Lazaway Life

  Portpatrick Passenger Pigeon  Ectopistes lazeraterii - new to science perhaps. Our route

  The heart of Portpatrick, where Bacchus and his pards hang out Left Bangor just after 14.30 to go to Portpatrick for a night - just to make the most of good weather and a good forecast.  As it happened, there was 12kn SSE wind at the top end of the forecast, and a NE swell giving a lumpier sea than we anticipated.  Not in the slightest a problem, and with the temperature up in the 20s and the sun shining, it was a lovely trip - just 2.5 hours. No cetaceans, but there were a lot of birds - Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters, Fulmars.   Fulmar and Gannet checking us out along the way  (amazing these photos are taken with a phone). Approaching Portpatrick  Loads of space in the harbour when we arrived, and the Harbourmaster was down within minutes with details of the code for the toilets and to make sure we had electric. Lazaway in Portpatrick harbour  Coffee and cream cake when we tied up, followed fairly quickly by a beer on board sitting on a sunny warm fly

  Clive, Judith, Gordon adding a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to the humour of the day. Off we went at 14.00 for a short trip - for those who have not been out on Lazaway before - amazingly that includes Anna, Judith and Clive.  We were also delighted to have Sara, Anna’s long time friend, with us - she also was on her maiden Lazaway voyage.  Katie was also able to come - happy days. Katie, Sara and Anna The weather was almost perfect - calm sunny warm. Great for cetacean watching - if only there were some cetaceans.  Actually we did manage to see a small group of Harbour Porpoises - probably 6 or 7 animals.  Too far away to get a picture. We crossed the Lough to Blackhead, on to the Gobbins and then Isle of Muck.  We then turned east to get farther out, close to the area where we saw the large group of Common Dolphins a couple of weeks ago.  Strangely, they appear to have moved on. A busy flybridge - but still no dolphins or whales. A turn to the southeast, towards the Copelands, warrant