Grace Note Adventures

Our sail from the Scilly islands was great, doing a constant 6 – 7kts under sail with a good NNW breeze. It wasn’t until we had passed Lands End that we lost the wind, probably due to the sea breeze cancelling out the gradient winds in the sunny conditions.

We anchored in Mounts Bay just by St Michaels mount. It was a good anchorage and we enjoyed exploring the surrounding area and walking to Penzance from Marion along the southwest coastal path. St Michaels mount is one of the 43 tidal islands around the UK which are connected by a causeway at low water – cobbled in the case of the Marazion-St.Micheals Mount link.  Apparently the gardeners working the castle grounds need to be qualified abseilers in order to tend the steep slopes.

Leaving Mounts Bay we joined a number of boats taking advantage of the lovely conditions to round the Lizard and we anchored for the night off the quintessential Cornish fishing village of   Coverack. Passing the Lizard was emotional as it had been a barrier to us going further west so many times when we had limited annual leave.

With its traditional Cornish harbour Coverack is a popular water sports area. It was lovely to see both the adults and children thoroughly enjoying crab fishing, sail boarding swimming and snorkelling.  In 2017 there were pictures on the news of someone from Coverack collecting their kitchen sink from the beach after flash flooding, but there is no evidence of the damage done now.

With building winds we headed North into Carrick Roads by Falmouth and up the river Fal to anchor off Trelissick House, owned by the NT.  As always a sheltered anchorage to spend a blustery night. We recalled the first time we came up here, in our previous boat, having recently passed our Day Skipper qualifications we followed the buoyage in thick fog with compass and stop watch and were so very pleased to find this sheltered spot.

Then across to Mylor Yacht Haven, we made the most of our one nights stay, filling up with much needed water, washing galore, getting supplies, ‘free’ electric and showers. We used to bring our children to this creek when they were young – it was then just a small sailing club. The area has been well developed but despite its size has a good vibe to it. 

From here we sailed up the River Fal to Malpas where we left Grace Note on the river pontoon – with a group of lovely “live a-boards” – to travel back to Weymouth. We caught the bus into Truro on our return and explored the city. Truro is named after the 3 rivers converging here, the Cornish. Is Tri-veru. The cathedral is unusual as it has 3 spires and many local artefacts and objects of interest.

It was Falmouth Sailing week, so busy. We anchored briefly with other yachts and dinghy’s off the Town, celebrating one of the south wests biggest regattas. The town had a buzz. The sailing week dates back to at least 1837 with activities both on the water and off. 

Due to wind direction we anchored for a few nights off St Mawes, a pretty village with walks to both its castle and lighthouse. Then we sailed back South into the Helford river anchoring off pretty Frenchman’s Creek, made famous by Daphne Du Mauriers novel. We had not been in the Helford since pre pandemic and we were surprised by how many boats there were but also the availability of visitor moorings and space to anchor.

It was good to be in the Helford, although this time we didn’t get to take Grace Note up to muddy Gweek. We did spend several days exploring from the Helford passage beach along the coastal path, Frenchman’s creek, wandering along the river and visiting the Helford Sailing Club. 

Our next passage was to Mevagissey with the winds on the beam we did 7+ kts with a reefed Genoa. The moorings in the harbour were trot moorings – this means you pick up a mooring to tie to the bow and another mooring buoy for the stern, which stops the boat swinging. A good solution in such a busy harbour. There are 60+ registered fishing boats within the harbour, and plenty of day tripper boats. Its the second largest harbour in Cornwall but the inner harbour looks very compact.

Mevagissey is the first village in Cornwall to have mains electric, installed in 1896. The inventor of Pears soap was born in Mevagissey and it was also home to the fastest milkman in the west, a real character called Cyril Furse who had a passion for Norton motorbikes from the TT races on the isle of Man. Apparently he attached one of these bikes to his milk float winning him the title of “the fastest milkman in the west!”

From our mooring we listened to a local pub having a popular Sea Shanty evening. We have heard Sea Shanties so often in local pubs around the UK and Ireland, sung traditionally and keeping men on both fishing boats and ships working together. 

The following day was damp and foggy. The town was quiet with many shops closed.  We were told the story of ‘Marys Pastys’, a local shop which was visited by a group of local children on a school trip last winter. They apparently repeatedly explained in their small groups to the owner that ‘pastys’ should have an apostrophe (much to the embarrassment of the teacher) – although I expect secretly she was pleased they had listened to their lessons. The townsfolk are watching amused to see if the embarrassed owner changed the signage but nothing has happened yet.

That evening we watched the fishermen feeding mackerel to a plump seal, and were told they had caught too many in St Austell Bay. We rummaged in our locker and found our fishing lines, having nearly given up catching anything. So, sailing to Fowey, we passed close to the shore and rocky reef, apparently guaranteed to catch fish and caught one very small one, which went back immediately and a medium one. Hardly a glut – but a real treat!

Fowey has always been a favourite of ours. It was the principal port of Cornwall during the middle ages, and later was a centre of smuggling. Fowey still exports Englands principal Kaolin, china clay. The harbour master told us that they had been quieter than they would have expected this year and put it down to the weather.  

We had intended to pick up one of the two mooring buoy in Polperro but they were both taken by large motor boats so with a good forecast we sailed onwards to Cawsands in Plymouth Sound. (Still just in Cornwall). Cawsands is a 17th century fishing village with quiet meandering streets once a busy centre for pilchard fishing and – of course – smuggling. 

Moving on with another strong wind forecast we went to pick up a buoy for one night at Torpoint Yacht Haven as we needed more provisions. The staff there were so friendly and helpful and we made use of their courtesy ferry. The marina itself is housed in the harbour built by French prisoners of war to shelter ballast barges in 1783. Its facilities are now housed in a converted ordinance barge and had real character. Sadly this barge is now coming to the end of its useful life but is soon to be replaced with a larger and much newer converted grain carrying barge. This vessel was operated on the European inland waterways originally, then purchased and converted for use as a yoga retreat. This proved financially unviable for the owners so it was sold to support an NHS initiative in Falmouth. Due to a change in government policy this also proved financially unviable for the charity. The barge was subsequently purchased by the marina and will shortly be brought into service as a much updated and larger provision. The barge reminded us of the many ex light ships we have seen used effectively by sailing clubs as clubhouses on our travels.

With stronger winds forecast (again) we headed up the River Tamar. The source of the River Tamar is at Wooley Moor near Bude less than 3.7 miles (6km) from the north coast of Cornwall. The river meanders  61 miles (98km) to Plymouth effectively creating the boundary between Cornwall and Devon. Our first night was spent anchored under some trees by Pentille Quay but then we picked up a buoy provided by the boat yard at Calstock, later going as far as Morwellham quay, some 14 miles upstream. This is the furthest you can sensibly go as water shallows and there are 3 weirs. Ken Endean confessed to nearly being neaped on top of the first weir here which sounded rather alarming.  There is plenty of evidence of industrial heritage along the upper reaches.

On our trip we passed under the Calstock viaduct which stands 120 feet high (37m) with 12 arches. It was built between 1904-1907 using 11,148 cast concrete blocks, making it one of first major structures in Britain using re-en forced concrete. Until 1934, a vertical steam powered hoist or lift stood alongside the viaduct that could raise and lower wagons down into the water. It has now been removed and the viaduct is now only used for the railway.  There are some lovely walks around Calstock and one day we took the Tamar Valley railway line to Plymouth to explore some of Plymouth’s history. 

The area has received funding for a 5 year project to enhance the utilisation of the Tamar valley – the Tamara Partnership Landscape Scheme. One of the 10 projects is to reopen a ferry crossing of the river at Calstock and create a circular walk. Its hoping to open later this year but they are currently waiting for a pontoon to arrive and be installed on the Devon side. There is a paid skipper who will be joined by others on a volunteer basis in the community. 

On the river above Pentille Castle there is a small Chapel situated on Halton Quay, thought to be the smallest in Cornwall. Once a hive of activity Halton Quay now is tranquil. It is unclear when the first quay or landing place was built on the river but the settlement of Halton first appeared in the Domesday Book in 1086, so it seems likely that there has been a community here, utilising these navigable waters, since the earliest times.

After storm Lilian had past, we sailed back down to Saltash to anchor for the night, before sailing onto Salcombe. Salcombe was busy, it was after all … a Bank Holiday, so we anchored by the Saltstone in the Kingsbridge estuary with a few other yachts – a favourite anchorage over many years.  We watched the Salcombe Yawls racing around us which was lovely. Taking our tender back to the town we enjoyed walking along the cliff and through the town.  Anthony had holidays here as a child and we brought our children here often as well… its changed so much but still has a lovely feel to it. Salcombe has recently overtaken Sandbanks near Poole as the most expensive seaside town with an average house price of £907,657!

From Salcombe it was a short hop to Dartmouth.  The wind allowed us to follow the coast from Start point around the bay and we past the infamously ruined village of Hallsands. The village used to be a thriving community nestled under the protecting cliffs with a major sand/gravel bank just offshore providing security from easterly weather. However, when the gravel and sand was dredged to expand the naval dockyard at Plymouth in the 1890’s. At one point over 1,600 tons of material was being removed each day, the sand beach protecting the village started to drop alarmingly. Damage to the village increased and after a major storm and high tides in 1917 the final defences were breached and the village was effectively washed away, the last resident leaving in 1960.

We spent one night on the mid-river pontoon opposite Dartmouth, before a reservation for their regatta, then we went up-river to Dittisham. After the busyness of Dartmouth we were surprised how quiet Dittisham was with plenty of empty buoys.  We visited Stoke Gabriel with its very old Yew tree – the church guide says it was recently estimated by an expert to be between 1200 and 1500 years old. However, it is thought more likely to be about a thousand years old.

With a good forecast for our return across Lyme Bay we left at 4 am – why is the tide always so early? – navigating down river in the pre dawn dark, but sadly the wind was less than forecast requiring some help from the trusty ‘Iron Topsail’ in order to be on time to use the inshore tidal passage around Portland Bill (we were 15 mins late of our planned arrival time after 51 NM). We re-crossed our outward track of 3 1/2 years ago as we entered Portland Harbour and arrived back in the CCSC Moorings mid afternoon. Wow… it was quite emotional to be back.

The ‘Round Britain and Ireland Race’ says it is 2000 miles around the UK and Ireland.  However, we have done 5,360 NM (6,168 statute miles) exploring the twists and turns of our beautiful coastline, visiting at least 260 different locations in Grace Note over the last 4 years.

We have anchored the most, but enjoyed pontoons, harbour walls, bouys and marinas. It has been quite an adventure mostly sailed but inevitably some motor sailing. 

As this blog comes to an end we want to thank you for following our journey. I hope it has inspired you to do something different while you can and if opportunities present themselves to follow your own adventures ….

Having much enjoyed our stay in Padstow, we embarked on the fairly long passage (70nm) to the Scillies at silly o’clock in the morning (0300, to get fuel and over the ‘Doom Bar’) in the pre-dawn dark. Traversing this area in the dark is not recommended as there are many lobster pot bouys in the vicinity, but due to the tide and distance we had little choice and chose the ‘crew on the bow with powerful lamp’ option. This was OK but very uncomfortable in the lumpy sea. However, once we were well passed Travose Head we settled down to 2 hour watches with a fair tide and fine wind on the beam giving us good progress. The passage saw us passing many well known and iconic places on the North Cornwall coast till, after crossing the major TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) off Cape Cornwall and skidding round the notorious Seven Stones reef (together with its big red lightship) we arrived in the lovely, secluded and deserted ‘Little Bay’ on the North West corner of St Martins island in Scilly.

