Having suffered many a conversation about other peoples travels, some exotic or far and wide, I decided to do something about it. It’s a few years yet until I can retire, and so it was around July 2009 when I had this idea of taking some time off from work. Dee took redundancy at the end of March, and the school agreed to Ieuan missing the summer term. All systems go!
So what did we do for 5 months.
Well first of all I did not work, beside it was a condition of my sabbatical. On April 15th with my wife Deirdre and our son Ieuan we headed in our little boat for West Wales and then across the Irish Sea to the south east of Ireland. First port of call was Kilmore Quay. The loose plan at the time was to circumnavigate Ireland in a clockwise direction calling in at as many places as we could, staying long enough at each place to savour the local hospitality, and to visit the local attractions. When we reached northern Ireland we tacked off to the Western Isles of Scotland, then up the Caledonian Canal to Inverness, and returned back down through the Irish Sea calling in at the Isle of Mann and then on to north and west Wales and home.
Now that we are back home I can tell you that we had a great time. We were lucky with the weather up until the end of June when for the first time we had to seek shelter because of some bad weather coming our way. We were at Port Ellen on Islay when we discovered this so we made our way to Tobermory via Loch Tarbet on the west coast of Jura, Colonsay, Bunessan and Staffa. We were stuck in Tobermory with force 8 to 10 gales in Rockall, Malin and Hebrides for 10 days. Not a bad place to be stuck really, and considering that this was the first time since we left home on the 15 April we had no complaints.
We successfully completed our navigation of the south and west coast of Ireland, including Mizzen head, the Fastnet Lighthouse, Valentia, Loop, Slyne and Erris Head’s, Bloody Foreland and Malin Head. With the exception of Mizzen Head we were blessed with good weather for rounding all of them, we really have been lucky throughout our voyage with only 3 days whilst going around Ireland when we thought why are we out here. Our journey around Ireland was really fantastic, the sailing, the sights both coastal and inland, and the people. In nearly every port that we called there was someone who offered or someone who showed that they were willing to help us should we need it. There’s no animosity between the locals neither sail, motor or commercial. Go in with the right attitude and talk to them and they will reciprocate your friendliness and advise you where’s best to go or not as the case maybe for a safe night or passage. We can't get over the receptions we recieved especially on the west coast of Ireland. Suppose they were glad to see someone.
At Kilmore Quay the HM contacted New Ross for us to arrange a berth and the pontoon manager at New Ross arranged for the rail bridge to open on our arrival. At Dunmore East there were about 40 plus moorings and only 3 boats in the water. I picked what I thought was the best and tied up. There was a small boat working on one of the moorings with 2 guys in it, one dressed as a diver. I later spoke to the diver ashore who informed me that he was glad I chose the mooring that I did as he had just renewed the gear on it and I would be O.K. on it. He was a member of the club and he had the contract to maintain them. In Ballycotton it was a bit rough to stay on the moorings outside the harbour, so I went alongside the local trawlers, I spoke to a skipper on another 2 tied up alongside who said that they were going out for 8 days and when they were gone if I wanted to move I could go alongside the inside one. In Barlogee Creek I went across to speak to a local boat to ask if he had any fish. He said he only had one and that was for his supper, but he gave us a couple of crabs legs for free, and I spent the next 20 minutes talking to him about sailing boats as he would like to get one himself. I was at anchor and he suggested that I may like to pick up a mooring, pointing to one and saying I would be O.K. there for a couple of nights. At the Royal Cork YC at Crosshaven I needed a new nav light. The marina hands contacted the chandlers in Cork and arranged delivery of the light to the club for me the same day. The nearest chandlers are all in Cork 20 miles away.
Lots of the islands naturally have ferries and tourist boats in and out all day and some of the ferries return to the islands at night to berth. They obviously want the end of the pier or the bit near the steps. On Cape Clear I tied up on the wall keeping well up the wall, I checked with the ferry next time he came in and he said if I could pull forward a little bit more it would be fine. We hadn’t intended to stop at the island of Inishturk, but when we swept in to the bay for a look and I could see the bottom in 8m, and the little harbour looked so inviting we picked up a mooring and went ashore. The locals suggested that when the ferry has done his last trip, which happened to be at 1 o’clock that day, I could come inside the harbour against the wall but I would have to be off before 10 the next day when it returned. In Galway we were invited aboard the HM boat on Saturday evening for a drink with all his mates. On all the islands the people are glad to see you and willingly stop for a chat about anything in general or your passage. In Sligo I tied up against a new Locking 386. Later that evening the owner came down to check his boat and we started talking. He offered me his mobile number should I need anything during our visit. At Teelin Bay there are 4 moorings, but Paddy the unofficial HM, because they don’t have one, suggested that we tie up on the end of the wall and if we need electric he has the cards. He also enquired if we needed anything from the shop as it was 6 miles away and he was going there. We didn't but the offer was there. In Sheep Haven I picked up the only visitor mooring available at that time. The others were being maintained and were taken out. A local fishing boat was also using it to keep his catch pot on. This proved fruitful as he gave us a load of fish and crab legs; for nothing. I think he felt guilty about using the mooring for his catch box.
