Tuesday 21 July

Glenarm to Ballycastle A mere 16 nautical miles

It was a beautiful morning in a very special place. The sun was shining and everything was peaceful. Apart From the noise of the black guillemots which breed and live in a colony in Glenarm. The old harbour wall has holes all round it which the guillemots use as their homes. They are really lovely little birds. Kind of like puffins a bit but small and almost strut around like chickens on their little red legs. One was having an amazing time obviously singing in the shower…. for a sea bird … I watched it for about 5 minutes spray going everywhere.. as though it had never seen water before?? Funny! They are not great flyers concentrating more on diving and fishing skills, we watched them flying up the marina then going a bit too close to the water and belly flopping into it in a great crash. Could have watched them all day but needs must and we had to be off to catch the midday tide up the coast. Sadly no wind but a glorious cruise up the wild coast line of Northern Ireland. Visibility was perfect and you felt you could almost reach out and touch the mull of kintyre . We could see Islay, The paps of Jura and Alisa Craig on the blue horizon as we motored along.

After passing the amazing cliffs called Fairhead ( used as a film location for game of thrones) we arrived in Ballycastle With a 10/10 landing! about 1600. We had arranged to meet up with a good friend David from VDS days, who lives not far away. He took us to an amazing restaurant on top of a hill overlooking Rathlin Island, just to the north of Ballycastle, called the Salthouse. It was our first meal out since lockdown!

What I learned today: It’s good to watch birds.

Sue x