I spent half a day of glorious sunshine with my head stuck in the engine space, but then enjoyed some lovely weather. I went across to Strangford on the ferry - the first photo is of Strangford, the second is Portaferry (where I am). The outstanding green-roofed building houses the lifeboat, and is copper-tiled. The stone thing behind it is Portaferry Castle. Open every day until the end of August.

This one shows the tide rip across the channel just north of here:

Whilst this one shows the tidal turbine built to take advantage of that very tide. Apparently the strength of the tide has come as a bit of a shock to Siemens, who made it, and they keep having to strengthen it. It serves as a bit of a test-bed for other systems.

After my explorations I went to a wee bar here in Poartferry. Its claim to fame, apart from being very friendly and serving good beer, is that it is the smallest bar in all Ireland.

In the picture below, the photo just above the nuts is of one Oliver Reed, whom some of you may remember. He was a regular here, and the gentleman on the left (Mark, who ran the ferry for a good number of years) knew the less-public side of Mr Reed quite well. So I have shaken the hand of the man who shook the hand of Oliver Reed.

Finally, a couple of moody sundown shots. One of the castle here at Portaferry (look at the birds) and the other looking out across Strangford Lough.