Baltimore -> Roaringwater

Cape Ferry overtaking us off Sherkin

It's the last day of our holiday, and we agreed with Tiernan that we would bring Treo back to Roaringwater. We dinghy out to the boat, go through the checklists, and motor off the mooring. Then we hoist the staysail and the still double-reefed main and sail out towards the north entrance, or in this case, exit. The wind in the harbour is light, so we decide to shake out the second reef. I'm slightly worried about running out of fuel so I'd like to sail as much as possible. We have a full tank and about a litre in the jerry can but if the wind disappears we might need to motor a lot. I really should have refilled the can... 

Soon we are tacking up the sound, gaining on a small open boat ahead of us. Then to our amazement, a rib comes along and takes the small boat in tow. Cheaters! We grit our teeth and sail on. The wind was forecast to be NW, which would give perfect conditions for sailing to Cape. We’ve been to Cape twice this holiday (once by ferry and once on Inishbeg with Con) and to go a third time in our own boat would just be so perfect. I really want this to happen. But I haven't shared that thought with the others yet for fear of the reaction.

When we come alongside Sandy Island and the Catalogues, Laura wonders why we aren't turning towards Cunnamore and going back the way we came. I tell her there is not enough water in Goose Island Channel at this state of tide, and we'll have to go the long way around. That's a little white lie, because I'm still hoping to make Cape. But I'm also willing to turn around if it's too rough and the girls complain. The wind stays in the west as we beat up between Heir and Sherkin, so I settle for going around the outside of Heir. Continuing on to Cape would be too long and uncomfortable. Although the sea is smooth, there is still a moderate swell left over from yesterday’s strong winds. The Cape ferry approaches from behind and passes on the inside as we head towards Drowlaun Point on Sherkin, and her wake gives us a good shaking up. We had been hoping to see dolphins, as we had spotted a few around here from the Cape ferry the other day, but there are none around today. We even tried calling "Here dolphy, dolphy, dolphy!" but it didn't work.

It's taken us nearly two hours to get this far, and the girls are starting to complain. We decide to take a shortcut between Toorane and Bream rocks, which should knock a few miles off our journey. There's no risk (another little white lie) since there's not much wind and we're near slack tide so it should be fine. As we approach the passage we can see a fisherman in a small boat pulling up pots over on the western edge of the Toorane rocks. It's slightly comforting to know we're not alone out here. Since there is still a risk of strong currents flowing around and between the rocks, we start the engine and motor-sail through the gap. Shortly after passing through we spot a group of 4 or 5 seals swimming near the north side of the rocks. 

The next danger we need to keep an eye on is Anima Rock, lying half way between Heir Island and the Easter Calf. We try to make a heading which will take us west of Anima Rock, but we can't make headway that close to the wind and have to tack to avoid it. We keep in mind Con's tip that you're on a line through it when Jeremy Irons’s castle is visible between the Skeams. 

The wind is finally veering to the northwest, but too late for us to make for Cape, and it means we have to tack up between Heir and the easter Calf. I hesitate for a minute over taking a short-cut between Heir Island and the Skeams, but quickly decide that one big risk and two little white lies are enough for today, so we go outside the Skeams. The wind is now NNW and getting a bit gusty as we pass Horse Island, and Laura is not happy about the boat heeling over. I must remember to let out the main more when we start heeling. We head for Kilcoe Castle, and I tell Laura that we’ll drop the main when we get behind Manin Island, as it will be a bit more sheltered. 

Soon the lines of mussel farm barrels start appearing in the water. We grab the binoculars and try to identify a clear passage through. Finally we grab the iPad and look at the recording of the track we took on our way out, and decide to follow that in reverse. We drop the mainsail and start the engine, and motorsail up Roaringwater Bay, keeping between the lines of blue barrels. When we come alongside Lisheen Pier we turn to port and head for the moorings. I can’t identify our mooring buoy at first, but then manage to pick it out with the binoculars. We pick up the buoy, attach our mooring lines, and prepare to leave the boat. That means taking everything off, as Tiernan will be hauling her out. Con had offered to pick us up with his rib, but in the mean time he got sidetracked by somebody needing help with a pump, and he won't be able to come over. 

After several phone calls, Laura ferries Eileen ashore to be picked up by Julianna, who will take her back to Baltimore to get the car, in which she will return to pick us up. Laura rows back to the boat and we take all the stuff off and row back ashore. As we approach the pier, a fisherman's car and trailer full of lobster pots are blocking the slip. He comes over and gives us a hand to carry the dinghy past and get it up to the top of the slip. We start chatting, and it turns out that his sister was good friends with Eileen in school! 

