July 25, 2025
I have arrived in Scotland, but I have yet to touch land.
I arrived in Dublin on Tuesday, had dinner with some nice folks (Owen and Paula) I met in Greystones and then, Wednesday morning, after putting some fuel aboard at Howth, departed Ireland enroute to Scotland.
Because I had to wait for the fuel dock to open, I wasn’t able to depart until mid-morning so my first day was a relatively short run to Bendberg Bay in Northern Ireland. The run was easy with almost flat water.
On Thursday I was also expecting an easy day, but I slept a little long and so I got underway as the tide/current was turning against me and it took a long time. As the wind picked up, it was also pushing the water into uncomfortable square waves which made the ride slow and very bouncy.
The treat for the day came as perhaps 100 dolphins raced across the waters in front of me, with a dozen or so taking a few minutes to play in my bow wake. Always a joy to experience.
Because I was expecting to stop in Loch Ree I didn’t push too hard, but with the winds picking up and a lot of high speed ferry traffic, I decided to keep moving. My next choice, Ballyntrae Bay offered no protection for the persistent NNW winds and so I went for three more hours until I arrived at Pladda (a small island to the south of Isle of Arran). I stopped for the night and was well protected until early in the morning when the winds and tides conspired again to get me moving.
Deeply in need of a restful day I travelled a very short 8nm to Lamlash where there is ample protection afforded by the bay and Holy Island. I have dropped anchor and finished two books and not much else.
Tomorrow I will start to get back to more tourist endeavours, but for now, it’s rest and relax and get some energy back after the travelling by train, plane and automobile over the past two weeks.
In conversations, perhaps not on this blog, I have noted that I haven’t put propane on-board since I arrived in Panama a couple of years ago. I finally ran out of propane on Thursday! As well, groceries were a bit sparse in Howth and so at some point in the next day or two I will need to get some supplies. Of course I have enough food aboard to sustain me for a long time but this is starting to look more like glamping than living well. That’s not why you buy a Nordhavn!
I guess I should find some groceries and gas!