantanément des mamans volontaires pour l’adoption. Françoise craque aussi. Ca pourrait avoir des suites.
Depuis ce récit, vous avez déjà atteint Penzance. Le dernier tremplin vers la France.
Bon élan, les filles !!!
Ca va souffler comme il faut…
Et merci, toujours, pour la narration…



mum - 16/07/2024 16:23:54
récit très instructif sur Belfast et j adopterais bien le bateau pot de fleurs

SuDad - 15/07/2024 11:30:14
A tout'
J'm'entraîne...

SuDad - 15/07/2024 11:28:48
M'a bouffé mon texte au submit de m...

Kirstie & Neil S/Y L’Escale - 15/07/2024 11:00:10
Thank you for such a balanced and unemotional report of your experience of Belfast, and for the beautiful scenic pictures that remind us that comforting, unchanging nature is never too far away ;-)







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