The forecast was reasonable, promising a fast reach across to Northern Ireland in 14 to 20 knots of breeze so we left just before 9 o’clock. Anne had been trying to contact the Ballycastle marina to check availability of space as there is a festival on there and on Rathlin Island at the moment. We had a call from the marina just before we left to say that there would be no problem and we could have a berth. This meant one less thing to worry about. Raised sails in the bay with reefs in about 20 knot gusts and after waiting for the ferry to pass we were off at a great speed touching over 7 knots in the gusts.
Out in the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland the sea was quite rough (moderate according to the inshore forecast) but with George, the Hydrovane, steering we were making good progress. Then there was some confusion as to which way the tide would push us because for some reason the clock on the chart plotter had set itself to UTC plus 2. Anyway all was clear once we had sorted this out. The tide pushed us west to start with and, given our passage speed, we anticipated arriving in Rathlin Sound between Rathlin Island and the mainland as the east going tide started. Therefore we aimed for the western end of Rathlin Island shaking out the reefs and adjusting our course as the wind and our boat speed dropped.
By the time we arrived off the western tip of Rathlin Island the tide was just turning but the wind had also dropped and as we bore away the sails started flogging in the swell, so we rolled up the genoa and gently motor sailed down Rathlin Sound picking up the tide. Of course as soon as it came to take the mainsail down the wind came up again. It always seems to do this; perhaps we should have been more patient but hanging around in the swell with the sails flapping about is really boring and annoying!
We were soon moored up in the marina and, once we had tidied the boat up, we visited the information centre and had a walk into the town centre, which is actually quite a distance away. Happily there is a Spar supermarket next to the marina for essentials. We now have all the details needed to visit the Giant’s Causeway tomorrow and have already booked our entrance tickets. After showers and supper we had an early night after our crossing of the North Channel; one of those passages that has a reputation for being quite rough and challenging.