Voyage to Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man
19th June to 5th July 2005

The main season voyage was from Carrick Castle, Argyll to Millport, Great Cumbrae; Campbeltown, Argyll; Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland; Douglas, Isle of Man; Troon, Ayrshire & back to Carrick Castle – 372 nautical miles.

Crew: Douglas Locke 19.06-05.07,
Liz Evans & Calum Evans (aged 13) 19.06-29.06
Visitors: Gwyneth Evans & Naomi Harrison (29.06)

Diary and Log Book extracts for 2005 Voyage to Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man . There are photographs of the voyage, see the Gallery for 2005: –

19.06 14.25 Departed mooring Carrick Castle for Millport, Great Cumbrae. Arrived visitor’s mooring at 19.30 – only yacht there!

20.06 07.40 Departed Millport. Arrived Campbeltown pontoon 14.30.

21.06 06.35 Departed Campbeltown. Arrived Carrickfergus Marina at 15.00 – MWF 4.

22.06 Visited Carrickfergus Castle and Gasworks museum.

23.06 04.20 Departed Carrickfergus. Arrived Douglas, Isle of Man at 16.50. MWF 5. Moved into Marina at 23.15 when bridge opened. Passed a dead whale off the Calf of Man.

24-26.06 Visited Douglas, Laxey, Snefell Summit, Castletown (Rushen Castle) and Peel (House of Mananan & Peel Castle) by horse-drawn tram, electric tram, steam train, bus and walking.

27.06 11.55 Departed Douglas, having taken the yacht out of the marina at 16.45 the previous day. Serious engine breakdown off north end of the Isle of Man – see comment below of voyage.

28.06 At sea. MWF3. Saw a pod of Minke whales whilst tacking north under sail.

29.06 06.00 Arrived Troon Marina.

30.06-04.07 New Yanmar 29HP engine fitted.

04.07 20.00 Douglas departed single-handed from Troon Marina. MWF4.

05.07 02.45 Arrived mooring Carrick Castle.

Voyage MWF 4. We always said we would like to go back to the Isle of Man following our last visit in 2001. We had a great time, met up with friends and really enjoyed travelling on the transport system and visiting the castles and museum. Generally the winds were very light and of course from the wrong direction when under passage. Unfortunately we had engine problems relating back to our bad experience in Portugal in 2002, resulting in us deciding to fit a new engine at great expense and later a larger propeller.

For photographs of the voyage, see the Gallery for 2005.

Main season voyage = 372 nautical miles.
Other sailing this year – Clyde area, Scotland = 308 nautical miles.
(Clyde area visits included Inverkip, Inverclyde; Largs; Troon, Ayrshire; Lamlash, Isle of Arran; Rhu, Rosneath, Rothesay & Sandbank, Argyll & Bute, so far.)

Total miles for 2005 season = 680 nautical miles.

Total miles sailed since 2000 = 8,241 nautical miles.