The Scilly Isles consist of 5 inhabitant isles and over 140 uninhabited isles and islets. They sit 28 miles from Lands End on the Cornish coast. The five islands all have a different feel and identity. In 1975 the islands were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Last year the harbour authority recorded that 70% of visiting boats were French. We have seen American, Spanish, Belgium, Norwegian, Dutch and Irish boats as well, so its a real mix. We have spent a lovely month exploring the archipelago. Below is a flavour of the 5 islands; St Marys, Tresco, St Martins, Bryher and St Agnes – 10 photos of each!

St Marys …..

St Marys is the largest with 40% of the total land. The population is about 1,723 (total population was 2,010 in 2021). The capital is Hugh Town where the main ferry arrives, along with the airport and one of the heliports. 1097 people work and live in Hugh and the secondary school for all the islands is based here. The island is about 2 1/2 miles by 1 3/4 miles. Children from other islands often board on St Marys Monday-Friday. There is a inter island Doctors boat, RNLI lifeboats and an Ambulance boat serving the islands.

Tresco

Tresco is the 2nd largest island, it is 2 1/2 miles long and 1 mile wide. Its managed by the Dorrien-Smith Family. 150 people live permanently on the island. All the houses on the island are rented. It is famous for its lovely sub tropical gardens. The second heliport is here. It is primarily a holiday resort and appears a lot more managed and less rugged than the other islands.

St Martins

St Martins, is home to one of the vineyards. Scilly flowers is based here. Its the most northerly of the islands and is joined by a tidal causeway to White Island. There is a day mark on the headland which can be seen from the mainland on a clear day. Many believe it has the best beaches in the Scillies …. the light sand being made of granite its quartz sparkles in the sun. Its also the home of Adams fish and chips which won BBC4s Food and Farming award as best takeaway in 2008. Fish is caught daily and the Potatoes are grown on the family farm (was yummy).

Bryher

Bryher is one of the smallest of the inhabited islands. On the exposed West coast is Hells bay, so called because of the infamous waves and swell – and thus shipwrecks – particularly in the 16th and 17th century. On the other side of the island is a popular calm sandy anchorage called Green Bay. The Island Fish is a popular lobster and crab cafe, run by 3 generations of the same family. As with the other islands there are numerous honesty huts, two examples being Veronicas Fudge and Bryher Bake Box which are well worth visiting.

St Agnes

St Agnes is – technically – the smallest island. It is the most southerly, with the Turks Head pub the most South Westerly in the UK. Day tripper boats bring walkers to St Agnes, Troy Town Farm makes its famous ice cream and is situated at the opposite side of the island, an easy 15 minutes away so not far. The island only has 4 children, 2 of whom are twins, so the school is small!

The main anchorages are two bays either side of a tombolo, called Gugh bar. This is a sand bar that joins St Agnes and Gugh but covers at high water. You choose your anchorage depending on the wind and swell direction.

Having rented our house since spring 2021 (back in the pandemic), we will be regaining procession at the beginning of September. The next blog will be our last as we say bye to the Scilly isles and head back to the familiar waters of the English Channel and our starting point – Portland Harbour.

We left our waiting anchorage in Milford Haven (Sand Haven bay) early and sailed with fair winds South East along past the Castlemartin Army live firing ranges (before they opened and started shooting) via St Govan’s Head into Tenby with its drying harbour and lay against the old harbour wall. We employed the fender board to protect us against the rough wall. We were the only visitor. The Harbour Master was friendly and the town busy with day trippers on the numerous coaches.  Tenby is a picturesque town with an old medieval wall and a castle ruin on the hill. It has some lovely blue flag sandy beaches, painted houses and the famous old lifeboat station now converted to a home, as documented in the Grand Designs TV programme. At HW the water depth under us was just 1.6m, so we mostly sat on the muddy sand. St Catherine island with its fort just off the beach has just been sold privately. Frequent day trip boats shuffle across from Tenby to land on Caldey Island across the sound. Caldey island’s population consists of about 40 permanent residents and a varying number of Cistercian monks, known as Trappists. They make a living from their dairy farm including cream, ice cream, chocolate, and array of perfumes using flowers grown on the island.

Here we learnt of a boat that circumnavigated Wales using the canal network, rivers and sea. It  took them 17 days, travelling 501 nautical miles to raise money for the RNL. This sounded interesting but maybe another time!

From Tenby our next anchorage was Pwlldu on the Gower peninsular. It was a  beautiful sunny Bank Holiday and the pilot book assured us it would be a very quiet anchorage as it was a fair walk to the beach, …“one of Gowers most inaccessible beaches” …However, it was so busy during the day, although thankfully quiet overnight.   The beach was pretty, made up of large limestone pebbles. Pwlldu means dark rock, it has a hidden deep pool behind the rock bank which the river creeps through on its way to the sea. 

We heard a ‘Mayday’ for 3 young children swept out to sea on an inflatable in off shore winds and tides. We looked to see if we could help but we were several hours away. One of the lifeboat crew later told us the lifeboat was launched and all 3 children were safely brought back, but a few years ago it was a different story, they just brought back bodies. People ignore the signs saying the undercurrents are dangerous, he said, and are enticed into the calm looking water. A stark reminder of the strength of the tides around here. That day it was a 6 meter range, thats a lot of water to move and so created 4 Kts. of tidal flow. So thankful they were ok.

The following day as the tide turned we sailed across Swansea bay to Porthcawl. Again the only visitor and their first this season.  The pilot books warn of boats being swept past the harbour entrance onto the Tusker rocks just beyond, so advise keeping close to the harbour wall – not a technique appreciated by a number of grumpy fishermen on the pier wall! Thankfully it was not as bad as it sounded, but did require a hard turn and close monitoring of cross track error.

Porthcawl has some large sandy beaches, a funfair, amusement arcades and a promenade that used to be a firm favourite for ‘miner fortnight’ when families spent a fortnight at the beach in a bed and breakfast once a year. It has a large static caravan park now, the largest one of its type in the UK.  

The watch post at Porthcawl houses the local NCI (National Coastwatch Institute) station, one of the 59 stations from where volunteers watch and listen from all types of buildings along our coastline. Wonderful to know they keep watch over all the different water users during daylight hours. Thank you.

It was at Porthcawl that a pilot in a light aircraft landed in the sea just off the beach last year, after engine failure. The pilot walked ashore and was alright, the story apparently made the BBC news and the locals talk of the novelty of it all even now.

After a forecasted blow we caught the tide – as suggested by locals – along to the short stay pontoon in the Graving dock within the barrage at Cardiff Bay.  Similar to a carpark, it cost £1/h, with max stay of 24 hours. There is strictly no anchoring in the bay as beneath the water, an aeration system of 20 km of pipes and 6,000 air diffusers lie on the floor of the bay keeping the bay healthy for wildlife. 

There was a 9m tidal range so we made quick progress (9.5kts + ) with stronger than forecast wind and tides pushing us along…. Look at us go! Then I remembered this was the easiest of the directions ie towards Bristol so not to get too excited…..still yippee for now….. The water was brown with mud and turbulent in the currents, small whirlpools periodically made it interesting and random waves without much sense of direction trying to divert us.

We had hoped to stop at Barry, but they had a Sea Shanty weekend and the yacht cub had no visitor buoys or any we could borrow – these are sometimes available when local yachts are away – and the inner harbour was closed to visitors. We had planned that poorly, but we waved as we flew past.  Barry is a long established pilot launching station for the area.

There are several old lookout towers along this bit of coast, used before AIS transmitters which alert the pilot boats of incoming ships.

‘Cardiff Bay’, to the North of Penarth, was created when 2,700 acres of derelict docks and mud banks was enclosed by an artificial barrier. The barrage is 1.1 km long and was one of the largest projects in Europe at the time.  Completed in 2000, it has created a freshwater lake and 8 miles of waterfront. The barrage extends from Cardiff docks to Penarth and cost £220M and with its 3 locks (40m x 10m), sluice gates and fish passes, it captures water from the rivers Taff and Ely. It was strange to see fresh water weed and even water Lillies growing beside the pontoon. Everyone we spoke to felt it had been a great success in creating recreation spaces and improving wild life in the area although it created much protests at the time and remains controversial.

Our pontoon was overlooked by the Pierhead Building which is a Grade 1 listed building.  It was built in 1897 as the headquarters for the Bute Dock Company. Falling into disrepair, it was brought by the Welsh Government for £1 when the bulldozers where sitting ready to demolish it, so it was truly saved at the last moment. The building is crowned by the Big Ben of Wales. We visited the Senedd and saw them debating disposable plastic usage, visited a Norwegian church who served the needs of over 500 different languages and cultures at the height of the dockyards prosperity – now selling tasty coffee and cakes to visitors of a different type.

The following day we moved across to stay in Cardiff Marina, from where we caught a train to allow us a day exploring Cardiff. Unfortunately it was a damp day so not many photos.

the following day, we went through the Cardiff barrage at LW in order for us to arrive at Watchet in Somerset at HW, which was essential as the lock gate there is broken. The barrage lock dropped nearly 8 meters to allow us to leave. The lock sides towered above us, and the water level outside in the approach channel was low we had to plough our way through the muddy bottom of the channel. The tidal range was 12m … Springs. 

As we headed across the channel to Watchet,  we past the old isolation hospital positioned on Flat Holm island,  The island is now a nature reserve managed by Cardiff Council being the most Southerly point in Wales, 4.5 nautical miles from Cardiff.  We also saw Waverly the steam paddle boat pass closely and we remembered going on her several times with our Children when she visited Weymouth.

Watchet marina is sadly in administration so no dredging has happened for some time. The Harbour master told us that the harbour gate sat at least 1m under the mud.  Each tide brings another 500 tonnes of fine mud into the harbour, so without the dredgers it is becoming increasingly shallow. Dredgers can clear 1000 tonnes around each HW. The Harbour Master was friendly but facilities were limited. There are ongoing discussions to try to open the harbour more to visitors and for the locals, which the HM was optimistic about. Hopefully it will work out.

Coleridge wrote the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner at Watchet. The Ancient Mariner is about a sailor whose thoughtless act (killing an innocent albatross with a crossbow) had lasting repercussions (ie lack of winds – being left to drift – and crew members dying of thirst etc).  A few lines are inscribed around the harbour wall:

……The fair wind blew, The white foam flew, The furrow followed free …..

We enjoyed our trip on West Somerset railway which runs for 22 miles between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard through Watchet. Interesting full day, unfortunately one of the steam engines broke down and this made the timetable a bit jumbly. 

A few days later we left to move along the coast to Ilfracombe. We passed Minehead where the South West Coastal path starts/finishes and became so impressed as we saw the coastal path rise and fall, twisting along the coasts edge, there were only a few walkers but some carried heavy loads. It reminded me of the Salt Path book by Raynor Winn. 

We passed many well known North Devon towns and villages, including Lynton and Lynmouth, with the world famous Funicular railway carrying passengers between the two. Built in 1890 the top car of the lift is filled with 700 gallons of water and the 2 cars are joined by a continuous steel cable, the heavier downward car pulling the other up the hill. The process is then reversed by emptying the tank of the bottom car and filling the upper car. There appears to be no shortage of water in North Devon! 

