Monday 10 August 2009

Round Isle of Man, and BASKING SHARKS!!!

Wow – what a great couple days we’ve had on the Isle of Man! Sailing for the Disabled came out to meet us on Saturday, as we sailed from Port St Mary to Douglas, it was great to see them out there and to have the company on the way in. We go to finally meet all the crew in person at Douglas Marina. They had very kindly vacated their normal berth so that we could get Scarlet into the marina. Thank you to Marian, Alan and Roy for a wonderful welcome, and some yummy lemon cake.
Sunday was time to explore the island, and this we did! We took an electric tram up to the highest point of the Isle of Man- Snaefell. Unfortunately we climbed into the clouds so couldn’t see the spectacular views from the top, but we had a good giggle walking around in the fog. Just as we started our decent, the fog lifted for a brief 10mins to open up the views of the valleys and hills around us – Beautiful.
Being keen on trams for the day, we got onto a horse tram in Douglas that took us along the promenade. It’s great to see these traditional trams still in action, and the working horses look really well looked after and fit. We had a giant by the name of Charlie pulling our tram, with hooves as big as buckets, impressive.
After a great day out, we slipped our lines, waved goodbye to the Sailing for the Disabled boat which had just come back in from a day out on the water, and headed off to sea again. With a couple days in hand, and with a habit of going round things, we decided to go cruising round the island so headed north for the first time in a while, towards Ramsey, where we spent the evening out on a mooring in the bay.
Today was incredible – we set off at a reasonable hour this morning and headed for the Point of Ayre, the northern most point of the Island. With a good westerly breeze we had a cracking sail up, but sadly as we got to the point the wind went south, and the tide against us strengthened, making for a rather slow passage. After slowly making our way round the point we finally started heading south again, and then with mass excitement on board we started our wildlife spotting for the day. First was a breaching whale, then further along the coast we came across basking sharks – this was just incredible. These sharks can grow up to 11m long, feeding only on zooplankton through modified filters in their gills. We were lucky enough for one of the sharks to come up within 20m of our stern, giving us a better idea of their size, and a glimpse at a massive open jaw. This is the first time I have ever seen a basking shark- YAY!!!!
I must admit, I have been quite impressed with the performance we’re getting from our DuoGen’s wind generator. After a little hiccup with a part which finally arrived back with us last week, we have been happily charging our batteries using wind. Today’s sail was impressive, with the energy from the duo-gen catering for all our electronic needs, and a little extra.
We’re now tucked up in a great little marina in Peel, with the ruins of Peel Castle right on the entrance to the Harbour. Barbara and Marie-Claire are doing wonders in the galley again while the rest.. well, resting after a great day out on the water.
More to look forward to tomorrow as we go round the Calf of Man and back to Port St Mary, completing our Isle of Man circumnavigation and then prepping ourselves for another hop across the Irish Sea – bound for England again.
Until next time,
Cheers, Cath

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