Speedwell of Rhu Ship's Log

8 th to 9 th of July 2012 - To Northern Ireland

Sunday 8 july

We woke at 0630 to catch the tide and avoid the overfalls around the west coast of Rathlin Island later on. By 0700 we had left the bay and found there was no wind at all, however there was a lot of mist and rain. It was very grey and the visability wasn't great so we had the radar on. Not that we needed this as we only saw one yacht and nothing at all in the TSS north of Rathlin Island. Gradually Rathlin lurked out of the mist and we saw our first upside down lighthouse.

We got to Church Bay on Rathlin Island in time for lunch... although we had already had two breakfasts. We found the island's only pub and they had sport on the TV so we were able to watch the Mens wimbledon final. We left after the first two sets because rain briefly stopped play and we had already been in the pub for three hours. We headed back to the boat where we listened to Murray's defeat on 5-Live... yes, surprisingly we can get digital radio here!

Monday 9 ^th July.

We woke to rain....lot's of it. However, by the afternoon it got less persistant so we were able to cycle to the upside down lighthouse at the west of the island and visit the RSPB reserve which had a little of everything, including more rain. Other people had got the local Puffin bus service which over took us on the way. It arrived to pick people up just as we were getting ready to cycle back in the rain. A quick discussion and we had the bikes folded and stowed safely on the bus. On the bus we met our boat neighbours from Dragon King, Leslie, Sam and David. Leslie gave us advice on where we should visit and later on Sam popped over to invite us in for drinks and we had mutual exchange visits until well past our bedtimes.

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