We also passed the dramatic Great Hangman cliff near Combe Martin on Exmoor with the highest sea cliffs on the British Mainland at 245m (800ft). Scotlands highest cliff – St John’s Head on Hoy, Orkney – was 335m (1,128ft)  …  Irelands highest cliff Croaghaun is 688m (2,257ft) and Wales highest cliff is Cemaes Head 175 m (574 ft), all of which we have sailed past!

We waited to enter Ilfracombe close by to Waverly as she also waited for the tide to allow her to go against the pier to pick up passengers. We just wanted water depth to pick up a visitor buoy! Ilfracombe is very much a working harbour with fishing trawlers and tripper boats

‘Choose any visitor buoy” the Harbour Master said. We were again the only visitors. We picked up one behind the harbour wall, protected we hoped from the forecasted F8 winds. We were protected from the wind but …..we bounced hard on the sand when the tide dropped, still afloat – just. Each large wave picking her up as the waves funnelled and creased then dropping Grace Note uncomfortably hard – not the gradual settling we were used to. We moved into the inner harbour the following day picking up the buoy there, we hoped this would work better. However we bounced hard again as we lifted off the sand with the contents of the cupboards rattling and unsecured things skidding over work surfaces. She had never done this before. We learnt much later from several sources that Ilfracombe has a reputation for tidal surges, the waves funnelling and increasing in height causing large waves to bounce into the harbour  If we had known we would have definitely given it a miss although it was good to explore the town. The harbour had initially been built to protect boat owners as they pulled their boats ashore on to the beach and not to protect boats for staying longer term. The only ferry to Lundy had been weather bound for several days which showed how windy it had been. Thankfully the harbour protected us from the strong wind.

The tunnel beaches are Ilfracombe’s most visited attraction. Tunnels pass into Crenhorne Cove. The tunnels were blasted by welsh miners in 1836 when Ilfracombe was a fashionable spa town. There are 3 sea pool in total 2 for ladies and 1 for gentlemen, although mixed today. 

Several folks told us that Ilfracombe was struggling post covid with numbers of visitors dropping and hotels closing. The locals are friendly and the sailing club hospitable.

Ilfracombe is the home of a statue called Verity.  Unveiled on 16 October 2012, she has been controversial with people divided on whether they like her. She is a 66 ft stainless steel and bronze sculpture created by world famous artist Damien Hirst – who lives in the town, It has been loaned to the town for 20 years. One side of the statue shows her internal anatomy. She stands on a pile of law books and is carrying scales of justice, she is meant to signify truth.

We walked up to St Nicholas Church that overlooks the harbour which is also a navigation beacon, it is the oldest beacon to be maintained by Trinity House in the country. It was built in 1321. St Nicholas is the patron Saint for sailors.  Maybe built by people experiencing the bouncing effect of boats in the harbour? After Henry VIII dissolved monasteries it became just a light house keepers cottage, The last occupants had 14 children so it must have been quite cramped.  

Leaving ilfracombe we ‘rounded the corner’ and sailed past Woolacombe into Bideford Bay to make our way into the river Torridge/Taw estuary. We needed to leave Ilfracombe and arrive at the Bideford sand bar both at HW so ended up tacking back and forth across the the Bay to pass time. We crossed the sandbar in rougher seas than recommended but we so wanted to find calmer water, recover from the colds we had caught and just sleep.

Having carefully followed the pilotage instructions we anchored in the sheltered waters behind Crow point close to Instow and Appledore. As we rounded the point we saw dinghy’s racing in the calm waters on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It made us smile and reminding us of racing the wayfarer in Portland Harbour and all the fun we had.

It was so calm and quiet behind the point. One of the days we took the tender up to Braunton, to get Gas, with its cosy muddy boat berths it reminded us of the east coast.

After a couple of nights we moved around to borrow a buoy from the friendly Instow Yacht club. Taking the ground for about half the time, this time firm sand without bouncing. It was a lovely place and we spent time exploring Instow, Appledore and taking the tender up to Bideford, for laundry. There is a village store called ‘Johns’ and a cycleway along the old railway line. We had fresh fish, went to a hog roast at the sailing club to celebrate the solstice and celebrated an early cream tea day…of course.

However we did panic when we spotted from the Appledore side of the river that we had forgotten to tie the tender onto dried out Grace Note. The tide had come up and the tender was free, due to the wind direction it was being blown onto the beach. The bus thankfully arrived swiftly taking us back around to Instow. Our tender was recovered without to much more drama. Phew…..

Bideford, where the book ‘Tarka the otter’ was inspired by an otter frequently seen swimming in and out of the ancient bridge

We sailed on from Instow tacking across Bideford Bay to Clovelly. Anchoring off the end of the harbour as suggested, the fog unfortunately came down but it meant the streets were very quiet.

Clovelly is a village in a bit of a time warp clinging on the side of a 400 ft cliff. It’s car free, has all cobbled streets and pretty individual cottages.  The cobbles were made from pebbles on the beach. All the cottages are rented from the Hamlyn family. Old photos from the 1830s show a paddle steamer visiting the village and the owners have deliberately made little change. The locals use sledges to pull shopping and everything else up and down the steep streets. One of the homes on the beach was Crazy Kate’s Cottage named after a fisherman’s widow, Kate Lyall who died in 1736. The story goes that she would watch her husband from the upper window as he fished in the bay. One day, a squall blew up just outside the harbour. Kate watched as her husband drowned. From that time on, she became demented. One day, she put on her wedding dress and walked into the sea to join her husband in his watery grave.

From Clovelly we motored to the isle of Lundy (there being no wind) which is 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, owned by the National Trust and managed by the landmark trust.

We anchored in the small harbour at the South end of the island and walked around the island. 

The sign said there were ’95% of UK population of Manx Shearwaters living on the island’. This was intriguing as when on Skomer (which is also in the UK!) we were told that Skomer has “50% of the world population at 350,000 breeding pairs living on the island”. We did see a lot less evidence for birds generally on Lundy with sadly no puffins evident. 

The scenery was lovely and we enjoyed our day. The old light house on top of the island is now disused because it was so often in the fog, a real issue in this area. In the only pub on the island is a sign declaring a technology free zone – so if your mobile actually makes a noise ( unlikely as there is no signal) and it annoys anyone (can easily be done) you have to pay a forfeit. The island has some unusual holiday let properties. The electric generator gets turned off at midnight until dawn to allow it to be a dark sky area. So, little mobile signal, no TV just lots of games, walks and dark skies…

Our next stop was in the canal at Bude Haven – strong winds were forecast. The harbour master said we had to arrive at exactly HW or we would not be able to get in through the lock gates from the haven into the canal, this meant leaving Lundy at 4am. It had been rolly in the anchorage so we were awake anyway. There was quite a large swell as we passed Hartland Point to the East, which must have been delivering good surf-able waves to the Devon coastline.

Again we were one of the the first visitors, a boat called Boni followed us in and he told us that as they were opening the lock gates (for us) he was taking the opportunity to move Boni into the Bude canal. He left the following morning on the bus to Plymouth. It was very tight getting into the canal – the rocks and surf so close. The HM had kindly tied green and red flags onto two local boats as the channel had changed slightly in last winters storms. We followed the intersecting leading lines and thankfully it worked well. There was a welcoming committee at the lock with folks in deck chairs watching the fun. It is unusual to have visiting yachts in they told us.

It is claimed these lock gates are the only manually operated sea-locks left in the UK, weighting 15 tonnes each they require a minimum of 4 men on each gate to push it open / closed.  That is 12 volunteers from the town needed in total plus the HM. We were reminded of Tower bridge in London, where the councils want to close bridges / locks etc if usage falls below a certain level which is a shame as its so much part of our heritage. Happy to add to their visitor tally….

The 35 mile long canal was opened in 1823 to carry mineral rich shell sand inland for farming, making it 200 years old. Its no longer navigable further than the quay. The winches and lock gates are Grade 2 listed. Such a privilege to be able to use it.

 

We enjoyed exploring Bude, protected from the strong winds and swell. We visited the old storm tower which has just been moved from the eroding compass point, watched surfers catching  waves, visited the farmers and craft markets, saw the heritage centre in the castle, walked along the coastal path and along the canal. 

After spending 3 nights at Bude, we needed to leave as the dropping tide height (moving towards Neaps) meant the lock gates couldn’t work, so we would be stuck for a few weeks. Winds were building again. 

We left Bude at HW 12 midday. There were a lot of folk there to watch us go which felt strange. With a cheers of Bon Voyage as we left and radio messages from the RNLI on the beach and HM wishing us a good trip and thanks for visiting. Very friendly and welcoming.

It was 11 hours before the lock at Padstow would be opening to allow us in. As it was only a 20 nm sail (so nominally only 4 hours), we dawdled along. We caught something in the prop as we passed Tintagel point. There was a lot of rubbish in the water, but we managed to free the fisherman netting bags and seaweed.

We anchored in Port Quinn bay till 10pm. Port Quinn is known as the village that died after the entire male population drowned in a storm in the 19th century, forcing the women to move due to hardship. Poldark was filmed in this area. We left rounding Rumps point and followed the navigation lights across the Doom Bar and into the harbour arriving a bit before midnight. We moored against the wall.  Its had been a long day.

The following days we explored Padstow enjoying its small streets and coastal walks, trying different locally brewed beers and people watching. The seagulls are very adept at stealing food, swooping from behind and grabbing things from hands as they flew past. A very successful skill which deprived several surprised people of fish and chips, pasties and ice creams. Out in the Camel estuary the sand is expansive but very soft so you can not take the ground.

We plan to leave Padstow at 2.40am tomorrow at HW as this should help carry us down the channel towards St Martins on the Scilly Isles, our next port of call some 70 miles away – our longest leg for ages – St Ives unfortunately being untenable as an anchorage with current wind direction. I had hoped to pass close to the coastline and see familiar haunts from childhood holidays, but the wind was blustery and on shore, so keeping offshore was more prudent.

We met someone in Padstow who had been there for the whole of June waiting for the absolute right conditions and he said he was giving up and heading back home to Portishead next week. It reminded us of all the times we have waited in the Helford river to get out to the Scillies and how our confidence in Grace Note has increased in the past 3+ years. So excited about the coming month.

Not sure what the mobile signal will be like in Scilly, as we tuck ourselves away from predicted strong westerlies so this blog maybe late!

We left Liverpool through the Rock channel which required considerable concentration – especially at that time of the morning – and headed towards the picturesque North Wales town of Conwy. Initially it was a sunny with a fair breeze, but we sometimes had to sail 5 miles off shore, with the numerous shallow sandbars reminding us of the East coast and had to avoid the numerous extensive windfarms in the area (including one of the largest in Europe), but towards Conwy the wind died and we motor-sailed into the winding and sometimes narrow approach channel.

We spent 2 nights at the marina and then after speaking to the harbour master we moved  for a few more nights to a visitors buoy under Conwy’s castle and Conwy’s 3 bridges. 

Conwy is a pretty, very welsh town with lots of Welsh being spoken around us. We walked around the old town walls that run for 1.3 KM (0.8m) , they were completed in 1286  encompassing the medieval streets with its  21 towers and 3 gateways.

The first of the 3 bridges is a suspension bridge, built by Telford 1822-1826. This was one of the first road suspension bridges in the world. Its now owned by the NT and used only for foot passengers. 

The 2nd bridge was a tubular wrought iron railway bridge. This is a Grade 1 listed building built in 1849 and is 141m long.