We visited a few major towns on our way around Ireland like Waterford, Kinsale, Dingle, Galway, and Sligo. The most interesting was the walled city of Londonderry. The wall is still intact complete with a vast selection of canons mounted at strategic places. It takes 1 to 2 hours to walk around and read the information boards on the way. It was a little un-nerving as a tourist to see that things are still not quite back to normal in some quarters. You can look over one side of the wall and see the Union Jack flying together with the kerbs stones painted red, white and blue. Then look the other side over the Bogside with its IRA slogans and murals painted on the end walls of terraces. A far cry from the rest of Ireland that we had just visited. We had an interesting visit and tour of the Apprentice Boys Lodge and that of the Orange Order together with videos of the history of the organisations. The friendliness and generosity of the people we met was overwhelming.
While in Portrush I realised that I was a chart short for the next leg north to Scotland. I enquired at a local fishing shop if I could get charts anywhere. I was told the nearest is Bangor but a local who fished said he had some charts and he would see me in the harbour in 20 minutes and if he had what I wanted I could have it. He turned up with his charts but unfortunately he didn’t have the one I wanted, but he put himself out to try and help us. Later a sail boat came in, I asked them where was the nearest chandlers. They asked what did I want and I told them Imray C64. Oh! come aboard lets see what I have the skipper said, he searched on the shelf and at the back was C64. Here, have it, he wouldn’t have anything for it. It was 10 years old but I was grateful and I eventually forced 10 euros into his pocket. The next day we both sailed to Rathlin island and that evening we and his crew ended up having a good drink together. Also whilst at Portrush a boat from Plymouth came in on his return from Scotland. They were planning to go down the west coast of Ireland. He asked where the nearest chandlers was as he needed to buy some charts. Silly billy, no charts! It turned out he was from Martock which is not far from where we live. That evening he and his wife joined us for a drink and we exchanged charts of Ireland for Scotland plus information with regards to places we had both visited enroute.
We left Rathlin Island in N.I. on the 26 June for Scotland where our next stop was Port Ellen on Islay. From there we went through the Sound of Islay between Islay and Jura to Lock Tarbert on the west coast of Jura, then on to Bunessan SW Mull. We left Bunessan on the Tuesday which is when we got news of the impending weather change so we headed for Tobermory via Staffa Island for a quick visit to Fingals Cave.
We visited some lovely places during the trip, but especially on the west coast of Ireland and around the western Isles of Scotland. We aslo met lots of interesting people who were doing the same or even more adventurous such as the 2 boats from America. We saw some Europeans in Ireland but in Scotland there were lots of boats from Sweden, Norway, Germany and even Switzerland who had sailed across the north sea and were navigating the Caledonian Canal in order to get to the Western Isles. It was also funny how we kept seeing the same boats. In Fenit we met a couple on a boat named Kea, 2 months later I spotted them leaving Glenarm in N.I. Another boat called Fawn More left Dingle to go to Valentia as we were going in, a couple of days later it passed in front of us as we went through the Blasket Sound. Then 2 months later we picked up a bouy next to it in Oban. In Tobermory we met a couple on a boat called Sequelen, we then saw it in Kerrera when we were across the water in Oban. When we were sailing down Cardigan Bay we heard Aberpoth range safety call them up on the radio, so they were only a few hours ahead of us after 4 weeks.
Were there any highlights or bad moments? No. The weather could have been better, up until the end of June it was cold and from then on it seemed to rain a lot. We never had to open the hatches at night once because it was too hot, and the number of days that we sailed in tee shirts was few. In fact it was during the last 2 weeks of the holiday that we actually went swimming in the sea. We could have gone to France, but given the choice we would do it again. I did not know that there were so many little islands off the west coast of Ireland, all of which had something about them, but if I had to choose one it would be Inishturk. There are 3 moorings and a small harbour, no tourist office, 3 B&B's and a community shop and pub. After sailing in the Bristol Channel, being able to see your anchor in 8m of water was brilliant. In Scotland our choice would be Gigha despite it raining all the time, but we could see the potential of the place if the weather was nice, and no tide. The tidal range was about 300 mm. Again crystal clear water and a sandy bottom.
I did acheive some of my ambitions. To navigate the Caledonian Canal and visit Inverness, moor my boat next to Caernarfon Castle, and go in to Strangford Lough. Everything else was just a bonus. We spent £1084 on berthing fees. Only thing to be aware of is that Eire uses a different size gas bottle to us but if you ask around you can get refills. We got one from a fishing tackle shop in Kinsale, a McBrides supermarket shop in the Downings Co Donegal, and the chandlers at Crinan. Apart from the experience of the trip as a whole, on the way we met some nice and some interesting people either doing the same thing or on their 2 week holiday cruise. It really is worth talking to others, on a number of occasions because they were away if we were going past their home port they offered us the use of their moorings, or told us which we could use and no one would bother us.