Day 22 Wed 6 June Ardglass to Bangor
Because the north-going ebb tide begins at Ardglass at HWBelfast (1316) we were able to have a leisurely shower and walk into the village with a view to the All Day Irish Fry Breakfast at the Harbour View Inn. Unfortunately we found they had not yet opened at 1130, but we were met in the street by a friendly middle-aged local man who said his daughter would do us a good breakfast at the little shop further along the road, so off we went (in light drizzle!). Sure enough the daughter did indeed do hot food, though we might not have spotted that from the front of the shop, which sold everything from fresh fish to baby clothes, with bags of peat and jars of home made jam in between. The back shop was busy, but we found a table and had a superb breakfast with all the usual bad stuff plus fried soda scones and endless coffee refills. Stopping to buy some locally caught and preserved rollmops and a jar of blackcurrant jam, we set off back to Vega and made ready to leave (remembering a day late to take down our Irish courtesy flag from the starboard spreaders). We left at 1250, and had a superb tide almost all the way to Belfast Lough, with zero wind, intermittent rain and some light fog patches. The route skirts a number of interesting rocks and lights, with names such as Skulmartin, Burial Island, Butter Pladdy and Crooked Pladdy. We also passed South Rock, which holds the first rock lighthouse to be built in Ireland, established in 1797, though now replaced by a light further out to sea. With the help of the invaluable Irish Cruising Club's pilotage book, we made our way through the passage between Governor Rocks off Foreland Point and Deputy Reef off Copeland Island on a mirror-like sea, a passage we would not have attempted in more hearty conditions, as the flood tide can rip through the overfalls at up to 4.5knots! We tied up in the 300 Berth Bangor Marina at 1800, in time for Evening Prayers, with which we enjoyed our Ardglass rollmops, before doing a tour of the town. We were less than overwhelmed by what Bangor has to offer the visitor, and even struggled to find a pub we were inclined to patronise, and made the decision not to stay for an extra day, but to press on north on the 1300 tide tomorrow: little did we know then what the Met Office had in store for us! Read on.....!