Finally there is the new road bridge for the A547. The main A55 passes through a tunnel built in 1991. When walking along the waters edge I heard cars sometimes hoot 2 times as they entered. When enquiring I was told that unfortunately 2 people died while building the tunnel and this is done in respect and has become a modern tradition …

The castle looked lovely lite up at night. Its such a spectacular castle. The castle is an example of late 13th century early 14th century military architecture and is classed as a world heritage site.

In Conwy is also the UKs officially smallest house.  Built in the 16th century it measures 1.82m x 3.09m (72 inches x 122 inches). The last occupant was fisherman Robert Jones who stood at 1.9m. (6 foot 3 inches). Makes living on Grace Note seem exceedingly spacious.

 It was a lovely spot. We even found a cheese deli shop specialising in local cheeses. Yummy.

We took the bus to busy Llandudno with it stony beach and long pier and Promenade. The promenade was built in the 1870s. Historically the town was owned primarily by the Mostyn family who have been able to keep its consistent uniform appearance.

We left Conwy early on the tide and sailed the relatively short distance down to Puffin island which sits at the eastern end of the Menai Strait. I was disappointed to learn afterwards from a local that there  is only 1 nesting puffin pair on the island this year. The islands Puffin population was decimated by a rat infestation. The island used to be a hermitage but is currently uninhabited except for the Razorbills, Atlantic Seals, Gulimonts, Shags, Cormorants (apparently 10% of Uk population) and a few Gannets. We missed the one puffin pair!

The following morning we were due to leave and travel through the Menai Straight and head for Caernarfon.  The Menai Strait cuts for 16 miles between the Welsh mainland and the isle of Anglesey. There are different tides at the two ends of the Strait which cause strong currents – the worst being an area called the Swellies which is where the tides met between two bridges, rocks cause over falls and local whirlpools.

Unfortunately, we awoke to thick fog and the eerie quiet that often accompanies it. Its always strange sailing in the fog,  as we peer forward trying to spot other vessels and the buoyage, with a fog horn close to hand. Your eyes begin to play tricks on you after awhile. Thankfully the radar and other navigation aids help immensely in locating other vessels. As the wind was due to significantly strengthen and swing, we had to move. Much discussion followed and we decided to start the passage with the intention of bailing out at an anchorage by Beaumaris if the thick fog did not lift (as the sun rose) allowing us to see buoyage and other boats. We pulled up the anchor and then the primary plotter decided to freeze. We had anchored snuggly amongst a reef of rocks, great for protection but I quickly got disorientated. We motored in small circles while Anthony cycled the plotter several times. Thankfully it decided to work, so re anchoring not needed…..

As the sun rose the fog did quickly burn off and lift. It was a lovely trip through the strait, the scenery was lovely and the tide helped move us along. Thankfully the passage plan worked well and it was calm withe slack tide as we arrived at the Swellies. The Swellies lie between 2 bridges Britannia railway bridge, built by Robert Stephenson  and Menai bridge built by Thomas Telford.

We were intrigued by the house on a small island called Red Weir island which is accessed by a privately owned tidal road. The 5 bedroom house sold in late 2022 for £800,000.

The marina at Caernarfon was in the old Victoria dock with a flap gate. Great welcome from the harbour master.

In the evening we visited the yacht club by the marina. It had a big sign saying visiting yachtsmen and women very welcome. We soon discovered an issue – despite their warm welcome we didn’t speak Welsh and they admitted that due to age not many of them sailed anymore. They did have a good snooker table though and we enjoyed our pint.

Strong winds meant we stayed a few days exploring the area. It was a pretty town and had all that we needed. The Welsh highland railway came into the town but unfortunately was fully booked. The town is looked over by the spectacular Caernarfon Castle where prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales in 1969.

When the tide allowed we left Caernarfon over the infamous sand bar and headed for Llanddwyn island a few miles to the North. The weather was fabulous and the views towards the Snowdonia mountain range and Lleyn Peninsular was so clear. The islands ruined chapel is linked to St Dwynwa, the patron saint of love. Apparently it is favourite place to propose, there is even a photographer you can employ to secretly photograph the event for posterity. You can walk onto the island at low water from the mainland but we had it to ourselves much of the time when the tide was up.

The island has a lighthouse, coastguard cottages, old lifeboat station and beacons to provide guidance to ships when the slate mines were at their height. We saw oyster catchers, seals, terns and the wild welsh ponies. It was a beautiful spot and very quiet especially at high water. We spent several days here at anchor on our own.

With thunderstorm forecast we left  heading to anchor off Morfa Nefyn in Porth Dinllaen bay. A well protected anchorage and sunny evening. When trade to Ireland developed and the railways started to access new areas, Porth Nefyn and close by Porth Dinllaen were strongly being promoted to become the place to located the Irish packet ships/ferries to Ireland, but the area lost out to Holyhead. The ports remain very much as they were when they were a base for the fishing boats catching herring.

The following morning we left setting sail for Pwllheli. The OS map showed it 6.8 miles due South across the headland but we had to sail 36 miles around the end of the Lleyn peninsular and through Bardsey Sound. With a lovely fresh breeze coming off the land we did an amazing 9.1kts with tide and wind very much in our favour. Great sail.

It was a hot humid day when we arrived at Pwllheli. We walked into the town had ice creams and a drink in the Welsh Sailing Academy (Similar to the one on Portland). they had a lot of sailing. events on.

We escaped the thunderstorms but the moody mountains definitely had their share!

One of the days in Pwllheli we went to Porthmadog. The wind direction meant we would not be able to visit with Grace Note, but it was easy on the train.

From here we moved South to Aberdovy and onto one of their visitors buoys. The tide in the estuary is strong, but they provided strong strops. There are a lot of sand bars in Cardigan bar making navigation interesting. The dolphins joined us as we sailed jumping through our wake. We were told by the harbour master that the tide was to strong to row or swim against so we would need to use our outboard. Aberdovy was interesting, we walked along the beach, through sand dunes and looked at the waves crashing on the sandbars. The area is a Dyfed Unesco biosphere haven for wild life. 

Under the pier is a tide bell, 1 of 12 in the UK which rings at HW, It was designed by sculptor and musician Marcus Vergette. He is trying to highlight the extent of sea level rise and our relationship to the sea. The two high tides are marked by the ringing of the bell… this felt particularly relevant to our journey as tides are more important than the time of day

A few days later we moved on to Aberystwyth Marina for one night. There appeared to be a large friendly live aboard community at the marina. We walked into Aberystwyth with its busy pretty esplanade, another castle (apparently over 400 in Wales) and its electric powered funicular railway up the cliff.

The following morning we headed West to the small bay at New Quay. We were joined by 3 other boats, the most we had seen for a while at anchor. Initially nice and flat, we had a extremely rolly uncomfortable night for no apparent reason, so we didn’t leave Grace Note to go ashore, but planned to leave the anchorage asap in the morning!

By first light the fog was again thick. As the day went on the fog partly cleared giving us about a miles visibility on our way to Fishguard where we tucked ourselves tightly into the corner of the harbour near the Ro-Ro berth. it was incredibly well protected and this time flat, so we slept very well. We were the only ones in Fishguard. The ferry to Ireland leaves daily but we did not see it. Amongst other attributes, Fishguard is famous as the site of the last invasion of mainland Britain which took place in 1797. Legend has it that they arrived both seasick and drunk and were no match for the fish wives and cobblers wives of Fishguard!

We were relieved the following morning (another 0430 start!) to see the fog had gone! Once we had stemed the adverse tide around Strumble Head, the wind filled in and was great as it helped us meet the tidal gate at Ramsey Sound, just South of St Davids head. Sadly it faded somewhat as we headed across St Brides bay to Skomer island where we picked up one of the (free!) visitors buoys. 

Ramsey Sound has a reputation for strong tides and rocks either side along with its apparent ferocious dislike of small boats. The local RNLI station is poised half way down the Sound and is often featured on ‘saving lives at sea’. However, with careful timing to ensure we arrived at slack water we found it in placid mood and the warm sun rewarded our crack of dawn start.

As we approached Skomer we were absolutely amazed by the number of puffins all around the boat, so exciting. The island was closed for the Monday, but we enjoyed watching the array of wild sea birds, from our mooring. We were the only boat there and I woke in the night hearing a strange noise, which I initially thought to be seals. The warden the following day told me it was the Manx Shearwaters who call each other in the night (in this case 1am). They spend overnight at the island in burrows then head out to Cardigan bay to feed till nightfall. There are 350,000 breeding pairs on the island…. I would hate the job of counting them as they fly around. The island also has 42,500 Puffins and thousands of Guillemots, Razorbills and Kittiwakes. We saw 1 of the 3 male short eared owls as well. The island was amazing and well worth a visit.

With stronger winds forecast we moved South through Jack Sound between Skomer and the mainland this time into the Milford Haven. We anchored off Sandy Haven tucked behind some trees from the wind. We were well protected and felt little wind but the large ships caused wash as they arrived and left the oil terminal. The cliffs are made with red stone and the sand is red in colour. At low water a large expanse of sand could be seen with few folks around.

Needing showers, provisions, laundry facilities, fuel and water we moved in to Milford Marina for 2 nights. Milford’s history goes back to the vikings in 854, when they over wintered their fleets in the haven. We walked along the foreshore and circled around the town.

The haven is actually a drowned deep valley (Ria) flooded at the end of the last ice age. It goes inland for 22 miles, which makes it an excellent harbour and well worth exploring.

With blustery weather forecast we headed up the Haven to the village of Llangwm and have found ourselves a sheltered anchorage to sit out the weather for a few days.

When this windy spell concludes, our plan is to head around past St Govans Head to begin out trip down the Bristol Channel. Our first stop will be the drying harbour of Tenby, but thats next months blog ……..

We have spent this winter more established and less itinerant than previously, basing ourselves in the lovely Essex village of Rowhedge on the outskirts of Colchester. This has enabled us to shuttle between our children and enjoy spending time with them and our grandchildren. We had expected (and prepared for) east coast winter weather, but apart from unrelenting wet and wind, this had not materialised.

We set sail on the 17th April from Troon Marina – our winter berth – after sitting out several storms as we prepared Grace Note for the season to come. We are now heading South back to Portland – what would this year bring?

It was a 41 mile sail back across the Firth of Clyde past Ailsa Craig to Loch Ryan where we anchored in Wig Bay to wait out the storm due the day after, grateful to have eventually set off. We had explored the anchorage on our return to the UK from Ireland last autumn, so we knew it was good holding in firm sand as the wind whistled around us. We may not have slept so well if we had realised that a few days earlier a yacht similar to ours had dragged and fouled their anchor a short way away resulting in a lifeboat having to rescue them. We chatted to the owners of this yacht a few days later in Port Patrick and saw their boat in Stranraer when we took a bus ride there. They had to cut free their anchor and chain, after a progression of mishaps resulted in them loosing electrical power and being unable to run the engine as well.

After the storm had past through we left for Port Patrick on the Rhins of Galloway some 25 miles away. We caught both wind and tide and progressed well. Passing several lighthouses, at least one of which is disused has been converted to dwellings.

Port Patrick was a friendly, picturesque little place. It was built to take the steam packet across to Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries, but its quiet now, as the ferries have moved around to more shelter near Stranraer. We used the fender board against the harbour wall, sharing the wall with two other boats who were from Ireland.

