Day 21 10 August
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| Isle of Man |
Douglas, Isle of Man
Cloudy upon arrival after a short hop
across the Irish Sea. Up early to get ready for shore leave. The ship
failed to have Pounds on hand for exchange and the currency of the
realm is not USD or Euros. The
Isle
of Man has a population of some 86,000 and is a self
governing Dependency of England.
The Rotterdam anchored offshore of
Douglas and by 8 we were beginning to head to shore. This took us
south along the main route, 2 lanes, through Castletown and on ever
narrowing roads to a parking area outside the small farming village
of
Cregnesh.
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| the steam train |
There we disembarked for a walk down a narrow one lane
road to the village. Here the buildings are kept in the traditional
style, whitewashed stone, thatched roofs, gardens and stone barns.
After poking around a bit we were led by our three local hearty
hikers as guides and herders down a farm road which quickly petered
out into a simple path through the field. Up the hill past draft
horses, sheep and a few goats, past the VHF communications station
for trans-Atlantic aircraft and into the heather toward the sea
cliffs. These we followed up and down quite a ways, sometimes
standing at the brink of 600'+ drops to the sea; no railings here.
The majestic panorama is so great, I felt, that even with a fishing
boat so tiny below, it was difficult to comprehend the depth of field
through the magnitude and grandeur of the scene.
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| Cregnesh |
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| Cregnesh |
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| Cregnesh from our walk through the fields |
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| from the cliff top |
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| from hundreds of feet up |
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| The heather (purple) bloomed |
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| Viking sheep? |
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| Calf of Man isle on left |
At the end of this trail, after a
steep descent down the trail of grass and rocks, we came to a tourist
overlook and restaurant with a view of Calf of Man, a small isle off
the southern tip of Man. After lemon cake and a scone, we boarded the
bus for the trip back. By this time the rain had commenced.
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| Douglas |
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| Douglas |
Then a dash back to Douglas, much the
same road as we came out on. We passed, again, the Fairy Bridge and
gave our greetings to the Little People as we passed over it. Past
King William College out by the airport. Through a couple of
villages, past the Home of Rest for Old Horses, retired from the
horse drawn trolleys in Douglas, past the steam train chugging its
way along toward the South end, then on into Douglas. W.
At 1810 we hauled the hook and headed
out, going back around the Isle to the South then up the West side
heading Northerly. The seas looked to be quite peaceful for the next
leg.
Noon report”54º
09.38*N and 004º
27.26' At anchor off Douglas. Temp 55ºF,
13ºC.
Wind SW 16.5k .Cloudy with light rain. Sunrise 0547. Sunset 2058.
Distance to next port 103nm. Total distance this voyage 5,089 nm.
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