We had been in Carrickfergus to see Beverley's mum and sorting out a few bits and bobs, but it was time to move on, so we sailed across Belfast Lough to Bangor. For once we had those rare conditions, that I cherish, in that the wind was coming from the right direction so that a motor and a sail are indistinguishable from each other as far as the track is concerned. Truthfully there are a lot of wind directions where this statement is true, but when it comes to reality, you always have to put a tack or gybe in, or you have to wait, or change course so that a tanker can proceed within the channel. But today was not that day, today was a perfect sail, with do deviation and a strait line from Carrickfergus to Bangor. On our passage across, we passed two yachts, one on the green side and one on the red side, now according to call regulations, you should try and pass red to red, but according to our cockpit companion:-
"Green to green, red to red, perfect safety, go ahead."
In our case we had plenty of sea room so we were safe, so we went ahead.
It was a great sail and just as we neared Bangor, we saw a huge cruise ship called "The World", a little bit pompus, so we joked "Come to Bangor, to see the world", "See the world from Bangor" and other world related puns as we entered Bangor marina. That night there was a concert in the square and later on we were treated to a lightening display which was rather spectacular.
The next day, I was on the helm, so I moved Salty Lass one nautical mile from the Marina, where we were having to pay to stay to Ballyholme bay which is an anchorage and is free. I really felt short changed. When this type of thing happens on Salty Lass, we recall a scene in "Trading places" between two baggage handlers, where one baggage handler, feel short changed, because they moved the truck ten feet. I know one nautical mile is longer than that, but when it comes so sailing, it hardly counts. Ballyholme Bay has sandy beaches which we read as a sandy bottom and it has good shelter for winds from the South, which is what we had.
That night, it was a yacht club night, so as the sun went down we saw lots of racing yachts out in the bay. On top of the yachts there was paddle boarders and people out enjoying the Beach, so there was lots to see and enjoy watching.
The next day, we were meant to go sailing to Stangford lough, but with the wind coming from the South making Ballyholme bay, a perfect place for anchoring, I was unsure, because, I knew that there would be wind over tide. My issues were a slight doubt, but for Beverley, there was a major concerto going on of doubts. Things that she couldn't quite put her finger on but doubts all the same, with both of us being unsure, then we refused to sail. We listened to our inner music and we might be a bunsh of old women, but we did refuse to sail on a windy day. With sailing out of the question, we decided to talk about a patch that I had bought which said:-
"It's not the destination, its the journey"
I feel our sailing videos reflect the journey, rather than the destination because, they are all about our journeys. I would like to say more about our destinations, but when we have, our statistics go down, now I would like to say more about our destinations, but we need to show what our viewers are interested in, so we asked about that. For us though, the destination is the reason for the journey. There is no point in going to a destination, if there is no reason for it, so this is one of the reasons we want to show more about the destinations. The interesting thing about destinations are that they are predictable, while journeys by sail boat are anything but predictable, so from that point of view journeys are more interesting, but at destinations then you have the opportunity to see other things and meet other people.
Another thing about journeys is that I feel that I am on a journey to become a better sailor, now realistically, I do not think that I will ever complete that journey, but I do feel that I can cope with more things now. Previously I was scared and did not want to do entrances, while now I will tackle them and although they might not be pretty, I can now cope with things cropping up and causing problem, while previously I would of said, Beverley you do this. After many discussions Beverley decided that for her the journey is all about meeting people, because she likes to meet people and touch their lives.