We deflate the dinghy, but still can’t squeeze it in the boot of the car so we leave it sticking out. And we almost left without the oars. It's been a long day and we're all nearly starving at this point, so what a pleasure when we get home to discover that Danny has prepared a wonderful leg of lamb for dinner. 

Back on the mooring in Roaringwater

Looking back at the sailing we did this summer, several things stand out. When we picked up the boat three weeks ago, Tiernan had left the rolled up jib tied down on deck. There was bad weather forecast, and he wanted to reduce windage and the risk of it coming unfurled. When we left the boat the jib was still lashed down on deck. We never hoisted it. Does this boat have too much sail area? Does this area have too much wind? Probably a bit of both, but it's also related to the level of confidence of the crew. 

There is still a problem with chafe on the mooring lines, as tubing and webbing chafe-protectors continue to wear through. The boom crutch is a big success, if a bit rough and slightly too long to store easily below. Tiernan said he will make a new one over with winter, nicely finished and maybe a bit shorter. 

With respect to the crew, my ears got sunburnt so I need to get a good hat. Laura is afraid of the boat heeling too much and capsizing. Eileen is obsessed with hitting a rock and sinking. At the same time, we are slowly but surely pushing back the limits, getting more comfortable with the boat, and getting more familiar with the area. At least I am! We might not have done much sailing in terms of quantity, but I feel like we got some real quality time afloat, and that's the essential.

Logbook

Friday 29/07/2016

Baltimore towards Roaringwater

R, E, & L

Baro 1012.4 steady

Mostly cloudy, temp 18

Wind W veering NNW F2 gusting to F4 later

Baltimore -> Sherkin

Sailing out towards the Beacon

Our French friends have left, and along with a lot of (hopefully) good memories, they also seem to have taken the good weather back with them! We had a really great time while they were here, but now I'm eager to go sailing and I've been hoping that we could sail over to Sherkin Island on the opposite side of Baltimore Harbour, and anchor off over night. I ask Con about a good place to spend the night and he suggests staying north of the pontoon to avoid traffic. The forecast for Wednesday is looking good, but Tuesday will be too windy for overnighting, so we plan to sail over on Wednesday morning with the aim of anchoring off and going ashore for lunch instead.

We row out to the boat, and go through the pre-flight checklist. It's a bit windy and we are looking for an easy sail, so we decide to hoist the main while still on the mooring and put in two reefs. We can always shake them out if it calms down. Laura takes the helm and we drop the mooring and head out into the harbour. As we're heading out, I hoist the staysail. It feels like we need to take a bit of time to get the hang of this sailing thing again. Since we only sail a few times every year, nothing becomes automatic, we always have to think about how to do things, which string to pull, what to do next. Especially at the beginning of the holidays. By the end things are usually starting to come together, but then it's time to lift the boat and head home again. Somewhat frustrating!

We sail around the harbour a bit, tacking and gybing, reaching and running. We still manage to hit four knots on a reach even fully reefed down. She is definitely a fast, easily driven boat.

The crew are starting to get hungry, so we head for Sherkin, handing the sails in the lee of the island. I head to the foredeck with the anchor and rode. I tell Laura to go into neutral when I give the thumbs up. The spot we picked out on the chart ends up having several mooring buoys, making it harder to find somewhere to drop the anchor. There are no boats on the buoys, but if they come back we don't want to end up swinging too close to them (or them to us!). We decide to go right close in to the shore. The water is incredibly clear, I can see the bottom in 2-3 metres. We're crawling in towards the shore, over a weedy patch, then a rocky patch, then a sandy patch. I drop the anchor over the sand and give the thumbs up. We wait a bit for the wind and current to take us back, and when it does we end up being too close to a rocky outcrop sticking out from the shore. We pull up the anchor and move a bit closer to the pontoon. This time everything looks fine. We sit in the cockpit for a while, watching how the boat lies relative to the rocks, and enjoying the view.

Treo anchored off Sherkin

The hunger becomes more pressing, so we hop into the dinghy and row to the pier. As we arrive at the steps a fisherman is tying up his dory, and we manage to get a line to the railing. You have to be a bit careful, because with a falling tide your dinghy could end up hanging from it's painter. With a rising tide it could end up being held under! The dory's fore and aft lines are quite long to account for this, and that makes accessing the steps a bit complicated. Eventually we extricate ourselves and walk up the road past the friary, hang a right and then a left up the hill to the Jolly Roger. We go in and ask about food, but unfortunately they are doing some work on the kitchen and there is no food available. Last time we came here Laura played their piano and we had a nice chat with the owner, so we are a bit disappointed to have to leave.

