Position: 54 4.265N 004 43.934W
The forecast on Monday was for fog patches, which in our experience usually means either dense fog banks where you can't see 50 metres ahead of yourself or absolutely no evidence of a whisp of mist in sight....... We agreed a strategy that entailed heading out of Holyhead to the point at which we had planned to cross the TSS (for non boaties this is the Traffic Separation Scheme - think 6 mile wide motorway for big ships across which we need to plod at 7mph) If we encountered fog we would turn back, if not we would push on. Luckily no fog was spotted and we cleared the TSS only seeing one other ship and sailed through the sunshine to Port St Mary on the Isle of Man. Sailing was slow and with strong cross tides we decided to start the engine and motor on and await some wind...... this is always a cue to amuse yourself with books, music, chores as motoring is both noisy and boring.
I decided to follow a very good friend of ours Sarah and try my hand at home made bread (from a mix though .... I am not that domesticated!) The result was a well browned loaf (indicating the oven is actually a little hotter that the chosen setting but the bread was delicious and we ate warm bread and jam for lunch. Whilst girls amuse themselves with tidying, chores, sunbathing etc boys get out the gadgets....... For Stu this was our colourful cruising chute (large lightweight foresail - again for non boaties) Now I am not sure if this happens on every boat or just ours but every time Stu decided to play with this the wind dies to nothing and he returns to the cockpit hot, sweaty and dejected. True to form this happened several times on route but as we approached the Isle of Man the wind filled in and we were off like a steam train with smiley faces all round!
We entered Port St Mary at low water, and there was no room at the inn and very little water in which to mess about. We ended up rafted to a bunch of Irish Guys in a 40' Moody for the first night and dropped against the wall in the morning when a space appeared...... We spent Tuesday exploring the Isle of Man with a steam train to Douglas which took us through the green fields and set off Stu's hayfever, the lady sat next to us on the train donated a pack of tissues and directed us to the nearest Boots the Chemist in Douglas. We had a look around Douglas, grabbed some supplies and headed back on the bus, a journey which took in most towns and villages on route................. Tomorrow Portpatrick in Scotland we hope!
Sorry no photo - Camera & laptop have fallen out!!!