54:13.35N 04:41.91W Up at 4 o’clock and away by 4.30, we’re getting good at these early starts and it’s goodbye Wales.  Light winds allow us to motor sail past The Skerries and across the Liverpool traffic separation scheme (TSS).  It’s a very broad TSS and it takes 1 ½ hours to cross, but amazingly we don’t see a ship in the whole of that time.  The wind dies once we’re across, and the sea goes very glassy and calm.  We’re out in the Irish Sea out of sight of land and there’s nothing – no wind, no waves, no ships, not even a leprechaun.  It’s very eerie because everything is grey and the absence of the sound of waves is quite unnerving.  So, it’s motor all the rest of the way, it’s boring and the morning is grey and cold, the afternoon very hot, but at least we’re making progress.  The Isle of Man is a welcome sight, there’s a baby island called Calf of Man, which I think is a rather nice name, so we round that and up to Peel.  The entrance to Peel is spectacular with the castle very prominent in the sunshine, so we tie up in the outer harbour while we wait for the water to rise and the sill to open, and enjoy the antics of a local seal pinching the fishermen’s catch.  Photos: 1) everything is still and grey 2) Calf of Man in the distance with the lighthouse sitting on Chicken Rock 3) the gentle coastline of the Isle of Man 4) approaching Peel