There was very little open, apparently the season doesn’t start until May. We heard of legends of Port Patrick being the equivalent of Gretna Green, a couple could arrive from Ireland, disembark, be married by a Church of Scotland minister and sail back within an hour with little formalities.
We spent the following day exploring the area, amongst other things walking to the ruins of Dunsky castle, built in the 17th century by Adairs of Kinhilt. Apparently, caves run under the ruins producing piping sounds on stormy nights. Again legend has it that a nurse maid sings to the baby she accidentally dropped from the upper floors onto the rocks below. The following morning with another storm forecast we caught the bus to Stranraer. Its always nice to catch the bus inland. The land was lush with full rivers and clearly loved by the other local inhabitants we shared the bus with!

We left Port Patrick in the dark at 4.45am for an 8 hour sail, grateful for the clear leading lights on the line between rocks as we left. We immediately set sail with good winds for Peel on the Isle of Man. The AIS showed little else moving with the exception of 2 commercial boats coming up the North channel. During our 4 night stay we were the only visitor in Peel with the exception of a German boat on passage.

Peel harbour entrance has a lowering flap gate which is meant to automatically drop and rise +/- 2 hours around HW and a pedestrian bridge that crosses the entrance but opens when needed. This makes it a tidal gate.

The isle of Man lies exactly 31 miles from England and 31 from Ireland and is famous for the TT motorcycle race, its Manx cats with no tails, and the Lighten sheep with 4 horns. There was a solar powered sauna by the shell covered beach, which was well used.

For our stay on the Isle of Man we brought some “go” tickets which allowed us to travel and visit attractions on the island. We enjoyed a whirl of activities: horse drawn trams, electric trains, buses, a steam train up to Snaefell – which is only just a mountain at 2036 feet – Castles, cathedrals, museums etc…

We moved from Peel through Calf Sound around to Port St Mary to reduce the number of tidal gates we had for our next leg. Unfortunately, Peel harbour was late opening and by the time we reached Calf Sound, with sails up and motor on we were only making 1/2 knot briefly through the narrowest point. The headland is meant to be a haven for birds but we saw few.

We picked up a visitors buoy at Port St Mary, leaving at 2 am to catch the tidal gate into the Mersey river and up to Liverpool, some 79 miles away. It was an amazing forecast but unfortunately no one told the wind and it was far more flukey and weak than forecast meaning we had to motor sail most of the way. There are extensive wind farms off the estuary and lots of large container ships waiting for the pilots to take them up to the main port. It was a busy harbour. We tried calling the lock keeper at the marina as instructed and panicked a-bit when we repeatedly received no answer, the tide was keen to carry us past. I did then manage to get a message to him via the marina office. We arrived just in time 2.30pm – amazing!! It was lovely to be tucked up as the strong southerly winds began building. Phew…

We spent 4 nights in Liverpool exploring. Initially we got our bearings via a hop on hop off bus. The city is comparatively compact but we walked lots.

The docklands, built of steel, stone and brick (in order to be ‘fire proof’) are spread out over 7 miles and many buildings are Grade 1 listed, a tremendous reminder of our maritime heritage. From the main Pier Head it was once said you could travel from there to anywhere in the known world.

From the main Pier Head it was once said you could travel from there to anywhere in the known world.

Liverpool’s traditional dish is ‘Scouse’, a type of stew with chunks of meat, potato carrots and onion. It originated from the Swedish dish ‘lobscouse’. It was so widely eaten in Liverpool that this lead to outsiders nicknaming the people of Liverpool ‘scousers’ after their dish.

The main water front is ‘graced’ by the iconic landmarks consisting of the Royal Liver building, the Cunard building and the Port of Liverpool building – the three ‘graces’. The most iconic is the Liver building with its 18 foot high (5.5m) 24 foot wingspan (7.3m) Liver birds … a cross between a Cormorant and Eagle. One liver bird (Bella) looks out over the water to welcome visitors and the other (Bertie) watches over the city.

We visited both of the cities cathedrals – The Catholic Cathedral (nicknamed Paddy’s Wigwam) and Liverpool’s anglican cathedral which is the largest (although not tallest!) cathedral in the UK at 189 m long, 101m tall. It took 74 years to be finally completed. The two Cathedrals lie at each end of Hope Street, apparently named long before they were built!

Liverpool also has the oldest chinatown, with an ornate arch gifted by Shanghai in 2000. Some of the road signs are in English and Chinese.

It was then time for another early start (5 am) as we left at HW to negotiate the ‘Rock Channel’ and set sail along the North Wales coast to Conwy, but thats next month blog….

We left Bangor in Ireland hard on the heels of a big blow and sailed the 37 nm across the North Channel to Loch Ryan on the Scottish mainland. The wind was behind us, we did 9kts at one point, but one particularly savage gust deprived us of one of our cockpit cushions – last seen heading North! Loch Ryan is a natural sheltered harbour with ferries crossing between Stranraer in Scotland and Ireland. All was very quiet as we anchored in a wide, shallow (and therefore flat!) bay by the sailing club with no boats on their moorings and no one at the clubhouse but acres of space. There is a ship breaking facility in the Loch where famous warships such as HMS Eagle and HMS Ark Royal were scrapped.

With strong F8 winds forecast from the South, the following morning we moved to the foot of the loch and anchored off Stranraer beach which proved to be well sheltered and beautifully flat. The bottom was very gently shelving so we continued to creep further inshore apprehensively and found a lovely spot at the right depth. When lifting the anchor we pulled up thick mud, great for holding us – not so good for keeping the bows clean! There were no other boats around.

We could see the extraordinary island of Alisa Craig in the outer Clyde and sailed past it the following morning on our way to Arran. The island is uninhabited, and it is used for quarrying  curling stones. In 2004 60-70% of curling stones originated from the island, the other quarry used is Trefor Granite quarry in Wales. The granite from the island is the most dense granite ever to be discovered, a stone weighs 19.1kg. The island is now a bird sanctuary, the fisherman / mining cottages are in ruins and only the light house remains intact.

Our next stop was Lamlash on the isle of Arran which was about  38 nm. It was 1st October and a fabulous day, great winds, sunny with multiple sightings of dolphins. The town looked pretty but we arrived late and needed to move on early the next day so we didn’t go ashore. The anchorage is tucked in next to the Holy Isle. The island is used for Buddhist retreats.

Lamlash is a popular holiday destination being the capital of Arran. It is the site of Scotlands first ‘No-Take-Zone’ which was established in 2008. It was set up with the objective of protecting the underwater beds of merle which is a hard chalky red coral seaweed, that look like pink twiglets. They had almost been destroyed by fishing dredgers. The No-Take-Zone initiative has been a great success.

Taking advantage of some good winds we moved onto Rothesay on the isle of Bute – passing the magnificent looking Mount Stuart on the cliff top, a 19th century county manor owned by the Marquess of Bute. 

Initially we went onto the outer pontoon in the harbour before being warned by others about (and then experiencing) the disproportionate wash from the 2 hourly ferry. We moved swiftly in to the protected inner harbour – all calm. 

Rothesay is a Victorian seaside resort. There are some original Victorian toilets here (unfortunately only gents) opened in 1899. I overheard one gent complain about the number of women wondering in to look. They were built when it was fashionable to go on the paddle steam boats from Glasgow, but the quantities of alcohol consumed (by the men) on route gave rise for the need for relief! They had cost a hefty £500 to build and they are clad in ornate patterned ceramic tiles.

We walked by Rothesay Castle which was unfortunately closed, explored the town, which the guide book called stuck in the 70s, admired the pretty Ardencraig gardens and looked around the discovery centre.

The following morning we moved onto Glen Caladh harbour, on North East Kyle of Bute. The anchorage was protected by the wooded black isle (Eileen Dubh) with its now inactive Caladh beacon, which once held an oil lamp. It is understandably a favourite pretty anchorage, surprisingly we mainly had it to ourselves, although I must admit to it being rather wet and windy by now! The old boat house on the shore was once occupied by the author Neil Munro who wrote the series of “Clyde Puffer” Para Handy stories (both books and films) from here.

We moved on to Wreak bay, Kyle of Bute mainly due to the strong wind warning. I had hoped to get ashore and climb up to the Balnakailly swing – which had been recommended – at the top of the hill with its reputed amazing views, but the torrential rain and wind had other ideas.

Getting rather fed up with being stuck onboard we decided to move around to East Tarbert harbour Marina. There are 13 villages called Tarbert in Scotland, (which can be confusing) this one is in Loch Fyne. Tarbert in Scotland means the narrowest point. It is a strip of land or neck between two bodies of water where a boat could be carried across.

We could at least get ashore. Initially we were the only visitors. Everyone else clearly had more sense and headed home for the winter! The village was pretty and the marina well protected and efficiently run.

In 1098 Magnus barefoot, king of Norway, had his long ship carried across the 1.6km (1 mile) strip of land in order to claim the headland that is now the Mull of Kintyre as his.  A treaty between Edgar King of Scotland and Magnus II of Norway cited all Scottish islands which a ship could sail around could we claimed. So he cheated by carrying the boat over the strip of land! Robert the Bruce completed a similar feat during the Scottish war of independence impressing the chieftains by using 3 tree trunks as rollers.

The next day a storm hit and all the buses and ferries were cancelled. The A83, the only road out, was blocked by substantial land slides caused by sodden ground. The pubs were full of the visitors and locals alike discussing the implications. Ardfern, were we were last year, was cut off and remains so today following a landslide, with boats being the only way in or out of the village.

In Tarbert we visited the castle, with its royal connections since the 11th century.  We walked to shell bay but it was rather squelchy under foot! 

We headed for Troon Marina between two storms setting off early to catch the tide and forecasted favourable winds. We were glad to arrive as the wind had died and temperature dropped on route meaning an 8 hour sail.

The season was over.   We set sail from Ardfern on 15th April, so 183 days travelling on Grace Note. Of these nights, we were:

At anchor for 81 nights

In a marina for 64 (but this includes the week we went back to the UK) nights

On a buoy for 19 nights

Alongside a pontoon for 11 nights

On Canal towpath/pontoon for 7 (with 1 night at anchor in Loch ness) nights

Anthony managed to find us a car, although this time it has not proved quite such a good buy as last year with a few niggles. However, its been very useful and, in principle, so worth the investment. We left Troon earlier than anticipated on the19th October, having winterised Grace Note, and headed south to Weymouth having heard that my Mum had died suddenly following an accident – hence the lateness of the blog.

Its been an interesting and exciting year. We have visited some of the Scottish isles, been along the Caledonian Canal, circumnavigated Ireland and then headed into the Clyde cruising area. Some 2,000 nautical miles, mostly under sail and the rest we motored, or motor/sailed. We have been blessed by not having to push on, often waiting for more favourable winds. We have done an adoptive grandparent course on a very rocky pontoon, desperately hanging onto the WIFI, been back to the UK for a week, and have sheltered from some impressive named storms at anchor in Ireland.

The weather has been warmer than last year, which has been lovely although its sometimes been stormy with more rain and wind than the locals call normal.

We have met some fascinating folk, confirmed that the Irish are a friendly nation, visited some truly beautiful places and learnt a lot, enjoyed fantastic local hospitality, walked miles and had some very exciting sails.

Come next April we will set sail again, by the autumn we are should have completed our exciting 4 year trip around the UK sailing back into Portland harbour. What an ongoing adventure!

At the beginning of the month we flew back to visit family and friends in the UK (while GN recuperated in Dun Loghaire).

We left the marina on a sunny morning but with a blustery NE wind. We headed across the busy Dublin estuary, which was thankfully relatively quiet with only a container ship and ferry long past ahead and an Irish ferry, from Cherbourg, which passed astern of us as we left the deep-water channel behind.

