The tides meant that our departure would be in the afternoon at around 14:30 BST, so the morning was a little bit of a case of hanging around. Richard gave the engine a good check over and we generally pottered about getting Harvard ready for sea. Left our berth and once outside the harbour hoisted the mainsail with one reef (wind 18 to 20 knots) unfurled some genoa and we were off at 8 knots over the ground. We had to bear away once out of the bay but then it would have been a dead run so we went off on a broad reach and shook out all the reefs as the wind moderated. The current carried us along so we only needed a couple of gybes to keep more or less on track without rolling about too much and keeping both sails full.
Once we entered Glenarm Bay the wind went all over the place and died away, so we motored the last 2 or 3 miles which provided the opportunity to furl the sails and prepare the fenders and mooring ropes. We had telephoned ahead and the harbourmaster said he wouldn’t be there, but just to take any free berth. There were lots of empty spaces so we took a finger berth and soon had everything sorted. Chatted to the friendly men on the boat next door and had supper. Even though it wasn’t a particularly long passage, late departures and late arrivals (around 19:00 BST by the time we were moored up) are not our favourite. If we go to Bangor (for Belfast) the day after tomorrow, we plan to leave really early in the morning, rather than wait for the afternoon tide.
