Day 25 Tues 23 Jun. Howth.
Another windless day - this time with a cloudless sky. But we had already decided that we needed a break from the boat, and in particular needed to catch up on the laundry. So that this didn't take the whole day, we took the washing to the marina laundry first thing, but unfortunately there was no power there, and neither the nightwatchman nor the cleaner could solve the problem. We had to wait until the manager arrived at 0900.
Whilst waiting for the washing, I introduced myself to Hilary Lister, who is paralysed from the neck down, and is sailing round Britain single handed, using "suck-and-blow" tubes to control her boat - an Artemis 20. This really puts my trip into perspective. We had been in email correspondence last year, through the East Anglian Sailing Trust, and I was pleased to be able to repeat ,face-to-face, EAST's offer of assistance when she gets to Suffolk,. Hilary had sailed up from Arklow a few days earlier, and was hoping to progress to Carlingford Lough tomorrow.
Another visit to the chandlery beckoned - this time to get gas. This was not on site, but on the fish quay a couple of hundred yards away. The shop was out of stock, but was able to swap our empty cylinder with one which they thought was half full - better than nothing! Next door, there was a marvellous fish shop, where we bought a whole salmon, so David could repeat his masterpiece recipe.
Then we took a picnic lunch up the Ben of Howth, which we ate on the point overlooking Ireland's Eye, then walked round to Dublin Bay and over the summit, back into the village, where we had a well-deserved ice cream, before returning to the boat for tea.
After supper, it was a beautiful evening, and most of the town seemed to be walking up and down the promenade in the sunshine, listening to a busker playing haunting music on her flute. The promenade viewed from the pierhead looked just like a Lowry painting.
Day 26. Wed 24 Jun. Howth to Carlingford Lough. 46 miles.
Wind! Force 3-4 SE, complete with wall-to-wall sunshine and a fair tide. Well, the tide was fair until we got to the entrance to the Lough, and then it started pouring out, so that the last six miles took us two hours. It was the best day's sailing for ages, with the sails going up just outside Howth Marina at 0815, and coming down in the entrance to Carlingford Marina eight hours later. There were some delightful waypoints in between, such as Rockabill lighthouse a couple of hours out of Howth, and Haulbowline Lighthouse in the entrance to Carlingford Lough itself, where the tides run so fast that the navigation bouys are boat-shaped.
Three hours after we arrived in the marina, and right on low-water springs, the reception flotilla for Hilary Lister arrived, and promptly went aground in the marina entrance. Hilary and her support rib followed a few minutes later, but luckily managed to thread their way through the mess.
After eating on board, we went ashore to the marina bar, and had a very pleasant pint of Guinness on the balcony. Here we started talking fishing with one of the locals, and he confirmed that our lack of success with the mackerel spinner was because of excessive boat speed. He told us that a good place to try was in the deep channel outside the marina itself.
Day 27. Thurs 25 Jun. Carlingford to Ardglass. 39 Miles
We left the Marina bright and early - well, 0645 - in order to have half an hour's fishing in the recommended place, and still catch the last of the ebb tide down the Lough. As usual, we caught nothing - just as well we were not relying for supper on our catch.
We soon gave up fishing and sped down to the Mouth with the last of the ebb. Here, the Force 4-5 Easterly wind against the tide had built up some spectacular overfalls, by Haulbowline lighthouse, but we were soon through these, and hoisted the sails to take advantage of a favourable wind. Needless to say, the wind soon dropped off, and headed us, so we were soon ghosting along at a steady 2-3 knots, zig-zagging up the coast.
At one point, off St John's Point, the wind disappeared completely for a time, so out came the fishing gear with the usual results. But luckily the wind came up again, and we eventually arrived at Ardglass, some ten hours after starting out. The Spar supermarket was still open, so at least we did not go hungry.
Day 28 Fri 26 Jun. Ardglass to Bangor. 40 miles.
We had decided the night before on a late start, to catch the afternoon tide. As we were going to the shower block before breakfast, Hilary Lister arrived, having sailed through the night from Carlingford. Her planned five-hour sail had taken eight, because of the wind - both the amount and direction. What an incredibly long time to be sitting still in a small boat!
