Sat here on a visitor mooring off Killyleagh Yacht Club. We've been here for 4 nights now - locked down by the never ending strong southerlies - time to move on!
Wind is supposed to turn to the east then north east later, which puts me in a difficult position because departure has to be through the infamous "Strangford Narrows" which are best avoided in any wind from the east through south because of the very large seas which result - and the window for departure is tight - and once committed to departure there's no turning back due to the very strong current.
Have a feeling there are a lot of yachts here in the Lough (a loch, in Irish) which arrived like we did, all happy and high spirited, and never dared to leave!
Here's someone else's video of a yacht leaving on quite a calm day...
http://youtu.be/u5OEAiQza7w
I'm hoping to avoid that by hitting the 15 minute window of slack water at the end of the outgoing tide. If we go too early we'll get bounced. If we go too late we'll end up back where we started, carried in by the strong incoming tide (which can be faster than our maximum speed).
Another slight problem is that different people quote different times for this 15 minute window.
Fingers crossed. Touch wood. Etc.
(If you're reading this mum, don't worry, it'll be fine, I tend to over worry about these things )
8th July 2011 - Stuck in Strangford Lough
Moderator: Jeff
8th July 2011 - Stuck in Strangford Lough
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Been a bit "busy" Stu Working on a followup now...
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