Cape Clear > Baltimore

Overlooking North Harbour on Cape

The night was blissfully calm and quiet. We get up and make a leisurely start before heading to Séan Rua’s for a full Irish breakfast. We have a very enjoyable breakfast at one of the picnic tables on the pier. Then we get Laura ready and send her off back to Baltimore on the 12:00 am ferry. Again, it feels a bit strange seeing her head off by herself! We’re waiting for the tide to turn and the wind to come around to the west southwest, se won’t be leaving ourselves for another few hours. . 

In the mean time, I’m thinking about pictures I’ve seen of the castle ruins on Cape and wondering if we can get a closer look at it. We start by heading to the Tourist Office and asking if there is a path leading to the castle. The girl there tells us to walk past the graveyard, then take a left and another left. There will be a strand or you can go through the fields. We head up the road, pass the graveyard, turn left but then find ourselves unsure about where to go next. We decide to head off across the field, and find ourselves overlooking the spectacular remains of the castle perched on a tiny island of a rock jutting out into the ocean. We can even make out the Fastnet Rock in the dip between the main island and the promontory on which the castle is perched. 

Dún an Óir castle

We walk back to the pontoons and prepare the boat to leave. A group of sailors off another boat walk past on the pontoon and heap more praise on Treo. We slip our lines and Eileen drives us out of the harbour and into Roaringwater Bay. The weather is calm and there is almost no wind at all. I keep trying different combinations of sail before giving up and taking them down again. As we pass the Catalogues the wind finally arrives from the west. We raise the sails and have a cracking sail through the Sound and into Baltimore Harbour. A Laser sailboat approaches from astern as we pass the Narrows Ledge off the northeastern tip of Sherkin. I’m tempted to put out more sail but I restrain myself. A bit of tweaking of the sails is sufficient to keep him astern. Laura is watching from the Jolie Brise and texts to say “where are you going to turn for Baltimore?”.

11/07/2018

F0-3 

Sunny and hot

R & E 

Cape Clear to Baltimore

Sherkin > Cape Clear Island

Eileen helming as we pass the Gascanane Sound

We wake up to find our stern quite close to the rocks, and after a bit of deliberation I go to the bow and pull in a few meters of anchor rode which pulls us a few meters further away from the rocks . Laura has a ferry to catch, so we can’t doddle. We have a quick bite of breakfast and then Laura gets her things together and we hop in the dinghy and row over to the pier. She’s taking the 8 am ferry to Baltimore, from there she will catch the 10:30 am Baltimore to Cape ferry. By that time we should be well on our way to Cape (or Schull) and we’ll send her a progress report. We prepare to hoist the anchor and watch the ferry heading across the bay with our daughter aboard. A strange feeling!

We motor through the sound and around Sandy Island, past the Mealbeg south cardinal mark, between the Catalogues and Two Women's Rock. We plot a course for Drowlaun Point on the tip of Sherkin as I hoist the main and staysail. Soon a light breeze builds from the stern quarter and gently pushes us along. The wind is from the Northeast, which gives the flattest seas since the waves don't have a chance to build up, and there is hardly any swell as we approach the Gascanane Sound. This area has a fierce reputation, where wind against tide leads to treacherous conditions. The wind from astern also means there is no heeling. I couldn’t have wished for better conditions, and Eileen seems comfortable and at ease. The only thing I need to watch out for is when we reach South Harbour and turn to windward to bring down the sails. When sailing downwind it can be easy to underestimate the wind strength and be unpleasantly surprised when changing to a windward course.

The sea is a bit bumpier off South Harbour, but nothing dramatic and I take down the sails while Eileen motors around in circles. I put out fenders and fore and aft mooring lines for the first time! We’re ready to go in, so Eileen stays at the helm as we slowly approach the entrance. It’s quite a tight entrance, with visibility blocked on both sides by the steep cliffs to port and high quay walls to starboard. Eventually the view of the harbour opens up, but at the exact point where you need to make the sharp turn to port if you want to enter the inner basin. The inner basin offers a similar lack of visibility, where you can’t see what’s in there until you are in there. A few sailboat masts sticking up give clues, but you really can’t be sure of what you’ll get until it’s too late. 

I had seen drawings of the new pontoons, but hadn’t yet seen the real thing. I was hopeful that there would be room. Otherwise I thought we might be able to tie up to the top of the outer basin where it gets very shallow. Suddenly we could see the layout of the pontoons and the couple of yachts tied up. There was a large-ish space open at the very top near the (gangway). I asked Eileen to head straight for it, and to turn alongside at the last minute. 

A couple sitting out on the nearest yacht saw us approaching and the lady comes over to help us come alongside. I should have gone in to neutral sooner, and we have a bit too much way on. The lady on the pontoon helps fend us off, and takes our line. Thanks very much! We tie on our fore and aft lines and kill the engine. We did it!

Laura's ferry arriving in Cape

Laura’s ferry will be arriving soon, so we stroll over to the ferry berth and wait to welcome her to Cape! The weather is hot, and we are all dreaming of goat ice-cream. We head off up the steep road behind the shop. We ring the bell at the goat farm, and soon we are sitting in a shady patch of grass enjoying a well-earned ice-cream. We continue up the road and stop in at the church, which also offers a bit of much-appreciated shade and coolness. We decide the take the mass track across to the other side of the island, and then head down to South Harbour where the girls dip their feet in the water. There is a group of kayakers there, and one young girl picks up a big pink jellyfish off the beach and displays it to her friends. She definitely knows something about jellyfish that I don’t. We lounge around for a bit and then head back to the boat and get ready to go out for dinner. 

We head to Cotter’s pub where the dinner menu looks very good and they also have a big telly with the World Cup soccer match on. France is playing Belgium in a semifinal match, and we cheer on the French. It felt like French fans were in the majority in Jacob’s where we watched the quarter final match. But here there seem to be more Belgian fans. France wins, and I predict a France vs. England final, with France winning 4 - 0. We finish our dinner and drinks, but Laura is not impressed by the fact that they seem to be out of deserts. 

Treo alongside the pontoon in Cape Clear as night falls

We head back to the boat, where we enjoy apple pie and tea sitting out in the cockpit. Two apparently slightly drunk older gentlemen walk past along the pontoon and heap praise on Treo. Perfect size! Shallow draught! Traditional looking! Outboard in a well! I have to say they may be drunk but they have good taste in boats!

10/07/2018

F2-3

Warm and mostly sunny

R & E

Sherkin to Cape

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