Day 2 , hot on the heels of Day 1 is Day 2 on eXehibitionist Islay to Rathlin Island. Rathlin of the top NE corner of Ireland has very strong tides , eddies and with wind it can kick up rough sea so it’s important to arrive at slack water. We set off light winds which quickly built to 12kts to allow us to sail along .
As we closed in on Rathlin the number of seabirds increased and finally after a load of guillemots we saw puffins in the water. There are two types of guillemots here normal ones and black guillemots, also we spotted razorbills. The cliffs are amazing and after we rounded the western end we hit a lovely back eddy to carry us.
By now the wind had built to 18kts …oh how I love unknown harbours in strong winds ….not! The engine had another fit and decided to stop pumping water and needed repriming so that’s to be investigated again. At the harbour all was as expected and we tied up on the Rathlin pontoons at exactly slack water . The harbour is filled with Eider ducks , I was thinking my sleeping bag could do with a feathery top up …maybe they would oblige with a few spare ones.