We head down to the Islander's Rest and take our usual table in the bar. The view is spectacular, from Baltimore over to the beacon. Eileen and I have fish chowder and Laura has fish and chips, and they really hit the spot. Mine is washed down with a pint of Guinness which makes it all the more better! Laura is somewhat less enthusiastic due to the fact that the wifi doesn't seem to work.

The sky is clouding over and I decide to take a look at the weather forecast. The precipitation radar on Weather Pro shows a band of rain heading directly our way! Looks like it will pass over in an hour or two. So we decide to try to get back to Baltimore before it arrives. We dinghy back to the boat and raise the anchor. I hoist the staysail and cut the engine, and we sail over on a reach in very light winds. I try poling out the staysail with the boathook. We pick up the mooring in Baltimore and a few drops fall as we stow the sails, but we seem to have missed the worst of the rain. By the time we finish the wind has picked up and the row back to the pontoon is a bit of a tough slog!


Logbook

Saturday, 23/07/2016

Pay for two weeks of dinghy parking (from the 12th)

Wednesday, 27/07/2016

Baltimore towards Sherkin

R, E, & L

Baro 1019 steady

Mostly sunny, temp 17

Wind F3 gusting to F4 (F5 later)

Friday, 29/07/2016

Pay for three days of dinghy parking (€15)

The Learning Curve

Summer holidays seem to have snuck up on us this year. We've been so busy between moving and work that we haven't had time to think of anything else. So even when we're sitting on the plane heading for Cork it still hasn't sunk in that we're on holidays. Of course the lack of sleep last night didn't help either. There was the usual 2AM packing in a panic, made worse in this case by the cockpit cushions I picked up over the winter. Hmm, one of these cushions fills half my large suitcase, so taking both is simply out of the question. We also have three sleeping bags, binoculars, VHF, iPad, computers, various boaty bits, wet weather gear. Oh, and some street clothes as well. Good thing I got extra baggage allowance.

Due to ongoing delays in getting planning for the dairy, Treo spent the winter at Whooley's Boatyard. Tiernan from Roeboats launched her on Thursday evening and put her on a mooring in Roaringwater Bay. The weather is not looking good for the weekend and Con will be needing his moorings until Monday, so I suggested to Tiernan that we bring her to Baltimore ourselves on Tuesday. I sense that he is quite busy at the moment and might appreciate not having to bring the boat over, and since our trips up the Ilen and over to Hier Island last year gave us some confidence with the north entrance to Baltimore Harbour, it feels like we are ready for this. The only slightly worrying thing is getting out past all those mussel farms.

Lisheen Pier

Our replacement dinghy showed up last September, and we haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Hope it floats! We unpack the dinghy, oars and pump, and load them into the car along with all the other boat stuff, plus food and extra clothes. Good thing we got upgraded to a bigger car... They gave us a Passat, which has an enormous boot. I suspect that there were loads of these diesel Volkswagens going cheap after the dieselgate scandal, and car hire companies snapped them up. 

We arrive at the pier, unload everything, and try to find a place to leave the car. We inflate the dinghy and carry it down to the water. Wasn't bad to inflate it with the foot pump after all, as long as you're not in too big of a hurry. It floats and doesn't seem to have any leaks, so we load it up with all our gear. I'm elected to row us and all the gear out to the boat, and it's a very long way! At last we get to the boat and transfer all the bags of stuff. Eileen and Laura are busy storing things below while I look things over, and prepare for sea. Last year I made a checklist for departure and found it to be a great help. Don't have to worry if you forgot something. Now I make a point of adding to and refining that list. 

Nearly ready to go. Just need to start the engine and then we can cast off. Kill cord, oil, fuel, breather cap, primer, choke, throttle, no lines in the water. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check. Pull the start handle, and the engine starts on the second try but quits after a few seconds. Probably because it's been sitting all winter. Check the throttle position, try a bit less choke, and pull. Doesn't start. Pull a few more times but no good. Maybe it's flooded now? Let it rest for a minute or two as bad thoughts start creeping in. What if it doesn't start? Of course it will start! Why wouldn't it start!? Repeat the process with less throttle, same thing. Runs for a second and stalls. Look for fuel leaks or anything suspicious and try again. Nothing. Verify tank breather is open, but then open the filler cap completely just to be sure it's not an air lock problem. Same thing. Now the bad thoughts are getting louder and I can't block them out. Not only is there the terrible disappointment that we would have to deal with, but there are practical considerations too. What if we can't leave the boat here? Laura is starting to get uneasy and doesn't want to head off on a boat with an unreliable engine. Neither do I, but this engine has always been perfectly reliable and this just doesn't make sense. 

