We finished off the Irish part of this voyage yesterday (for now) with dinner and a few drinks on board…but only after a dozen oysters and a rather nice Viognier in the bar/restaurant next to the pontoons.

…and they even laid on some traditional music for us.

…

The morning has definitely brought a change in the weather, but conditions look good for the trip across to Islay.

We need to get back into the the usual routine of life on the water. All the boring but necessary stuff…water still on the outside, engine checks, drinking water top-up, ropes in the right places, weather, tides…and then finally we slip the lines in Ireland for the last time and head off down  river.

The Bann is very fast flowing and we scoot past the reeds and dunes before the engine even has time to warm up. With the wind astern as well, there is no turning back now even if we wanted to, and we head out between the breakwaters at the mouth and across the bar. We had heard many gloomy tales from assorted old blokes in the yard, about the size of breakers over the bar..”I’ve seen ’em come right out of the water…” etc. And it is certainly bumpy, but with a bit of salty stuff over the forecast deck, it feels like we’re really on our way.

The remnants of the roughish sea from yesterday are still hanging around, but with full main and genoa, Heydays is shaking them off easily in a nice beam reach into a SE F4.

Good things come to an end though, and the variable wind promised in the forecast starts to make its presence felt. It lightens considerably and backs to an extent that the genoa is more of a hindrance. The purist here will take a dim view,  but we lug the engine around with us, so may as well use it. We find we can maintain our course motor-sailing with just the main sail, and so we plug on in this style for the next 2 or 3 hours as Ireland finally disappears and Islay takes on a more definite outline.

The winds veers and picks up, and soon we’re back under full sail and flying along (for us) at a steady 7kts.

No dolphins today, but the gannets with their distinctive black wing tips, are out in force, skimming effortlessly over the lumpy sea, and then soaring above the mast.

We pass under the cliffs and begin our approach carefully inshore along a very rocky coast as the Calmac ferry pushes out towards the mainland.

Port Ellen has a small but busy harbour, with the Calmac car ferry twice a day, and some occasional cargo coasters dropping by. The small marina however is almost deserted and we have our pick of berths.

We trundle off into the village to suss out drink, food, buses, distilleries etc and plan the next day sightseeing/sampling…

There is a very smart restaurant/bar with smart prices, no real beer….and not even any peanuts or crisps!

The next bar however suits us well before we head back for some dinner.

First impressions…Islay (this bit) has definitely been discovered by the whisky tourists….all the distillery trips are fully booked, as is the fancy restaurant. Not quite as ‘small islandy’ as we thought.

However, bus trip tomorrow and some whisky…