Isle of Man
We made our way from Whitehaven in Cumbria on the northwestern English shore, to Peel on the west coast of the Isle of Man. This was an ‘interesting’ trip, partly because we tried on Saturday and returned to Whitehaven as the seas were uncomfortably rough given our direction of travel, especially given we had an 8h journey. However, Sunday morning was much more benign, and we had a good day- made even better as the seas continued to moderate through the day. This was my first journey where there was a period where we couldn’t see land at all. The sea mist, and haze contributed!
We made landfall at the northern tip of the Isle of Man, and were impressed by the lush greens of the hillsides. Arriving in Peel Harbour, we were part of a grand parade of more than 20 boats coming and going in the first opening of the tidal harbour gate
and swing bridge. This was ‘enhanced’ with about a dozen kayaks along one side of the narrow channel, and many kids jumping off the quay on the other. The busiest traffic I have encountered! We made it to our mooring without major mishap, though we received the wrong directions from a ‘helpful’ person on the pontoon, and had to make our way against traffic to get to the assigned berth.
We spent the day exploring Peel, and the castle/cathedral ruins on St. Patrick’s Isle, at the mouth of the harbour. Peel is a city, because it has a cathedral. The Cathedral of St. German’s replaces the one in the castle, and is the seat of the Diocese of Sodor and Man, which is the smallest diocese in the Church of England.