Isle Of Man

Covers the period August 19 to 22, 2000

We left Ringhaddy Sound at 0615 on the 19th to catch the tide. By 0700 we were sweeping through "The Narrows" doing almost 12 knots. By 0715 we were in open water, having recorded a maximum speed of 14.3 knots helped by the maximum ebb tide and heading southeasterly for the Isle of Man. 

It was a pleasant, easy, 35 mile sail and motor sail across the Irish Sea until we approached the southwest tip to motor between Man and the Calf of Man. This stretch was challenging as we did not want to go outside the Calf, and identifying the entrance to the wave and tide swept channel was difficult, looking into the sun and trying to identify the leading marks. We watched a power yacht a mile ahead of us go through, and thought for a while that he must be on the wrong side of the buoy. However, as we got closer the channel opened up and we were able to identify the choppy passage, between shoals on both sides. Once through, things calmed down, as we were in a bit of a lee as we came around beneath the cliffs leading to Port St. Mary, a picturesque large bay on the southeast tip of the Isle of Man.

The bay was dotted with mooring buoys, the inner ones occupied by locals and all the outer visitors’ buoys also occupied. However we found an outer private buoy unoccupied and so secured to it at 1330 after a voyage of 43 nautical miles (54 04.4N, 004 43.9W). A local had indicated that the owner of that buoy was out of the water for a while as his boat was rammed in a recent race. We were a bit exposed to swells coming in, but were secure for the time being.

Going in by dinghy presented the usual problem of securing ashore in coastal waters with a five metre tidal range. There were no floating docks, only a large fishing pier/breakwater, and a long inclined hard at the yacht club. Thus we had to know the state of the tide each time we went ashore, whether it was flooding or ebbing, and also how long we could leave the dinghy. We got caught badly once when we returned to the dinghy to find it still well secured, down the hard with its painter tied to a ring three feet below the surface 20 feet out in the water. Lots of fun! However, another time we returned to find some considerate sailor had retied Sprite higher up for us so we did not have to face it being way out again at high tide. Later we secured to the fishing pier where we could tie up with a long enough line so that at low tide it would not be suspended above the water, and all we had to do was climb down 20 feet of slimy steel ladder rungs.

The Isle of Man, a rustic island 33 miles long, 13 wide, lies in the middle of the Irish Sea, not part of the UK but a Crown Protectorate, with its own laws, stamps, currency, and its own Manx Gaelic. Its amiable seaside resort towns have an old-fashioned charm, with broad seashore boulevards and promenades, some still traversed by horse drawn trams, lined with sedate pastel Georgian and Victorian hotels and condominiums. The countryside is pleasantly pastoral, with rolling hills, dotted with narrow-streeted rural towns. 

We took an antique narrow gauge railway, with small wooden carriages pulled by a century old (actually 1873) steam engine, from Port St. Mary 15 miles up island to Douglas, the capital. From the train station we took the open horse-drawn tram up to the tram station, from which we took an electric tram (from 1893) up to Laxey. I had the feeling, riding the train and trams, of being in a pleasant time warp. The theme song from Around The World in 80 Days tinkled through my mind, with scenes from old western movies of rolling through the countryside with the steam engine puffing billowy shadows across the grain fields, the dry smell of cinders tingling in my nose, and the clickety clack of the wheels lulling me into a temporal stupor of a bygone era. Most enjoyable.

Laxey is noted for having the world’s largest waterwheel, more than 100 feet in diameter, formerly used for pumping water from the mines (now closed). It was also the terminus for the Snaefell Mountain Railway (opened in 1895) which we took to the summit, 2036 feet high. From there there was a magnificent view of the Seven Kingdoms (Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, Man, the Sea and Heaven). All could be seen in the distances. The train had to leave early as a thunderstorm was approaching and the company did not want to strand the passengers on the mountain top if the electricity were interrupted.

By bus, we visited Peel, another interesting town with a large castle/monastery setting that embodies the historical uniqueness of Man from the Viking era on. Peel is also the centre of the Manx fishing industry with the Manx kipper a famous catch. The House of Manannan's Story of Man is a state of the art audio visual heritage attraction that was voted British Isles Museum of the Year in 1998. Manannam is the sea god of Gaelic lore, and the origin of the name for the Isle of Man. Just inland from Peel is St. John's the site of the ancient Tynwald Court, the oldest parliament in the world dating from the ninth century. I think this predates the claim that Iceland makes to having the oldest parliament.

The public transportation was efficient. There were economical one two and three day bus passes which allowed us to travel over much of the island in the few days we were there.We were impressed by the wheelchair-friendly buses that lowered to curb level for wheelchair access. We saw one wheelchair-bound young lady readily utilize it without any assistance from others. It appeared to be an everyday type situation for her, the driver and the passengers. Well done Isle of Man!

Another day we went to Castletown, once the capital of Man, and the site of Castle Rushen, built in 1340 – 50, restored and in very good condition with excellent display rooms of various periods in Manx history. Around the corner from the castle we went to a small but interesting nautical/fishing museum housed in an old captain’s residence on the canal side. An interesting aspect is that the location was once the Quayle home, ancestors of Dan Quayle, former Vice president of the US, and we heard that the Bush family had roots in Man as well. 

This brings me to another "snafu" (situation normal, all fouled up) that had been developing with our new Mariner 10 horsepower outboard engine that we purchased in Arisaig, Scotland, in late July. Shortly after purchase it developed problems in starting. By the time we were in Stornoway, I had to take the engine cowling off every time and manually advance the throttle to start it. In Inverkip the mechanic had said it needed a new mounting bracket for the choke adjustment, but he did not have one in stock and none were immediately available in the UK. When we were in Ireland we phoned ahead to the Mariner dealer in Port St. Mary, indicating we would be there in two weeks, could he order the part to have it there then. He said no problem.

Well, we waited in Port St. Mary for several days expecting the part to be in shortly. Finally when we called him back and "leaned" on him a bit, it was indicated the part was caught up in a mail problem and he didn’t know when it would arrive. OK, so we left on August 23 for Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey, in Wales. This part problem has taken on a saga of its own that I will recount as we continue to go through it. 

Next Log