Bad weather and mechanical mishaps make their Jersey homecoming all the sweeter for UK circumnavigators Neil Cotillard and Phil Carter
APRIL ROSE
1989 Dale Aquastar 38 flybridge re-engined with Volvos in 2017 and skippered by Phil Carter
JOIE DE VIVRE
2006 Aquastar 38 pilothouse powered by a Caterpillar C9 and skippered by Neil Cotillard
ROUND BRITAIN IN 26 DAYS PART IV
DAY 24, 18 MAY
We’ve made it from Brighton to Belfast in 23 days but with only three days left of our original 26-day target to make it down to Land’s End and along the South West Coast of England, we are disappointed to wake up to yet more strong winds keeping us pinned in harbour for another day. We use the time to visit the Titanic Museum in the old Harland & Wolff shipyard where the ill-fated ocean liner was built. It’s an eerie experience to stand on the very slipway she was launched from, and the museum and surrounding exhibits are every bit as fascinating as you’d imagine.
DAYS 25 & 26, 19-20 MAY – 47NM
Our plan was to head straight from Bangor to Dublin but the temptation of stopping off for cheaper fuel in the Isle of Man proves too tempting so after a quick breakfast, I fire up April Rose’s engines and call Neil on the VHF. All is not well – Joie de Vivre’s single big Caterpillar engine does not want to wake up. The amount of gaffer tape stuck all over the wheelhouse to try and stop a series of persistent water leaks, including one which has been dripping over the electrical circuits in the engineroom below, makes this the prime suspect. Colin and I pop over to help and after trying a number of things, Neil manages to identify a circuit breaker which has tripped. He resets it and vroom, the mighty CAT awakes!
The sun is shining as we exit the marina, and with the coast providing shelter from the SSW winds as we run across Groomsport Bay, progress is smooth and fast. The minute we move out of the lee of the land, we are punching into an uncomfortable Force 4 to 5 chop with spray flying over the boats. After three hours of enduring the Irish Sea on spin cycle, we enter Peel outer harbour. It is low tide so we tie up to the pier to wait for the marina gate to open.
Once safely inside, we are allocated berths and are soon hosing salt off the boats in bright sunshine and trying to discover where the various leaks are coming from. With no obvious source we resort to another liberal application of gaffer tape, leaving Joie de Vivre looking like a poorly bandaged Egyptian mummy.
We spend the rest of the day exploring the pict
