“North-westerly 5 or 6 easing 3 or 4 and becoming South-westerly” was the morning forecast from Holyhead Coastguard which meant an extra hour in bed while I waited for the winds to die.

By midday the wind had decreased to about a force 5 and I decided it was time to leave. Shortly after 1pm we were beating out of Holyhead Bay under No. 2 Jib and two reefs in the main making 6 knots.

With the tide flowing at 2 knots to the Southwest the first few hours were always going to be hard. Wind against tide made for the seas being bigger than they would have been as we past “The Skerries” lighthouse at a distance making for an uncomfortable ride.

As we crossed the shipping lanes this early pain started to pay off as slowly the tide turned, the seas flattened and the boat speed started to increase. By 17:40 we were 25 miles off Holyhead with 25 miles to go making 6 knots with a force 3 from the west. For about 3 hours the sailing was uneventful and we cruised along.

Today’s challenge to myself was to get within 15 miles of Douglas (our destination for the day) by 7pm. It was going to be a hard challenge as I set this challenge 30 miles off when I did not know the wind was going to die. At 6:50 we were 15.8 miles from Douglas and the aim was close. In the last 2 minutes the wind filled and we surfed across the imaginary finishing line with 40 seconds to spare. To celebrate – I made tea!

As the sun started to set the wind also started to build from the west pushing us along under a now full main. The highland of the Isle of Man had come clearly into view about 25 miles off but now the Calf of Man (an Island at off the Southwest corner) started to come into view. The timing was perfect as the sunset just to its left – I photo moment!

Phoning ahead I arranged a berth in Douglas Inner Harbour for the night and after waiting for “Fastcat Isle of Man” (the Liverpool to Douglas ferry) to leave we motored into the harbour under the cover of darkness.

A note for the future is that although Douglas is a small port (smaller that Penzance) it is the major port of the Isle of Man and the port authorities treat it that way. They were not very happy when I did not report my position on entering the harbour! (Although I had spoken to them 30 minutes before, listen to the radio and watch the Fastcat leave). They opened the lift bridge for us though and we were soon tied up alongside the town quay.