THE HOME STRAIT

Bad weather and mechanical mishaps make their Jersey homecoming all the sweeter for UK circumnavigators Neil Cotillard and Phil Carter 

- Phil Carter

DAY 24, 18 MAY
BANGOR & BELFAST

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
BANGOR TO PEEL, ISLE OF MAN

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 engine room 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!