As we had a foul tide, we were heading a short distance for Carrigeen bay on the island of ‘Irelands Eye’, just North of the Howth peninsular which forms the northern arm of Dublin bay.

The anchorage was surprisingly well protected from the strong NNE winds although we did our usual trick of tucking as far into the beach as the tidal fall would allow. The beach has natural reefs around making it feel snug as the tide dropped. We saw Fulmers, Cormorants, Shags and Guillemots who had made this (otherwise) uninhabited island their home.

The island has a free-standing rock called the stack at the NE end which is part of a nature reserve. In the summer this is the location of a large Puffin colony, but they have all left now to go out to sea after raising their young.

From Irelands eye, we left early to tuck into the beach off the village of Skerries. That night another gale warning was in force so we anchored close to the beach in 1.3m of water (we are 1m deep) and watched clouds move swiftly over from comparative shelter.  We did not go ashore but saw the 2 sail windmills as we came in, which are used to mill flour. It would have been lovely to have visited but another strong wind warning was coming…..

Moving on early again the next morning (4.45am) we headed around to Carlingford Lough, having a brisk sail we covered the 32nm swiftly and were tucked into the marina before mid-morning.

The lough has an interesting entrance that is marked by the Haulbowline light house. At 34m high it was built in 1824 to help mark the twisting pilotage of rocks, shoals and shallow water.

Carlingford lough is one of the 3 glacial fjords in Ireland, with the Mourne mountains and Cooley mountains overlooking it.

In the afternoon, we walked into the village and enjoyed some tea and cake in a Victorian café. Hardly anything was open though and it was comparatively quiet.

The following day we had torrential rain without a stop all day followed by more rain and wind the next day. We ended up staying for 4 nights.

We considered going up the canal from Warrenpoint (RoI) at the head of the lough to Newry (NI), but were told they were only opened during working hours, and an hour each side of HW … this made it difficult to do this week. They are building a fixed bridge for a new relief road over the canal with a 12m max height restriction so yachts will no longer be able to transit it after this year.

We blew our remaining euros on a lovely breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the marina. Had to be done, back to sterling tomorrow!

As we left Carlingford Lough we took down our Irish curtesy flag, no longer new, after the 3 1/2 months cruising the republic of Ireland, we were sailing back into Northern Ireland. Saying bye to the green letter boxes and telephone boxes.

Leaving Carlingford, we did 30nm north to Ardglass, passing the mountains of Mourne on the way. Sailing by just the genoa we had a good relaxed sail in dry weather.

Ardglass is a pretty little fishing port which used to be especially important for defence, communication and transport. Hence the 6 castles including a bathing castle they have here, in various stages of decay from in-use to ruins. The deep natural inlet was a good place for Irish tribes to settle. It is one of three major fishing ports in Northern Ireland. Its nick name is ‘Gods Pocket’. We enjoyed exploring the local area. The locals were very friendly and welcoming.

There is a large golf club in one of the old castles where we enjoyed a cup of tea, looking at the lumpy sea. Apparently, it is one of the oldest buildings in use as a club house in the world (initially constructed no later than 1405).

With another strong wind warning – the remains of Storm Lee, with its winds in excess of 40 Kts we stayed for 3 nights, well sheltered, while it blew over and the sea calmed a little.

We sailed from Ardglass around to Strangford Lough, a flooded valley covering 150 km2 (58 sq. miles). The entrance is known as the narrows with up to 5kt tides. The name comes from Old Norse meaning “strong sea inlet”. It is almost totally enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and, although fairly shallow with lots of rocks and at least 70 islands, it makes an interesting cruising area, in outstanding beauty with a lot of wild life.

We sailed up the lough and in amongst the islands to Down Cruising Club (DCC), one of the 15 welcoming sailing clubs on the lough. We were told that the 5 Kts tide alongside their visitors’ pontoon meant we had to arrive at slack tide which made it tricky to slow down with the increasing wind. Their friendly commodore was there to catch our ropes.

DCC occupies an unusual clubhouse, the old Lightship, Petrel. It was built in 1915 (not long after Titanic was completed) of iron and steel riveted construction for the Commissioners of Irish Lights by the Dublin Dockyard Co. Bought by the club in 1968 for use as a clubhouse, it was towed in on a high spring tide and floated to her present berth using her own winch, two club boats and a very long cable made fast to a tree on Sketrick Island as a ‘hand brake’!

It would have been good to spend more time in the lough exploring but another strong wind warning this time 2 low pressure systems forming into a dumb-bell shape meant moving on.

We anchored at Ballyhenry bay at the inner end of the narrows. The anchorage was opposite Ward Castle.

We left as the tide turned at 7am. The previous day had been the equinox and the days were definitely shortening but there was just sufficient light to see. We had the tidal gate at the narrows and another one at Donaghadee sound further North. We needed to be through the 2^nd tidal gateway by 1pm when it closed. It was 34 miles so we had to motor-sail as the wind was lighter than forecast!

As we came into Bangor Marina the wind increased F7 and we were grateful to arrive.

Bangor is a traditional seaside resort popular with families in Northern Ireland. It is an attractive town.

The coastguard station overlooks the marina and has a motif on it. We are so very grateful for the coastguard and their watch over the seas – even better to see what they look like!

There is a walled garden and also a very good museum, with lots of local history well presented at Bangor Castle. The castle and land was owned by the Ward family and local artist Brendon Jamison has created a sugar cube model of their estate home, which was fun. We enjoyed exploring the area and walking along the coastal path.

The following day we took the train into Belfast to explore the Titanic Museum and also do a town walk.

The Titanic museum was very good with lots of information about the work that went into designing and building the ship, its launch and tragic sinking.

Amongst many other fascinating items on display is the violin played by Wallace Hartley as the Titanic sank. It had been a gift from his fiancé – Maria Robinson. He had strapped it to his waist as the ship sank and when they found his body the violin was recovered and returned to her. When Maria Robinson died, the violin was given to the local Salvation Army charity shop and brought to teach children to learn to play. In 2013, someone recognised the inscription and realised what it was. It sold in October 2013 for £900,000 and the new owner has allowed it to be shown in the museum.

Our walk around Belfast was interesting, but far more related to politics than the other town walks we have done were. Maybe Belfast’s history is more political than many cities and although it is now peaceful, vibrant and modern, echos of its sectarian past are all around.

One of the places we visited was the Crown pub (1826), which is a lovely example of a Victorian gin palace. It is one of Northern Irelands best known pubs. Legend has it that Patrick Flanagan a Catholic argued with this protestant wife over what they should name the pub. In the end, they agreed she could choose the name – the Crown – but he could decorate it as he wanted. He promptly employed some Italian artists at work elsewhere in the town to lay a mosaic entrance floor picturing the crown so that when people walked into the pub they were forced to stand on it. Debateable who won that argument! The pub has 10 booths, lovely etching and stained glass windows. Since 1978, it is owned by the National Trust, who now lease it out.

We also learnt that the only way that Guinness could copyright their iconic harp was to reverse the traditional Irish harp symbol.

Also, more about the potato famine which affected Ireland so badly. Apparently, the average person’s diet consisted of only ale and 45 potatoes per day as the soil is poor quality and they were unable to grow anything else. Even now the Irish met office give a blight warning as part of their daily app forecast.

The following day we sat out Storm Agnes in the marina – this time grateful we were in a sheltered marina and not at anchor.

We leave Ireland today and head over towards the Clyde area of Scotland. In total, we have spent 110 nights in Ireland (this excludes our brief trip back to the UK), stopping at 63 places.

• We have sailed just over 1300 nautical miles around the Irish coast.

• We spent 48 nights in 16 different Marinas /Harbours, often due to strong winds.

• We spent 19 nights on visitors buoys in 8 different places. These were mainly free on the west coast of Ireland, but 10 euros per night at Wexford.

• We spent 7 nights in 3 sailing clubs – RCYC, Foynes and DCC.

• We spent 43 nights at anchor and used 36 different anchorages, some of these anchorages were for tide waits.

• We have had 3 named storms and numerous strong wind warnings. Sometimes its felt like a bit of a battle against the weather and sea.

Ireland has some amazing scenery and the west coast is wild and relatively quiet. The locals are welcoming and friendly, with free visitor’s buoys provided by the local authority readily available.

We have seen less wild life than we expected after Scotland, but there have been seals dolphins and a good mix of birds.

It has taken longer than we initially thought it would, but there has been plenty of strong winds to contend with. The record for sailing around Ireland is 38 hours 37 minutes and 7 seconds, set in 2016 by a trimaran! It is normally recommended to allow 3 months, so we have taken a few weeks longer than average. It has been good to do it in smaller jumps, spending time in the villages and towns talking to the locals, absorbing Ireland and exploring the scenery. The sailing has been challenging at times and we have had to bypass some interesting places in order to play the winds and progress. We understand fully why, with only limited time, many aspiring circumnavigators are forced to turn back. We have been privileged to be able to wait when necessary in order to complete the trip.

with 2 named storms and some rather inconsistent winds!

From Dingle, we moved on to Portmagee which sits on one end of the bridge to the beautiful island of Valentia where rolling green slopes dotted with bright purple heather are interspersed with fascinating geology. It looked a pretty place but it was a blustery wet place this evenings so we stayed on-board.

The following day in order to beat the wind we set off early for Escadwer point, it was an incredible sail with the wind veering with us as we sailed down the Kenmore river/estuary to Kilmakilloge harbour. Doesn’t happen often! The mussel farms where more expansive than the charts showed but there was a passages through. Irish mussels are big business in Europe, and thus they are often larger than the chart says. Kenmore in Irish means little nest – which was apt as it was very protected.

It was Force 6/7 but we were in a snug anchorage. So, had a day on-board as the rain and winds blew over us. The following day we landed on Bunaw Pier and walked a mile or so up to Darreen Gardens which was more of a woodland walk than a formal garden – but pretty. We discovered why it was so quiet at the gardens when we past the pub later which was overflowing and very noisy, with much celebration – it was the final of the All Island Hurling Championships.

The following morning it was calm initially with no wind the mountains reflected in the water as we cast off and motor sailed from the “flooded valley”, as the Irish like to call them, as opposed to a Scottish loch.

We passed through Dursey sound, with its strong tide and very choppy northern entrance to sail under a 25m high cable car, into incredibly flat water beyond. The Cable car reopened in June after a 1.6m euro upgrade. The local farmers were told by the local council not to use it to transport fully grown cows and bulls weighing over 500g again. It went across the 374 metre gap. The Genoa went straight up and we had a fabulous sail to Dunboy bay (on the passage between Bere island and the mainland) which had its own castle watching over it, but again we were on our own. That evening we heard so many fish all around us, the sea looked like it was simmering along with the seals chasing them in a lovely calm sunny evening.

In the morning, it was still calm and we motored into the nearby Castletown-Bearhaven, anchoring at the allocated place. From here we could see the large supermarket to get supplies. Castle-Bearhaven is a busy fishing harbour. It was interesting as the fishing boats were moored in the Mediterranean style with their sterns against the dock.

Having provisioned we moved on to St Lawrence’s cove on Bere Island. The wind had filled in and we sailed past the wreak of MV Bardin Reefer, a Panamanian registered fishing boat that sank in 1982 following a fire and explosion on board. Here we picked up a free visitor buoy in shelter for 2 nights, as the winds began to get stronger (F7 again).

