Welcome aboard, Nick. I'm pretty sure that Iwan does reside in your neck of the woods and he could be very helpful to you. It looks like your razor needs more work on the hone as it's not supposed to tug and it's supposed to shave smoothly.
The other option is that your angle is too steep (almost parallel to the face). That would explain the tendency to pull and the lack of closeness.
I'd give it some more work on the hones (make sure you lap them and go slowly) and then shave while paying special attention to the blade angle.