Sailing Northern Ireland - Bangor - Carrick - The letter - Ep. 357

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We have begun a liveaboard adventure on our Bavaria 36, Salty Lass. It is our ongoing mission to explore strange new ports, to seek out new to us cuisines and cultures, to boldly go where the wind takes us and like it
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Adrift among inifinite stars by Scott Buckley (@ScottBuckley)
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[@SVImpavidus]

Hi Ladies, use the auto tack feature on your Raymarine. You will then have two sets of hands free for the tack and the boat will slow less through the tack. Sail Safe Guys, Ant & Cid

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

We never had a lot of luck with auto-tacking. Does it work well for you?

[@dreamtimesv]

Nice

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

Thank you. We enjoyed it immensely.

[@millzee60]

Little things like that give you a good incentive to go out for a sail. I had to pick something up from Stranraer which I thought was a chore until I did it and had a great trip.

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

It would be a bit of slog to Stranraer but it is short(ish) and the scenery is unbeatable. Did you taxi from Portpatrick or go the whole way round?

[@regkane-Pluvis]

Great stuff as usual.. Reg

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

Thanks Reg. Glad you enjoyed it

[@SVFresh2Salty]

Looks like that was a nice sail.

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

It had a few lumpy moments and we really should have reefed near the end but we were having too much fun to bother with that sort of stuff 😄

[@mymobile5014]

Looks like a fun little trip. That wheel work reminded me of the quiz show where they "Spun that wheel!" lol

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

Except we do not win prizes for the spin... 😄

[@WavedancerWesterlyfulmar]

Great seeing you out sailing again. Autumn sailing weather has been very good for you

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

We are loving it. It feels great to be out and we hope to get more as well. You and John will have more time as well now so I hope you get the weather you want as well.

[@WavedancerWesterlyfulmar]

@@SailingYachtSaltyLass boat in yard in southern Brittany getting work done. Some how our new batteries have discharged 🤯🤬€730 have gone bye bye. We’re going to check on work in October when John finishes work

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

Yikes!! I will message you about that.

[@annarow4674]

Good to see you out and about. Would it work to drop the mainsheet traveller before tacking, to save hauling it afterwards?

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

It depends on conditions. Sometimes if it is all sheeted in hard in strong winds it can be very difficult to pop the traveller out of its clamps and we often have to ease the main first. So we tend to trim after the manoeuvre when there is less pressure on the lines.

[@anncrome1202]

We did that on a charter boat we had once. It did seem like less work.

[@anncrome1202]

Nice video. We always try to sail the boat through a tack or gybe.

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

Us too! In fact we get the engine off as fast as we can 😄

[@mymobile5014]

And you never showed us the photo! What a tease!

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

You are not missing a thing. It is a grainy, decades old piccie 😄

[@faelsinnes]

Gaynor, it's ready about unless your solo 😅

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

We like to keep it simple and short 😉

[@nigelcaughey2119]

Looks like great sailing out on Belfast Lough, but please explain to the uninitiated why you tack. Love the channel and your great humour. Thanks

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

Glad you are enjoying the sailing and the channel. To answer your question - a sailboat cannot sail directly into the wind. It can get close to the wind but cannot sail directly into it. So we sail as near as we can to "directly into wind". In our case that means about 40° to either side of the direction the wind is coming from so we zig-zag our way upwind. This is calling tacking. Doing it with the wind behind you is called "gybing" and this is much more dangerous than tacking as it can damage the sail, the mast or the boom.

[@nigelcaughey2119]

@@SailingYachtSaltyLass Thank you for your detailed explanation. I’m older and wiser now😃

[@dutchglobetrotter4513]

Sail mail, I love it. The entrance to that harbour looks kinda narrow, or is it the camera?

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

It is narrow and the camera makes it look even narrower. We never try and squeeze past another boat in that entrance,

[@markgrinter3228]

It's that teak on your cockpit girls ? Think it needs a brighten ! I'm.buying a new boat covered in the stuff !!

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

It does need a clean, but we like the sea-salt, grey look

[@caspianmerlin6434]

Which of the two marinas would you recommend? I've had a mosey around the one at Bangor but not the one at Carrick yet. At Bangor they told me they were still waiting to hear what was happening with the contract.

[@SailingYachtSaltyLass]

Both are good marinas. When we last checked Carrick was slightly cheaper but there was not a lot in it. Bangor has the better shelter from waves (some of the Carrick pontoons can be very bouncy) but Bangor is more exposed to northerlies and Carrick to southerlies. Bangor has more life and shops and stuff, but Carrick has Tescos and Sainsburys within walking distance (Bangor only has Asda - Tesco, Sainsburys and Lidl are much further out) So it is all a bit of a toss up. I would not worry about the marina contract. I cannot see the marina closing for business just because it has changed management. Obviously pricing or policies may change, but who knows? What exactly are you looking for? Which is the easier to get to? They are both good.