.. to do business in NI

We had a little bit of faff at the start of our day off in Isle of Man. DouglasHarbour control wanted to move us to a different pontoon in the outer harbour - but we wouldn’t fit until a motor boat moved to create enough space. It was further congested with two other casualty boats on the other side who had both been rescued by the lifeboat before we arrived. God bless the RNLI AND that’s why I’m a registered governor donating for them.

Anyhoo, the next challenge was realising we weren’t going to get our repacked life raft into - and the rental from Mylor out of - Northern Ireland easily. We were caught up between Boris, Brexit/ customs & hazardous cargo rules! Dang it! Sailing is nothing if not an exercise in optimising the solving of lots of wee problems.

So new plan for tomorrow - a 70 mile detour to Bangor via Whitehaven in Cumbria. A port on the mainland and we’re told so much easier to do a switch out from.

After all that Ang & I took a walk into Douglas for a look see and late breakfast. After a perfectly decent if ironic full English we got our plan together. Half the day gone but we bought a Go Saver bus ticket (unlimited one day bus travel for £7) and headed out to Peel as we had lost that port visit now.

We found Peel to be a small quaint seaside resort stuck in time. Very pretty but quiet. Worth the visit for castle, beach, walks, views and Manx kippers! But no more than a couple of hours worth.

One of the unexpected benefits of the bus ticket was it followed the TT route. For those that don’t know, motorcycle/ touring is another one of my big passions. It was great to travel these roads and I think the bus driver thought he was racing fir a win !!!

We went on the next bus to Ramsey - a pretty dilapidated Victorian seaside resort and fishing port. For a long while I grew up near Morecambe in Lancs which was a mini Blackpool back in the 70’s. It fascinates me how times have changed and resorts of yesteryear have fallen out of fashion. In Ramsey you could see the grand old buildings that once were, just rotting. It’s a shame.

We decided to get a third bus route back to Douglas via Laxey - of the famous mine wheel. More of the TT route landmarks without going over the mountain section. We passed some fantastic houses on this route and remembered it’s a tax haven with many millionaires. We passed the wheel and noted to visit IOM again in the future to do it justice (code for my biker buddies that we should really squeeze a long weekend in)

Now back on the boat chillin, doing my 3 R’s and enjoying cheese on toast dinner tonight. Spoke to both my kids as they have been travelling on their own adventures in the last week. PnT are leading the leg tomorrow so need some rest before we slip.

Next proper break is in Bangor,NI on 6/7th where we have two nights booked out for dinner with friends old (Sue& Tom) and new (Matthew).