Around Ireland

We really enjoyed western Ireland. It was much easier navigationally than we expected. There were lots of protected bays to anchor in and, although you had to keep an eye on the wind, it was not difficult to find shelter in beautiful surroundings.

Whilst we were in West Cork the heatwave remained and we enjoyed many sunny days. This bottom western corner was more populated then further north and there were many pretty towns and villages, all with enough pubs to keep us happy. 

We joined a street party in Union Hall, where a three piece band were playing from a stage made from rolling up the side on a small lorry. The local pubs were doing so well that they ran out of ice and an artifical grass mat with lego, had been set up as entertainment for the kids.   

One disappointment was not being able to visit Bantry House. Having made a trip up to Bantry especially to see this beautiful stately home, it was shut for a private wedding on the day we tried to visit. Unfortuately, it was not possible to stay till the next day as the wind was getting up and rolling straight into the anchorage. Definitely one for next time.

We saw the famous Fastnet Rock and lighthouse, although for too disitant for a decent photo. 

County Kerry was the next stop north. Valentia island is famous for being the starting point for the first permanent and commericially viable transatlantic telegraph cable. This project was pushed forward by Sir Peter FitzGerald, a Knight of Kerry, along with Cyrus Field, a US business man, who between them made this project happen, despite numerous failed attempts.    

Kerry is also famous for the Ring of Kerry, which is a ring of hills with a well publicised scenic driving route. Dingle is a common starting point for this route and was therefore full of American tourists. Being tourists ourselves it felt wrong to complain, but it still didn't quite feel right sitting in a traditionl Irish pub, with not a single Irish voice to be heard. Having said all this Dingle is popular for good reason and well deserves its reputation as a tourist hub.

We spent an interesting night anchored off Great Blasket. This island is no longer inhabited by humans but is inhabited by hundreds of seals. They are really curious animals and will come for a look at you, untill they realise that you have no food, and are doing nothing interesting, then they get on with playing in the surf. Their "singing" was loud, went on all night and could be quite eerie in the dark. 

Next was the Aran Islands. a strange landscape of dry stone walls. This is the Aran of "The Man of Aran" fame and really does feel very remote. The walls were created to try to clear the stones and create a wind break to make any kind of farming here viable. The ground is so poor and it really does look like, despite hundreds of years of work, life here would have been exceptionally hard. 

By this time the heatwave was over for us. The rain started to set in and we really appreciated why Ireland remained green, as the UK had turned yellow. Despite the turn in the weather the local sailing clubs remained undaunted. We had noticed how popular dinghy sailing was all up this coast and had been impressed with the youngsters who were manning the saftey boats, conducting the lessons for younger kids and generally seemed to run things without and adult in sight. I benefitted from their keen observation in Clifden, as they noticed that I was stuck in the dinghy. The engine had cut out and the pull cord had become jammed all the way out. I had manged to row up wind in 20 knots to the nearest buoy, but this had taken most of my strength. They kindly came to the rescue and gave me a tow back to the boat. Annoyingly it took Phil about 30 seconds of fiddling with the cord to get it to retract and therefore start the engine. 

We saw the sun again whilst visitng the island of Inishbofin. There were strong winds whilst we were here, but it was still warm enough for t-shirts on our wind swept walk and to sit outside the pub of an afternoon.   

We had to get a bit of a shift on to get around Ireland to Belfast by my deadline to get back to take my mum on holiday for her birthday. This meant that we skipped a number of places that we would otherwise have visited in County Clare and County Mayo. However, we did stop in a few places in Donegal. This seemed to be a place of white sand beaches which would have been beauitful in the sun, and were still picturesque in the rain.

We stopped on Rathlin Ireland off the top corner of Northern Ireland. This is a famous bird sanctuary and a nesting site for puffins. By the middle of August though, the puffins were long gone and juvenile Kittywakes, Razorbills and Guillemots were the prominent seabirds. 

We finished our "Around Ireland" tour in Bangor, just outside Belast, where I left Phil and the boat to fly back to the UK for 10 days. Bangor is a secure marina that we had visited before, but the town is going through some regeneration which, I'm sure, will be great when its done, but the boarded off sections currently leave it with a run down feel. 

Once I returned to the boat we had another 5 weeks out cruising, and no definite plans for exactly where to go. Not fighting the weather as we move into more variable conditions is top of the list though.