Then a fantastic goose winged sail along the flooded valley (technically a Ria) to Glengariff harbour in Bantry Bay and onto one of the visitor’s buoys. We past the Caha mountains range on the way down . We enjoyed a lovely walk to blue pool where the paths here have been much improved with government money – the leisure department according to the signs. We have benefited from many such initiatives. We also took our tender across to Garnish island gardens and enjoyed looking around them. On the third day we walked around Glengarniff woods while the mid 30Kt winds past overhead.

In the morning the wind was calm, but the sea swell was still significant it seems to take longer than one tide to settle the seas after the bigger blows.  We motored back along the flooded valley to the marina on Bere island with it showers and washing machine – the shower was bliss.

We started noting the wide nationality of boats we were seeing Belgium, French, Swiss, Canadian, American, Romanian, German Spanish and Swedish and well as a few British.

The marina manager was welcoming and friendly. She told us it had been a very poor year for them as the number of strong wind warnings were putting Cork boats off coming around Mizen Head. She also repeated the story we were told in Dingle that not many UK boats were going around Ireland this year.

Leaving early the next morning and with a quick diversion to provision in Castle-bearhaven we wanted to beat the next strong wind warning (this time F8) and sail around Mizen and into Crookhaven (on the South Coast!). We saw the Fastnet rock in the murk and would have loved to have visited but we wanted to anchor before the wind increased any more. We decided against using the visitor buoys in Crookhaven as they were exposed and anchored behind Granny island instead. This turned out to be a good idea as it was a very gusty night and we were thankfully more protected, than others.

It wasn’t until the following afternoon that the wind had abated sufficiently for us to go ashore. We explored the village and walked along to Galley Cove beach and sat watching the waves breaking over the offshore rocks then back to the pub for a Guinness in the most southern pub in Ireland.

We left as soon as we could the following morning and sailed between the pretty islands to anchor behind Heir island.  Heir island is mainly a holiday island with 29 residents in winter and over 150 in summer. We passed another horse island and no horses again could be seen! Maybe a sheep, but not sure. Apparently, there are more than 10 horse islands around this part of Ireland, hope one of them has a horse on it!

The following day we moved onto the river Icen and anchored significantly up stream. This next storm was named as Antoni by the British Met office. It was quiet behind the trees and we could hear the birds squabbling in the mud particularly 3 egrets and a Heron. We did however lay tide rode the majority of the time – the wind pushing us across the significant tide so we rocked more than expected. When the storm had passed, we set off back up the river to re anchor at Heir island again.

We had intended to go on to Baltimore, for the morning. However, we could not find any mooring buoys and there was nowhere to anchor. After some frustrating circuits, we decided to move on as the wind was so perfect that we would continue. It was the Irish Bank Holiday and a regatta was on, so we did not time that very well.

This area suffered the infamous ‘Back Sack of Baltimore’ on 20^th June 1631, when pirates from Algiers and armed troops of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, led by the notorious pirate captain Morat Rais, stormed ashore at the little harbour village of Baltimore and captured almost all of the villagers and bore them away to a life of slavery in North Africa. The story of what happened is recorded in a book called Stolen Village. The attack was the largest by Barbary slave traders on Ireland. In 1999 the story was portrayed in a screenplay titled ‘Roaring Waters, the sack of Baltimore’ by Sean Boyle. According to Robert Davis (expert) between 1 million and 1.2 milion europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves in North Africa and the Ottoman empire between the 16th and 19th centuries – an interesting reversal of the normal procedure…

The Jester challenge, an unsupported single handed challenge race, runs from Plymouth to Baltimore some 250nm every 2 years. This year 43 skippers took part. Unfortunately a boat called Minkie sailed by the late May Duncan Lougee failed to arrive, although they found his boat empty and drifting.

We moved on round Toe Head to Castletownsend arriving in time to go to the pub for lunch. The anchorage was next to Col. Townsends Castle, built in the 1600s hence its name. The main street was steep with some sycamore trees growing in the middle making a tight roundabout. Although we only saw one car when we were there. We stayed for 2 nights, taking our tender up the river to explore with the overhanging trees reminding us of the river Dart in Devon. Whilst walking there were quite a few signs saying no entry, so different from Scotlands right to roam policy. When we looked it up in Ireland the only place you have freedom to roam is in the National Parks, which is only about 1% of the country.

They recognised our British accents and told us that the BBC had apparently been there a few weeks before with Julia Bradbury – who was born in Dublin – to film a new TV series about the wild Atlantic way.

Moving on we went to Broadstrand bay near Courtmacsherry. It was a well-protected anchorage from the building wind and significant swell to spend the night before heading for Kinsale.

We woke to fog and another strong wind warning (a forecast of F7-8). We had no choice but to move to a more sheltered spot. Before the fog became thick we saw there were 3 other boats moving along to the headland so were on constant alert to where they were.

Anthony was below on the radar frequently trying to locate them. 0.4 cables NNW of us, 0.5 cables SW of us etc. Unfortunately the others were not transmitting on AIS and I was scanning visually, calling out when the fog cleared enough to glimpse them.

We initially sailed as there was just sufficient wind and you can sometimes hear other boats without our engine on, but the wind died and we had to motor. The fog did clear as we rounded the Old Head of Kinsale, the light house far above us peering through the fog.  We apparently sailed over the wreck of RMS Lusitania which was sunk by a U Boat with 1959 souls onboard on the 7^th May 1915. ,This act, our guide in Kinsale told us later, brought the United Sates into the 1st world war, such was the anger of the American public.

We ended up taking over 5 hours to do just under 15nm, tired from concentrating hard we were pleased to see Castle Park Marina in Kinsale come into view . However, I had only just jumped off onto the pontoon when two Customs officers bounced up and told us they were boarding our boat! As I tried to tie her securely they bombarded me with questions, ‘how much alcohol on-board?’ … Oh! one portion of Gin and ½ bottle of whiskey, I answered (I remembered some more later, but it turned out they were not concerned as it was for personal use) OK ‘…what drugs?’ I struggled with how full our medicine cabinet was, what was in there?? Anxious they were about to turn our boat upside down, having heard stories of the chaos they can create if you give inaccurate answers, I tried to be very accurate and hesitated, just how many pain killers do we have, sea sickness tablets etc. I was just trying to remember when they moved on to the next question….

How many on board… (could answer that quickly), We need proof on nationality

Where have you come from? again an easy one.

The increasing wind tried to catch Grace Note and they saw that I needed to finish tying her up so they moved back to Anthony asking about ports we had visited, how long we have been in Ireland, Ships papers, passports, etc. etc. Then came the paperwork and they worked through the questions. One of the questions they asked was to list the problems the skipper had with the crew! Absolute cheek. I should have thought quicker and answered that one, but Anthony answered ‘where do I start…’

They were with us for about 45 minutes, felt longer. They took photos and seemed satisfied that we were genuine cruisers and not drugs, booze, arms or people smugglers. We were told later that they had been experiencing issues with drugs being smuggled into Kinsale from the UK. Which explained why they lost interest a bit when they realised we had come down (and could prove it) the west coast of Ireland and not across from Wales.

With 4 days of strong winds we explored Kinsale and the local area. We did a fascinating walking tour, visited the museum, old churches, St James fort and bunk houses.

It was here we first heard the term ‘blow ins’ meaning you were not born in the immediate locality.

Kinsale is partly built on reclaimed land. The land was filled with the local rock. Unfortunately, this rock/shale is porous and during spring tides the sea comes up through the drains and into the street. An issue that is getting worse in the town centre. Up on the surrounding slopes its known as millionaire valley as many of the houses sell in excess of a million. A recent sale went for 5.5 million euros.

Historically, the tax laws were a lot simpler than now – In order to encourages people to have children parents did not have to pay tax on anything the children were able to carry. Everything else that moved was taxed…

The town is colourful planted and houses painted as it is hoping to win Irelands Tidiest Town competition – results will be announced this autumn. It’s an interesting place to visit and busy with holiday makers. Today Kinsale is at the end (or beginning) of the wild Atlantic way, but used to be known as “the end of the known world’.

The wind abated and we headed out to anchor in Oyster haven, it was a good anchorage. We saw buzzards overhead. Calm and very quiet after the busyness of Kinsale.

Then onto Cork. We stayed at the Royal Cork Yacht Club and received a lovely welcome. We went up to the clubhouse on the first evening and enjoyed chatting to fellow sailors about places to visit and some of their adventures. We walked down to Crosshaven for provisions and an interesting church steeple on St Bridgids RC Ornate Gothic Revival church. Built from local stone and clad in copper.

The following day we caught the bus into Cork. It was 4.40 euros return for us both for the hour journey. Public transport is subsidised. We explored around the city, visited the English Market, the cathedral and Nano Nagle Place.

The cathedral – St Fin Barres is on a holy site from 606AD. The current one built in 1862 is made with local limestone with local red marble in a French neo-gothic style. A competition received 63 entries and William Burges design won.

The English market was built as a covered market in 1788 it is Europe’s oldest market and has survived famine flood, wars and recessions.

Moving along the coast our next stop was Youghal. We anchored past the moorings in shallow water well out of the strong tidal stream. It was quiet and as the bank emerged at low water so did many birds. It would have been good to explore Youghal but another strong wind warning meant an early start. The wind was swinging with strong winds from all sectors of 180 degrees so we needed somewhere well sheltered. This time it was forecast F10.

We sailed east and then up the river towards Waterford. The town itself is closed to yachts because they are building a new bridge but there was an island before it.

We had heard the local RNLI life boat attend 2 emergencies in the last hour of our journey – one of these was for a French solo sailor we had encountered before.

With forecasted winds of 118 km (73mph) and torrential rain. The Irish met office – MET Eireann – were concerned as the pressure was falling quickly, they named the storm Betty and we were directly in its path. Then MET Eireann upgraded the storm to a violent storm F11 and gave red alerts for both marine and overland weather.

It had been a long sail, then motor-sail. The wind was a completely different direction to that forecasted, stronger and the seas rougher, we ended tacking to try to counteract the swell and large waves which tried to break over our bow.  As it took so long we ended up fighting a spring foul tide as well. We had left at 7am and arrived 9.30pm, both very tired after fighting the increasing strong wind we were grateful to arrive.

It was a long night. But the anchor held.  The wind was strong. The Irish met office recorded 60mph at Hook head not that far away, so not as bad as forecast. The water was turbulent even in the river and the tide pushed our keel one way and the wind the other for 6 hours in every 12 which meant we heeled significantly. We slept badly, but so did others. The Irish news reported that thousands of people had no power and Cork was badly flooded along with Waterford. Houses were flooded and trees were down extensively causing road closures. Boats had ended up crashing into harbours and the emergency services had been very busy. Grace Note was unharmed even though her crew were tired. We were ok although we later heard from others that not everyone was so lucky.

The storm had moved on to the UK.

The following day we heard of the 2 deaths in Youghal during the swimming section of the Iron man challenge due to the adverse conditions.

When the wind had abated, we ventured out of the estuary into Dunmore East harbour.

It was lumpy at the entrance and despite having the tide with us, the lump frequently completely stopped us, so it took quite a while to arrive, we had tried calling the harbour master and not received a reply so came in alongside a fishing boat to seek advice. He soon arrived. Thank goodness you were not here for Betty he said, the harbour was completely full with rafted yachts and fishing boats trying to find shelter. One of the fishing boats had sunk and it was all a bit crazy. The sunk fishing boat sat on the seabed with oil tubes around her to collect any leaking fuel. Her owner looking very forlorn. The following day a large crane arrived and lifted her, they pumped her out and took her across to their dry dock.

