Category
Irish Cruise
Another flat calm day
but this time it wasn’t raining although it was very cloudy. Ahead of were
masts sticking out of the water mid-channel as we motored out of Lawrence cove and down the northern shore of the island
towards Bantry Bay. When the chart marks a wreck with a
symbol it’s usually not so obvious to the naked eye! Presumably what was once a
large deep sea trawler or a coaster was now resting on the bottom and even at
high water masts and a thin funnel showed several feet above the surface. We
carefully left it to starboard.
On our left was a boat
yard where the shed had a nifty opening roof so that the crane could manoeuvre
in parts for the trawler inside. Then to starboard Castleberehaven (Castletown)
harbour opened up and we caught a glimpse of the Irish fishing fleet lined up
stern-to along the quay. A slight turn to port and we were heading out through
Piper Sound with gentle hills rising green either side of the narrow gap that
framed our view to seaward.
Once back in Bantry Bay
the wind was Southerly F3 or so. Up went the sails and out went a troll but it
didn’t last. Soon after lunch we had to resort to the engine again and we
caught nothing. The scenery was fantastic – Mizen Peak rising a couple of hundred
metres above us as we rounded the headland (the most SW part of Ireland) under
Marconi’s telegraph station and headed east. Most appropriately the mobile
phone rang – we spoke to Martin & Colette who had an hour or so earlier successfully
crossed Biscay with Duncan (son) and Jazz (dog). They were now anchored in
Ferrol with Pat & Tony enjoying the warm Spanish sunshine and a glass of
champagne to celebrate their achievement.
By late afternoon we
were motoring amongst the islands that make up this part of the Irish coast;
Long Island to port and Clear
Island to starboard. The
landscape was much lower, flatter with more agriculture along these Gulf Stream warmed coasts than the wilds of Kerry. There
all you might see are birds and sheep in the grass high above the cliffs, here
there were fields and tractors. Through Gasconne Sound at low water – it was
therefore easy to avoid the rocky bits. Turn to port and ahead was the entrance
to Baltimore at the top of Sherkin Island
between the white light house (to port) and Lots Wife Beacon ( to starboard).
Inside the narrow rocky gap the harbour opens up into a bog pool more than a
mile across. Temptress rounded up and we tidied away the mainsail – with little
wind and a flat sea is easy to achieve a neat result even with our spectre
sailcloth which resists all attempts to fold it.
Motoring around the moorings
on the Baltimore
side showed nothing suitable and no room on the quay or the water-barge that
serves as a pontoon. Kevin headed for the north side of the harbour towards the
lifeboat house and we attempted to anchor off the north pier. Down went the
anchor, out went the chain as the tags whizzed past I took my foot of the
switch but the chain didn’t stop it just kept on rattling out. With no shoes on
and not wanting to grab hold of the speeding chain I simply yelled for the
Skipper. The anchor hadn’t bitten either so we slowly dragged down wind towards
a couple of small yachts and some empty moorings. Then the chain jammed in the
locker – great! Kevin tied it off and called for the toolbox. Once the gypsy
was undone the problem was obvious – thick grey Irish mud collected for a
variety of anchorages over the past week had jammed the pawl open. After a few
buckets of water it seemed cured. We upped anchor and had another try but the
holding in our second choice was poorer than the first spot so we headed back
there. This time the anchor went down, the chain stopped and it all held fast –
just like the text books say it should.
Showered we ventured
ashore by dinghy for a walk and a pint or so of lethal Irish cider. The sun
came out and children recently released from school for the summer played whilst
their parents drank & chattered at the tables that filled the little
triangle overlooking the harbour. We watched a Rival 38 have four or five
attempts at anchoring and smiled smugly to ourselves before returning to
temptress for supper and a few games of cards.
7:57 PM - Oct. 23, 2006 -
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