After three nights moored off Chapel Island, we moved to the northern end of Strangford Lough to anchor off Mahee Island. On a tender tour of the area, we passed several of the nearly dozen boating clubs inside Strangford Lough. One of them was the Down Cruising Club, who stand out from the rest for having the most unique clubhouse, the ex-lightship Petrel, and for their friendliness. Two of their members stopped by our anchorage to welcome us to the area and offer assistance if we needed any supplies. And since they couldn’t offer us a drink in their clubhouse due to the current lockdown, they brought the clubhouse to us with a bottle of Irish whiskey.

Below are highlights from April 5th through 9th, 2021. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

4/5/2021

Waves Position: 54°25.28’N, -5°35.41’W The winds picked up from the north last night and will remain that way for the next few days. We’ve been anchored off Chapel Island three nights and were planning to move to the other end of the Strangford Lough to explore it as well, but now that the wind is coming from the north there is even more reason to go.

Passing Through Reefs Position: 54°27.12’N, -5°36.20’W The area we are passing through is full of partially or completely submerged reefs. Some have marks, but they are just narrow sticks and difficult to pick out.

Reefs Position: 54°27.15’N, -5°36.24’W Barely-awash reef to starboard as we head north to Mahee Island.

Mahee Island Position: 54°29.76’N, -5°37.83’W Our anchorage with good northerly protection off Mahee Island, in 28 ft (8.5m) on 150 ft (46m) of rode.

Calf Island Position: 54°29.76’N, -5°37.83’W Traditional navigation mark on Calf Island to our southeast.

Posts Position: 54°29.76’N, -5°37.83’W This distinctive stone gatepost style, facing the water, is really popular all around Strangford Lough.

4/6/2021

Brrrr Position: 54°29.77’N, -5°37.80’W The temperature fell to 34°F (1.1°C) last night and we had ice out on the bow.

Overhead Lights Position: 54°29.76’N, -5°37.81’W Three of the overhead lights in the master stateroom have slowly been losing brightness and now barely throw any light at all. We replaced two of the lights with spares we had on hand and swapped the third from a location in the guest stateroom where we won’t miss having light. That will hold us until we can new parts.

Light Apart Position: 54°29.76’N, -5°37.80’W The failed overhead lights from the master stateroom are Imtra Ventura ILIM30401 and this light is used throughout the boat. They are remarkably well-constructed, fairly expensive and not serviceable. The bad news for us is this light is no longer in production and the closest part now available is a 2-wire design instead of a 4-wire design. This means the dimmer and all the lights in a room would have to be changed at the same time. Just finding the dimmer will likely be challenging. It will be in a wall or behind some ceiling panel. We wish this model of light was still in service, but we really appreciate the quick, detailed explanations from Imtra on the service options. Our plan is to replace the dimmer and all the lights in one room with current generation parts and then use the lights we removed from that room as spares for the rest of the boat. That keeps the cost and workload to a minimum.

Snow Position: 54°29.77’N, -5°37.79’W James with flecks of snow on his coat (and on the camera lens). We thought we’d left the cold weather behind in Norway.

4/7/2021

Kiwifruit Position: 54°29.77’N, -5°37.80’W We try to have fresh fruit each morning and today is Kiwifruit.

Sunrise Position: 54°29.77’N, -5°37.80’W Orange sunrise over Ards Peninsuala that separates Strangford Lough from the Irish Sea.

Mourne Mountains Position: 54°29.77’N, -5°37.81’W When we arrived at Mahee Island a couple of days ago, the Mourne Mountains to our southwest had no snow. But they now are white after yesterday’s snowfall. At left is 790 ft (850 m) Slieve Donardat, the highest peak in Northern Ireland.

Dirona Position: 54°29.75’N, -5°37.80’W Dirona anchored off Mahee Island as we set out on a tender tour.

Scrabo Tower Position: 54°33.44’N, -5°39.74’W The 135 feet (41 m) Scrabo Tower standing on the hill of the same name above the northwest corner of Strangford Lough, with perhaps a dozen visitors near the base. The 19th-century tower was built as a memorial to Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry.

Temple of the Winds Position: 54°32.53’N, -5°36.52’W The Temple of the Winds on the 19th-century Mount Stewart estate. The octagonal temple is one of several in the UK inspired by the Tower of the Winds in Athens.

Concrete Tower Position: 54°32.51’N, -5°36.47’W Concrete tower with ladder behind a man-made pond wall just south of the Mount Stewart estate.

Ballybryan Mill Position: 54°30.75’N, -5°33.63’W The ruins of the 19th-century Ballybryan Mill windmill tower above Greyabbey on the east side of Strangford Lough.

Kircubbin Position: 54°29.51’N, -5°32.65’W Boats ashore at Kircubbin above another mooring field.

Ringdufferin Position: 54°26.18’N, -5°37.60’W Estate in Ringdufferin under renovation with a modern interior built inside older stone structures.

Ringhaddy Cruising Club Position: 54°26.96’N, -5°37.92’W Strangford Lough has a lot of marinas, most with yards currently packed with boats stored ashore for the winter and a large mooring field below. The Ringhaddy Cruising Club is no exception.

Sailboat Position: 54°26.96’N, -5°37.92’W Sailboat getting bottom maintenance on the Ringhaddy Cruising Club launch ramp.

Ringhaddy Church Position: 54°27.29’N, -5°37.59’W The ruins of medieval Ringhaddy Church, built sometime in the 14th to 16th century, on Castle Island.

Sketrick Island Position: 54°29.35’N, -5°38.34’W Beautiful modern home overlooking the water on Sketrick Island in Strangford Lough.

Sketrick Castle Position: 54°29.41’N, -5°38.88’W The ruins of 12th-century Sketrick Castle. Strangford Lough has a lot of castles!

John Boy Position: 54°29.41’N, -5°38.88’W The well-maintained fishing vessel John Boy.

Wooden Boat Position: 54°29.41’N, -5°38.88’W Large wooden boat taking the hard at low tide on the dock at Killinchy.

Petrel Position: 54°29.52’N, -5°38.98’W The Petrel was built in 1915 at Dublin Dockyard Co. and is the only light ship still afloat in Ireland. The ship was in service until 1968, when it became the clubhouse for the Down Cruising Club at its current location. That’s a pretty unique clubhouse.

Mahee Island Position: 54°29.80’N, -5°38.95’W Another impressive waterfront home under construction at Mahee Island.

4/8/2021

Down Cruising Club Position: 54°29.79’N, -5°37.79’W Chris Canning and friend from the Down Cruising Club stopped by to welcome us to the area and offer any assistance if we needed any supplies. And since they couldn’t offer us a drink in their clubhouse due to the current lockdown, they brought the clubhouse to us with a bottle of Bushmills Irish Whiskey, distilled near the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland. We really appreciate their thoughtfulness, both in the offer of help and the gift.

4/9/2021

Spitfire Position: 54°29.78’N, -5°37.80’W Spitfire dozing in the sunny cockpit. The temperature isn’t a lot warmer than Norway, but he sure seems to like being outside here in Northern Ireland more than anywhere else for a long time.

Lighthouse Shift Change Position: 54°29.76’N, -5°37.83’W We came across this video today showing the incredible shift change “by wire” at the French lighthouse of Kereon. The lighthouse stands on a tiny islet in the Fromveur Passage, where 9-knot tidal currents can produce tremendous waves in storm conditions. The lighthouse was automated in 2004, so keepers no longer are resident there.

Dusk Position: 54°29.76’N, -5°37.83’W Dusk on a calm evening in the anchorage off Mahee Island.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.