1. It's in Ireland, which means we made it across the Irish Sea.
2. It's gorgeous and surrounded by beautiful scenery and wildlife.
3. It's sheltered, which is good news considering the weather forecast for the next few days.
4. It's got good internet, so I can crack on with some work.
But most of all...
5. It's free!! There's free moorings and anchorages aplenty.
I'm a happy sailor!
Been an interesting few days getting here too.
We left Troon at 15:00 after I'd finished work last week, without really knowing how far we'd get given the time and conditions, before darkness fell. As soon as we left the shelter of the harbour it was obvious we were going to be in for an interesting trip - it was seriously bouncy out there! We put up some sail to "see how it felt" but in all honesty I thought we'd probably do an about face and return to the harbour. The thought of 6+ hours of this, after a week of work, into the night, wasn't very appealing. I figured the sails and deepening water might settle things down a bit (sails help to stop the rolling motion).
An hour later, making a good 5.5 to 6 knots, the conditions hadn't changed, but our minds had. It was obvious that Isabella was more than happy with the situation and we got used to the motion. We were well on the way to our first possible anchorage at the small uninhabited (except by millions of gannets) island of Ailsa Craig.
Ailsa Craig finally reached, we did manage unexpectedly to find a sheltered spot, but the depth shelved so steeply up to it that to anchor would have required being within a couple of meters of the shore. Despite the time and impending darkness, and with sadness and trepidation, we turned south, bound for Stranraer.
Fantastic fast sailing put us into Loch Ryan (Stranraer) after only ~3 hours, so we still had a little twilight left as the anchor was dropped (under sail) in Lady Bay. We'd sailed over 30 nautical miles in choppy swelly seas and were ready for a good night's sleep.
Loch Ryan had other ideas. I think I had about an hour in total. It was the most bouncy anchorage we've ever had. Lunar flat refused to go in her own bed and forced her way into my sleeping bag. We all spent the night rolling onto each other and moaning.
--
Next day we crossed, with a 50:50 mix of slow sailing and motoring, the 20 miles to Ireland and dropped anchor near Larne. And slept.
The following morning a 5am departure (to catch the tidal streams in the Irish Sea) saw us make it to Ballywater and our first landfall in Ireland. Tidal depth calculations were pushed to the limit in order to get as close to the beach as possible in the gradually shelving sand, but it was still a heck of a long way. A couple of gents on the beach came to assist us ashore and welcomed us to Ballywater. They took our water carrier off and filled it for us while we made an exploration of the town with the intention of having a Guinness to celebrate our first time in Ireland. Not much later we left, Guinness free. Can't say I'd recommend Ballywater. The beach was nice though.
--
Following morning it turned out the tidal calculations were good. We were in 2.2m of water which felt really wrong so far from land. I took a photo of the anchor on the bottom!
Another early start and a chug saw us safely into Strangford Lough with a new speed record achieved. The tide whooshed us in at over 11 knots, past the very awesome tidal generator off the town of Strangford.
--
Some vids and pics....
On passage from Troon to Ailsa Craig:
http://youtu.be/P0CkETc_8Jg
Ailsa Craig
![Image](http://www.yacht-forum.co.uk/blogfiles/t2s1.jpg)
On The Beach at Ballywater, Ireland. Our first landfall in Ireland, ever. Isabella anchored some distance off in the background.
![Image](http://www.yacht-forum.co.uk/blogfiles/t2s2.jpg)
Our anchor on the bottom, Ballywater
![Image](http://www.yacht-forum.co.uk/blogfiles/t2s3.jpg)
Strangford Tidal Generator
![Image](http://www.yacht-forum.co.uk/blogfiles/t2s4.jpg)
Strangford Tidal Generator
![Image](http://www.yacht-forum.co.uk/blogfiles/t2s5.jpg)