The previous evening, we had not been able to buy any beer, so we searched the village for an off-licence. The only one we found did not open until the evening. However we found a hardware shop, so tried to buy a replacement hand-drill for the one we broke in Arklow. Apparently, there is now no demand for them, because everyone now buys electric ones. This trip is in danger of finding over-engineered solutions - first an outboard motor to replace a broken oar - now an electric drill to replace a hand-powered one. I resisted the temptation for the time being, partly because I have three electric drills at home!
We left Ardglass about Noon. The tide had not yet turned, but we wanted to get on. It was a really nice sail, tacking up the coast to Strangford Lough, in a light NE wind, but progress was far too slow, so we motored out to South Rock light, where we were able to bear away, and sail again, actually making progress at over 7 knots. We cut through Droghadee Sound, to save a few miles at the entrance to Belfast Lough, started the engine again, and arrived at Bangor at 1930.
Here we met a woman with a dog, whom we recognised from Carlingford. Bangor is her home port, and she kindly recommended a pub, Coyles, which did good food. So we decided on a night on the town.
We duly found Coyles - or thought we had. It had the name Coyle above the door, and indeed used to be owned by the same management, but it was a traditional pub, with no food, a television showing horse racing, and with a really good atmosphere. Apparently, there was going to be live music later on. We had a quick drink there, before moving on to the restaurant. During this, there was an uproar after the result of a horse race. The horse which came second was owned by one customer, who had backed it for a considerable sum with his bookmaker, who was another customer. The bookie was happy because it was not an "each way" bet, and the owner was pleased his horse had done so well. Coyles restaurant did excellent steak and chips, and then we returned to the pub (Fealty's) for the music, which failed to materialise. Never mind - it was still a good evening.
Day 29. Sat 27 Jun. Bangor to Glenarm. 26 miles.
Another early start to catch the tide. We left Bangor in the murk at 0645, with not a breath of wind, and with very poor visibility. Five hours later, by this time well wrapped up in several layers of clothing to cope with the summer weather, we arrived at Glenarm, having motored all the way, using the Autopilot.
Glenarm harbour, though, was very pleasant, with guillemots nesting in the harbour wall, providing hours of amusement. After lunch, we walked upriver, through some woods where we saw dippers and a heron.
Day 30 Sun 28 Jun. Glenarm to Ballycastle. 23 miles.
The big challenge today was to find the right time to get through the major tidal gate between Fair Head on the North East corner of Ireland, and the Mull of Kintyre, 12 miles away in Scotland. All the water from the Northern Irish Sea passes through this gap each tide, with seriously strong tides and overfalls (standing waves on underwater obstruction s).
We left Glenarm at 0550, giving ourselves four hours to cover the 18 miles to Fair Head. Again there was no wind and very poor visibility, but soon we had the tide under us, and we had to reduce the engine speed to tickover, to avoid arriving too early. Even so, we were still doing more than four knots over land, with barely any steerage way.
By 0900, we were past Fair Head, and the wind had arrived from the SE. We then started sailing the last five miles to Ballycastle. But by this time the tide had turned, and the wind was insufficient to stem the tide, so Robin started fishing again. He soon got bored, so we started the engine again, tying up in Ballycastle at 1000.
After a restorative cup of coffee, we went ashore for supplies, finding a large Co-op supermarket where we were able to top up with essential supplies of beer, wine, bread, milk, etc. However, the shop selling gas was shut, so we had to leave this until tomorrow.
After lunch and ice creams, David and I left Robin on the boat, while David did a sketch of Fair Head, and I took photos of him doing so. We returned to the boat to see Robin putting away his fishing gear, and he showed us a bucket of six nicely gutted mackerel. Needless to say, he had not caught these, but had been given them by the people off the boat next door - and very nice they tasted too!
Day 31. Mon29 Jun. Ballycastle to Plod Sgeirean, Ardmore Islands, Islay. 29 miles
So, as we prepared to say goodbye to Ireland, we planned an early start, but this was delayed by having to wait for the gas shop to open, which it eventually did at 0920. We couldn't take the risk of running out in the wilds of Scotland, and not being able to have a cup of tea, since we were already on Day 2 of the half cylinder we had obtained in Howth.
