We have finally got some WIFI access and time to use it!
We have just arrived in Holyhead after a day spent on the Isle of Man yesterday. We went to Douglas and travelled up Snaefell by electric railway, cheating really! We could see Scotland, England and Ireland from the top but Wales remained hidden in the mist. It was a lovely day and we saw lots of the south half of the island via mostly local buses.
To get to the isle of Man we had sailed via Rathlin Island, Bangor and Ardglass in NI. Rathlin is a wee island off the north coast of NI  where people often come for day trips. It was very like the west highlands were 30 years ago with the odd rusting car and caravan among some nice cottages. The harbour was the smallest we have yet been in with room for only about 10 boats and extremely shallow. We had a great cliff top walk, seeing seabirds and a Peregrine falcon and the strange geology of the island. The next day we went over to Bangor NI in the hope that we could avoid the aftermath of the July 12th marching celebrations. It worked well it was nice and quiet, just the odd flute player left on the prom after 8 pm! The next day saw us hop a few miles down the coast to Ardglass where by chance we met up with Margaret, Maurice and John again from Leemara. Many thanks for sharing your special evening with us and being such good company.
We then headed over to the Isle of Man (a place I have wanted to visit for ages). It was a longish day as the wind was very light but we manged to do some sailing and stopped on a mooring in Port St Mary at the south end of the Island.
So here we are in Holyhead and going to have an early night as we had a dawn (literally) start this morning and another planned for tomorrow to get to Dublin. So far so good and it looks like the great weather could last some time yet. The calm seas have been great for wildlife watching. The cliffs on the Isle of man were crowded with Guillemots and Kittiwakes (just like the Scottish cliffs were 30 years ago). We see porpoises every day too 🙂

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The calf of Man

 

Southern cliffs of Isle on Man

 

 

Fishing boat landing prawns at Port St Marys

 

Bird colonies on the cliffs

 

 

 

Rathlin harbour (only 2 m deep at low water!!)

 

Cliff top walk Rathlin

 

Peaceful evening at Ardglass (NI)