Friday, May 29, 2015

Peel, Isle of Man

Peel, Isle of Man. (by Zetty)
We sailed from Conwy, Wales to the Isle of Man with my Mum as official "stowaway/able seagranny"  aboard, leaving with the tide in the morning and arriving in the dark around 10:30pm.  We had to wait in the outer harbour for about 30 mins before entering the inner harbour and marina in low light, past the beautiful castle overlooking the bay and through the tidal flap gate and swing bridge that was remotely operated for us by the Douglas harbormaster on the other side of the island. The Isle of Man is an interesting place, small enough to make a great holiday destination with lots of outdoor activities, whale and dolphin watching and steeped in ancient history.  The day after we arrived my Mum took the older two girls off to the House of Manannan while Louie and I did laundry and Rosie took her nap.  They had such a good time (very interesting and interactive museum about the ancient history through to modern life on the Isle of Man) that we all went back the following morning.  In the afternoon we walked over to the castle, played on the beach collecting 'Queenie'
shells (queen scallops - Isle of Man is the largest harvester of this yummy shellfish in the UK) and jumping in the rolling breakers.  At one point I turned around and saw Rosie on her hands and knees in the surf, grinning like a madwomen, until she walked out and realized how cold it would be for the walk home!!  The Monkeys, coming from the inland lakes of Wisconsin, are real newbies when it comes to beaches and waves and we always seem to leave with one, if not all, completely soaked and freezing cold!   After walking around the castle, spotting a lot of new seabirds and wildflowers (Rosie's favorite thing to do) we came across the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) lifeboat station, and discovered it was open to visitors.  Louie, with his interest in firefighting and all forms of rescue, soon had all the girls and Granny and I exploring and learning about the history of the RNLI as well as how it operates today.  The RNLI has always been one of my favorite charities - as a British sailor you never know when you'll need them, and as a completely volunteer and charity run operation they are always needing support.  There was a film running in the station (turns out the very first lifeboat station in the UK was in Peel, I of M) about the history and running of the RNLI and we watched fascinated for as long as Rosie would let us.  We left before it was finished and Zoe was not (at all) happy to leave before it was over.  If any of our British readers know what this movie would have been, please let us know as we could perhaps find it online for her to watch.  I know for a fact that if Lou lived here he'd be a lifeboat man in a heartbeat.
We left Peel once again in glorious sunshine and sailed overnight north towards Scotland.  The sunset that night was hard to beat, and despite the decreasing temperature my Mum sat and watched for a really long time, as the colours were ever changing.  Northern Ireland was in the distance and the Scottish coast on the other side. During the night we came across groups of fishing boats driving in circles, possibly harvesting Queenies? A little confusing to the watch person until you figure out whats going on!! We also sailed past Dunmore where my great aunt, Tante Hans used to live, leaving me happily reminiscing about my times with her while on night watch.
We decided due to great weather to push on past Ardrossan and onto the Crinan canal entrance at Ardrishaig.


Visiting the House of Manannan Museum in Peel, Isle of Man


Peel Harbour

Peel Castle on the entrance to the harbour

Peel RNLI boathouse.  Great tour and movie

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