Ardglass was a very friendly marina, in a nice location.  Unfortunately there was not much time to savour it, since we needed an 0700 departure  on Thursday morning in order to arrive off Carlingford Lough at low water. There was very little tide to bother about on the trip down to the entrance to the Lough, but the current runs very quickly through the entrance to the Lough itself, so it is advisable to hit it at LW slack, and have virtually no current entering , and then a good push from the first of the flood once in the Lough for the 5 miles or so down to the marina.

This all worked fine, and Alan looked on the positive...at least the start was an hour and half later than the departure from Peel!  The trip down the coast was a pleasant and uneventful mix of sailing and motor sailing in a F4 or 3 most of the time, but often on the nose. Alan helmed us in past the Haulbowline old lighthouse and then down the buoyed channel to the marina.  The marina wall is a bit basic, but the location and views of the Mountains of Mourne are fantastic , and the village is very pleasant.

Turns out that Carlingford is a good place to eat ; we had to choose between Lowth’s best gastropub, or Lowth’s best restaraunt ( seafood). Decided to drink in the best gastropub and eat in the best restaraunt....good choice.  The beer was excellent, and then the lobster and steak was outstanding.  All in all a very pleasant evening.

The one slight negative, which we later found was not confined to Carlingford, was the number of empty new build properties, which is obviously evidence of the current troubled times. In fairness this was not too bad in Carlingford, but there are plenty of bargains to be had if you should want to live by the seaside in Ireland.....