We started off from Creagh later than planned this morning, so now it's well past lunch time. We were going to eat our sandwiches on the way to Baltimore, but it seems like a good idea to eat them now. That will give us some time to calmly deal with the bad thoughts and come up with a Plan B. And who knows, maybe it is just flooded and will sort itself out. We eat our sandwiches while going over everything again. What could it be? It started on the second pull, then died after a few seconds. Has to be fuel related, but the tank is full. Blocked fuel filter? Bad fuel? Water in the tank? Strange because Tiernan brought the boat over a few days ago and would have said if the engine was acting up in any way. 

What about a Plan B? Can the boat stay on the mooring? If yes, then we could take the engine off and dinghy it ashore and put it in the boot of the car and take it to Diarmuid. Or maybe Diarmuid could come over in his rib? If it can't stay here then maybe Con could tow us to Baltimore?  Has to be fuel related. We won't be able to sail out of here with a west wind and those lines of barrels in the water. Not enough room to tack between them. Maybe I'll text Tiernan in case he has an idea. I describe the situation and he quickly replies, asking if we checked the kill cord and fuel tap. Of course we did, ten times! I carefully check the fuel tap again and realise that it is in the wrong position... I had been sure that left was for the external tank and right the internal tank, with "off" in the middle. Logical, right? Maybe so, but wrong!!! Oh crap, the middle setting is for the internal tank and right is "off"... Try again, and the engine starts right up and runs perfectly. Boy, talk about feeling stupid, a right thick eejit as they would say around here. But what a relief! 

We motor out towards the pier and then head southwest, directly into the wind and towards the start of the long parallel rows of floating barrels. We saw a boat going out earlier and try to head in the same general direction. Between the binoculars and Navionics on the iPad, we pick a corridor between two lines of barrels and head for open sea. My biggest fear is getting caught in a dead end and having to run between barrels and possibly pick up a rope in the prop. But so far so good. The sea gets choppier as we clear the mussel farms and pass between Mannin Island and Carraigbhiglas, but we keep on motoring into the headwind. 

Finally we can head south towards Goose Island channel, and I'm looking forward to getting the sails out. Before doing that I take a look around with the binoculars and spot a large flock of sailing dinghies just north of Heir Island. They seem to be racing so we decide to leave the engine on, and wait until we've threaded through them to hoist our own sails. Just as we approach the fleet, our engine quits. Panic! Do something quick! Are we out of fuel? A bit of headless chickening ensues. Laura reports that she has lost steerage, we are drifting on the tide. Thankfully the dinghies are clearing off in front of us. Eileen wants me to refuel quick. The tide is carrying us towards the rock-strewn gap between Heir Island and Cunnamore. I go for the jerry can and start to pour, but then change my mind. What if we’re not out of fuel and engine still doesn't start? Best to get some sail up. I go forward and hoist the staysail. Laura almost immediately reports that she has regained steerage. Whew! With things back under control, I add some fuel to the tank and give it a tug. It starts right away. We turn it off and sail the rest of the way to Baltimore. An eventful trip, and a good lesson in having sails ready to hoist when motoring. Should probably have prepared the anchor as well, just in case. We put our dinghy on the inner pontoon and text Diarmuid to say we'll come by tomorrow to pay. 

Yacht Inishbeg (right) in North Harbour, Cape Clear

Bastille Day brings news of a tragedy in Nice. It's been a bad year for France. The weather turns and it's bad for the rest of the week with rain and fog. Then our friends from France arrive, and they bring good weather with them! We take advantage and do lots of touristy things like Inishbeg Gardens, Knockomagh, ferry to Cape (and see a few dolphins on the way back), a bit of farming, Drombeg, kayaking at Rosscarbery, kite flying at Inchydoney, crabbing in Baltimore Harbour, and walking to the Beacon. 

Con is taking an American couple out for a half-day sailing on Inishbeg, and asks if we would all like to come along. They are hesitating between cruising up the Ilen River or looking for dolphins in Roaringwater Bay. Finally they choose dolphins. Nathaniel is given the helm at one point, and says his dream has come true! We stop off in Cape for coffee and I'm blown away by Con's incredible boat handling to get us into the inner harbour. We return to Baltimore passing through the Gascanane Sound and outside of Sherkin. Conditions are a bit tricky with the wind aft and a fair bit of swell, so we have to be careful of gybing. An exhilarating bit of sailing. The dolphins have been shy so far, but finally just before entering the harbour we see a few in the distance. A fabulous afternoon!

We accompany our friends for a little bit of their journey as they head farther west, going as far as Gougane Barra, where we have a lovely hike in the woods and finally leave them at Glengarriff.


Logbook

Tuesday, 12/07/2016

Roaringwater to Baltimore

R, E, & L

Baro 1016 rising slowly

Partly cloudy, dry

Wind F3 gusting to F5