After a day off on Tuesday we were more than ready to continue our journey north and actually reach Scotland. Given that conditions were favourable (not too much wind) we plotted a course that took us between the Isle of Man and the Calf of Man, this is called Calf sound and the tides run through here at 6kts so it is essential to only transit at slack water and stay on course. In the end we sailed through on the genoa alone making 6.5kts and saw nothing to worry us...... in fact it was a pussycat!
As we sailed up the west coast of the Isle of Man the wind, which had obviously missed the forecast had in fact died off to nothing and we were forced to motor - again! In fact it is fair to say that not only did the wind fail to blow a force 4-5 from the SE the tide failed to keep running north until we arrived as described in the tidal stream atlas, so from now on we are taking everything with a pinch of salt.

We arrived at Portpatrick at just after low water and given the specific instructions of Paul, the friendly harbourmaster we managed to creep in through an incredibly narrow and unmarked channel (except for the rock!) to find yet again there was almost no room at the inn. Portpatrick has a tiny, square harbour that was full of boats crewed by very drunk........ no very, very drunken Northern Irish people, who took our lines (making us fourth out in the raft) and then casually returned to their party.

About an hour after our arrival we witnessed the crew of a large motor boat roll out of the pub, the skipper looked sober but I can't say the same for the crew. They manhandled one very inebriated chap over the rails and down a vertical ladder on the harbour wall with his bum showing....... Shouting "One for the road?"

Portpatrick is a quaint Scottish village, very picturesque with 4 pubs, 2 shops and a few houses and a very grand golfing hotel on the top of the cliff...... easily explored in about half an hour. It marks the western end of the Southern Upland Way and is also a good place for spotting wildlife - not just the wobbly sailers, but also the lesser spotted twitchers who are attracted by the black guillemots which nest in the harbour walls.