We spent Sunday in Bangor. The marina was good but the town and people showed distinct signs of poverty. We visited the Abbey and arrived at 11 am just as the service was ending—as the vicar said “the last hymn is always the best bit of the service”.

We studied the wether forecast and Monday appeared ok but it deteriorated on Tuesday and Wednesday with strong winds from the north west and north. When the forecasters say that a deep depression is slow moving and very complex you know that they have no idea what is going to happen. The seas at the top end of North Channel were still forecast to be rough and very rough so we took the decision to stay east of the Mull of Kintyre and go up to the top of Loch Fyne and go through the Crinan Canal. However first cross the North Channel. We set off at 10 am and sped out of Belfast Loch on a beam reach at about 8 knots. Halfway across the Channel with the tide setting us north the wind died but behind us was a very ominous black wall hiding all the land that we had left behind. With practically no wind we decided to motor but fortunately not to shake out the reefs. About a minute after turning on the engine the black wall caught us up and in a period of about thirty seconds the wind went from about 9 knots to 36.7 knots and we were hurtling along at over 10 knots for sustained periods of time. Very exhilarating if not a little unnerving and a reminder of the Atlantic and Pacific squalls although the very cold wind and rain add a new dimension! These rain squalls then dominated the rest of our passage until we arrived in the shelter of Campbeltown only to be told by the harbour master that the pontoons were not available as they were making a marina and it would not be open for another two weeks. We could either go alongside a wall (20 foot climb up as the tides was out) or pick up a mooring. We had a good nights sleep on a mooring but going ashore meant blowing up the dinghy and by that time fatigue had overtaken us.

Following along  two hours behind us were Alain and Bernadette in their 38 foot aluminium boat called Leava on passage for Spitsbergen, Norway. They bought the hull and fitted her out themselves.  Inside every possible loose item is shut away with the interior looking like rows and rows of safety deposit boxes all with their own plastic boxes inside which contain everything you could possibly need for a long time at sea which is exactly what they have done——New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Atlantic, Azores, Argentina, Chile, Antarctic, St Helena, Indian Ocean, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn and North West Passage just to name but a few places. They can carry 1,400 litres of fuel and have food for 3 months.

Makes our trips look like a passage on the boating pond in the local park!

It has taken us 11 days to reach Scotland—is this a record for the slowest passage yet?