We were away by 0945, to catch the last of the ebb past the western end of Rathlin Island, making sure we didn't get caught by the strong flood tide by keeping the engine running until we were round the point at 1100.
We then had a glorious sail in a Force 4-5 easterly wind for about 20 miles across the shipping lanes to Islay. The wind died when we were abeam of the Lagavulin distillery (Islay is famous for its seven distilleries), about four miles short of our proposed destination - the Ardmore islands on Islay's east coast, so we dropped the sails and motored in.
The Ardmore Islands are rocky islets in the back of beyond, teeming with wildlife, and the biggest is less than half a mile square. We anchored in the middle of them, in an inlet called Plod Sgeirean, after some very interesting pilotage ( thanks to the Clyde Cruising Club's excellent pilot book and the chart plotter), and enjoyed a celebratory drink of Ardbeg whisky. We ate supper in the cockpit, watching the seals basking on the rocks, herons, oystercatchers, curlews, etc in the evening sunshine.
Day 32. Tues 30 June. Ardmore to Loch Tarbert, Jura. 26 miles.
Today was a day for interesting pilotage. Not only did we have to get out of the Ardmore Islands, we also had to time our passage to catch the North-flowing tide through the Sound of Islay, finishing by threading our way up Loch Tarbert, to anchor in a bay called Cairidh Mor in the inner loch. We also passed the 1,000 mile total for the trip, which called for yet another celebration.
We were away by 0640 to catch the tide - which was vital, because with the engine only idling, we passed the Caol Ila distillery in the quite narrow Sound of Islay between Islay and Jura, doing over 9 knots over the ground. Much as we would have liked to take up Dick's suggestion that we go on a distillery tour, it was a bit difficult to stop!
Although the day was sunny, the wind had got up and was gusting force 5 from the SE, so as we came out of the Sound, we hoisted the jib to sail three miles up the west coast of Jura to Loch Tarbert. However, as the "interesting" narrow rocky bits started, we switched back to the engine, piloting our way through the first set of narrows into the inner loch, where we anchored at 1045.
Day 33. Wed 1 July. Loch Tarbert to Puilladobhrain, Seil. 31 miles.
We got under way bright and early yet again to make the most of the North-flowing tide in the Firth of Lorn. By 0630, we were motoring out of the Loch in a flat calm, but when we turned North at the entrance, there seemed a faint breeze, so we tried sailing. This lasted until after we had demolished the bacon and egg sandwiches, but then the engine went back on, and the jib was furled.
It remained like that all day, cold first thing, gradually warming, and overcast with occasional showers. At 1015, we hit the tail of the Corryvrechan tidal race, between Jura and Scarba. Even though we were two miles offshore on a calm day, and before it had really started to build up, this was really noticeable. The water was a mass of whirlpools and eddies.
We made good progress under engine and occasional sail, so diverted about a mile or so, to explore Easdale Sound between Seil and Easdale. The village of Ellanbeich on the Seil shore was the first sizeable habitation we had seen since leaving Ballycastle, and looked worth a run ashore if we had had more time.
Four miles further on, we reached the North end of Seil, and anchored in a very sheltered bay, Puilladobrain (the pool of the otter). There were four or five other yachts anchored there - quite a fleet compared with our previous stops - but it is a well-known anchoring place, only ten miles or so from Oban.
After lunch, we inflated the dinghy and went ashore for the half-mile walk over the hill to the Tigh an Truish pub (house of trousers), and the Bridge over the Atlantic. We walked across the Atlantic and back, and had a pint in the pub whilst consulting their dinner menu. This was a lot more interesting than corned beef hash on the boat, so we returned in the evening for a meal. The pub's unusual name stems from the outlawing of kilts following the defeat of the Jacobite uprising in 1745- this is where islanders used to change into trousers before crossing to the mainland.
Back on the boat, we decided on an early night to catch up on the crews' beauty sleep, and were quietly serenaded by an evening of shanty singing from a neighbouring boat.