Cozy Anchorage
15 June 2013 | Greatman's Bay
Vicki
Thursday we left Valentia Island, went through the Blaskit Islands (really lovely) and anchored in Smerwick Harbor. It was only 25 nm, but the wind was kicking up and the waves up from the Atlantic were enough to make me sick. The anchorage was nice.
Friday we did the run from Smerwick up to Inishmore Island. This is a passage I don't like. It is 70 nm (a long day of sailing) and once you are on the path, you are committed, not any good spaces to crawl into for protection. We had a choice between waiting for the fluky winds, which would require motoring, or higher winds that might get bad. We choose the higher winds, and high they were. Paul saw a gust up to 40 knots, but most were in the low 30's. I even was able to steer. The first hour shift of steering, I was quite nervous and Paul stayed up with me. My second hour shift, Paul went below to nap and I actually had glimpses of why some people would think this madness was fun. And madness it is. But for the second half of the trip a funny and unexpected thing happened. The winds died down to almost nothing and we had to motor after all! We were able to motor sail through Gregory Pass and hooked a mooring ball in front of Kilronan on Inishmore Islands. The picture is the rainbow at the end of a hard day of sailing
We have explored this island twice, and will explore again with Paul's sister Mary next week. So we took off on Saturday for a new place, up Greatman's Harbor. It is a secure anchorage, at the foot of Connemora. Good thing, because there is a gale blowing now but tomorrow the winds should be light. Lots of interesting bays to explore with the dingy tomorrow.