Dunmore East was a sheltered working harbour.  It was great to be alongside and we explored the area. Enjoyed an ice cream, fish and chips, shower and cliff walk. Originally, we were only staying one night but the winds and waves were reluctant to drop below F6/7 so we stayed put and looked at the rough sea from the shore.

Leaving Dunmore East, we rounded Hook Head on our way to Kilmore Quay. It is believed that a lighthouse has been there since the 5th century, the original light erected by a monk called Saint Dubhan and his fellow monks and is the oldest operational light house in the world. During the 1600s the first proper lighthouse structure was designed unique to Ireland with a cottage style base and an open coal fire in the rooftop brazier, the remains of this light house is still there today. The first known lighthouse was Pharos of Alexandria in Egypt but this no longer exists.

The well known phrase by hook or by crook is said to have originated from Oliver Cromwells vow to take Wexford by Hook (here) or by Crooke which is a village on the Waterford side.

Then onto Kilmore quay, not far and we had good winds and tide although waves still lumpier than you would expect. We walked into the town, explored the area. Anthony found a chandlery – first for ages and swiftly spent 70 euros.

The following day we left early and headed around Carnsore Point with its wind turbines and into an anchorage past Rosslare.

The wind and tide were brilliant and we did 7 ½ Kts for a while with just the Genoa up, we had arrived on Irelands east coast, and flatter waters. We only saw a fishing boat. The anchorage was Calm with an offshore wind, we had anchored here to allow us to time our entrance into Wexford.

We entered Wexford at HW it was still shallow with the depth flashing 1.4 meters at its lowest and 1.6 meters for one of the legs. We are 1 meter deep. The channel was well marked with buoyage and the seals were snoozing on the sandbars. We picked up one of the visitor buoys.

The lady at the tourist information office told us they don’t have many yachts visit and the Harbour Master, who was actually the same one as Kilmore quay. asked Anthony to repeat where we were when we called to pay our 10 euros per night for the visitors’ buoy.

Wexford used to be a busy harbour exporting Beef, Herrings, Coal, Butter and Corn until the sandbar was breached and in 1968 they gave up dredging it for the bigger boats as it was not cost effective so the council concentrated on developing Rosslare instead. Some trawlers still use the quayside. Wexford has a large town quay and train line alongside to load goods. We did the town walk and learnt a little about the long Viking history. The following day we went to the Irish Heritage Park which spans 9000 years of Irish history including 16 reconstructed dwellings and a Falconry

The guides where keen to tell us that back in 1200bc there is evidence that the worlds axis was knocked taking the Irish climate from Spains to what it is now. Monks recorded the weather each day, which is a mine of information, this shows that it rained every day for nearly 200 years this is what is gave rise to the high number of bogs and wet lands in Ireland. But this is a Irish guide saying this, we have learnt that you have to take everything they say with a pinch of salt!

On the Saturday, we had intended to move on but the forecast had altered and it was strong northerly winds. So we waited and the following day – needing HW to get out  of the estuary – we left at 3am. Two of the passage markers were not lit and we went down to 1.3m, but we did have our inward passage track to follow. It was pretty shallow and a dark night.

Some way up the coast at Cahore we ran out of favourable tide so anchored while waiting for the next tide and slept for a few hours, then we sailed onto Arklow, about 36 nm in total. The Harbour master at Arklow did not believe we had gone into Wexford. No one goes in there he said, it’s too shallow.

When we popped in to ask about where to get Calor gas, the lady in tourist information told us that Arklow was not worth visiting. Not encouraging. She told us that 3 of the main buildings were condemned. Apparently, someone had come from Dublin recently and promised they would be demolished but nothing has happened and everyone was fed up about it. It was rather run down but…

From Arklow we sailed around to Wicklow, a 15 mile sail. It was surprisingly lumpy anchored outside Wicklow, by the wall despite it being marked as an anchorage and with an offshore wind. We didn’t have a great night’s sleep but some swimmers did swim out to say welcome.

It was just 15 nm to get to Dun Laoghaire marina where we will explore Dublin. It was a gusty NW wind and we arrived just as a large fleet of sailors finished racing in Dublin Bay. In the end we waited and let them get to the sailing club bar.

When passing through Crookhaven we learned about Marconi’s early experiments with radio communication from there. A little known fact emerged during our tour of Dublin to the effect that the first known use of radio transmission occurred at the end of a sailing regatta in Dublin bay. Usually, a very fast boat was used to collect the results and return them to the sailing clubs before the sailors came ashore . However, on this occasion Marconi took his equipment out on the water and had the results transmitted ashore in real time, thus anticipating one of the many uses of his invention!

It has been quite an eventful month!

When at last, the strong winds abated and we were able to leave Galway, we headed back to Inishmore in the Aran islands. The wind was foul but it allowed us to do long tacks across Galway Bay. The wind was increasing all day, although the forecast had said it would fall. The following morning, we left early (5.30 am) hoping to beat the forecasted increase in wind in order to get around Loop Head and into the Shannon – it would be at least a 9-hour sail (+40nm), but the wind had obviously not heard the forecast and arrived early and was already high 20s with a confused sea. After a few hours we gave up, and headed back to port and our nice (free) visitor buoy.

So, we had a few days to further explore Inishmore, not a bad outcome. After deliberations, we decided that the F6/7 winds and drizzle were a little too strong for us to cycle so we took the tour of the island on the minibus. It was good to get an over view of the island and see where we should go to explore. Two of the places we visited were: Dun Aonghasa, a prehistoric hill fort on the edge of a 100m high cliff and the medieval church remains at St Brecan.

Archaeologists are unsure exactly when Dun Aonghasa was built but it is thought to be around 700BC – 500BC. The fort consists of three massive drystone defence walls. Outside them is a chevaux-de-frise – that is, a dense band of jagged, upright stones, thousands in number – a devastatingly effective way to impede intruders. The chevaux-de-frise surrounds the entire fort from cliff to cliff.

The medieval Christian ruins of the 7 churches dedicated to the 5^th century St Brecan was, for centuries, one of the biggest monastic foundations and centres of pilgrimage in the west of Ireland since it’s construction in the 7th or 8th century.

The island geology is an extension of the Burren found on the mainland – a Karst landscape of exposed limestone full of ‘grikes’ (crevices) which provide moist shelter, thus supporting a wide range of plants including dwarf shrubs. Many we did not recognise. We wished we had a flora book so we could identify all the varieties on display. The landscape on Inishmore is surreal, with hundreds of small ‘fields’ delineated by numerous high thick dry stone walls, which appear to have little purpose. We enquired of our guide as to their purpose – we decided to take his response of ‘well, its somewhere to put all the stone’ with a degree of scepticism (particularly after being warned by the Irish walking tour guide in Galway to only believe 10% of what an Irishman tells you in his stories, which another Irishman in Limerick thought was quite generous)!  

In the harbour preparations were underway to receive a fleet of 40 yachts coming to compete in the West of Ireland Offshore Race championships (WIORA) which lasted 4 days. The following week we were told by someone at the sailing club that at least 2 days were cancelled due to too much wind.

It was not until five days later that the winds abated and we were able to move on from Inishmore – one less windy day between two depressions. Suddenly everyone seemed to be on the move! The forecast gave NW 4-5 but in reality, it was gusting 33 Kts. It was very bouncy. The sea swell was impressive – confused as well – I have never seen such big seas from our boat and at one stage two particularly large waves broke alongside and decided to join us in the cockpit. We thought our dinghy days of being deluged with waves were over! After an exciting rounding of Loop Head, we entered the Shannon Estuary and anchored in a lovely sheltered bay at Carrigaholt – very tired after the 9-hour sail and sleeping very well. The crew of another boat, which followed us in, later commented on the confused sea state when we saw them at a marina. They told us that they were finding sailing Ireland far more of a challenge than expected. This was reassuring in a way as they were very experienced sailors!

With the winds continuing to be strong we went further up river to Foynes Sailing Club. It is a tidal river with up to 4kts of tide and reminded us very much of rural Devon.

Foynes sailing club members kindly helped us into a berth on their pontoon, where we were their only visitor. It was lovely to be in a sailing club and it reminded us of CCSC. We visited the local Flying boat museum, had a lovely walk along the river, sampled the Irish coffee – as this is where it was invented – and took the bus up to Limerick for the day.

In conversation with the club manager he mentioned that some improvements had been long delayed – a case of ‘Manyana’ we tentatively suggested? ‘Oh no’, he replied, ‘the Irish don’t have a word to represent that degree of urgency’…

Foynes was chosen to be the arrival point for the Boeing B-314 Clipper flying boats from America in the late 1930s. Sadly, it was only used commercially for about a year until the 2^nd World War broke out, but remained a vital route for ‘VIPs’ throughout the war. The accommodation in these aircraft was very spacious carrying 40 passengers and 10 crew in 7 luxurious compartments and a 14-seat dining room. It was marketed at the wealthy, a flight cost upwards of $675 which is about $12,000 today.

There was a lot of excitement and flags around the All Ireland Hurling championships quarter final between Limerick and Galway.  We were aware of many conversations about it around us. Hurling is a Gaelic outdoor 15-man team game with ash wood sticks called a Hurley and a small ball called a Sliotar. It has a very wide following within Ireland and we saw children in parks playing it as well many full-size pitches.

Five days later we moved back down river to Kilrush marina, enjoying a lovely sail tacking across the wide river. The marina is accessed through a lock gate to maintain water levels within a sheltered lake right in the outskirts of the small town.

The marina had diversified and was also hiring pods on Airbnb and campervan slots.

We explored the town with its wide 19^th century main high street, I had a much overdue haircut and we were able to re-provision.

The water park with inflatable slides and swings next to the marina looked fun, but I was told that I needed a child to go with…

Three days later we left Kilrush Marina at 13.30 slack tide and set sail for Tralee Bay anchoring eventually on the West side near to Castlegregory. Again, plenty of swell and confused seas with heavy rain thrown in. However, although open to the East it was a very protected anchorage, with flat water and no swell at all.

The following morning, we set sail for Smerwick Harbour on the Dingle Peninsula, but for the second time (ever) we turned around after about 1½ hours into our passage as the wind was hard on the nose and building uncomfortably along with short ‘stopper’ waves on top of the swell. These were knocking us back from 4.8 Kts to 0.5kts at times making our progress slow and we had 20nm to go before we reached any shelter. By this time, it was raining and very black clouds where building around us. We were discussing what our strategy should be when Shannon coastguard gave a warning of strong winds imminently becoming ‘cyclonic’. The problem with cyclonic winds is they could come from any direction so it makes it difficult to choose a sheltered anchorage. In the end, we decided to run from the wind and went back across the bay to Fenit marina.

The weather has been wet and windy but also warm with temperatures in the high teens. So grateful after last summer in the outer Hebrides. We have had some lovely sunny weather.

Fenit marina was built within the harbour in 1997 largely with EU funding and is connected to the mainland by an 800m causeway. Overlooking the harbour is a Statue of St Brendan the navigator, who was born in Fenit (at ‘the end of the known world’) in 484AD. The statue stands 3.7m tall, his cloak billowing as he leans into the gale. He has a bible in one hand and points to missionary lands with the other.

Between May 1976 and June 1977 explorer Tim Severin and a four-man crew sailed The Brendon, a tiny open leather hulled boat, the 4,500 miles from Kerry to Peckford Islands via the Hebrides and Iceland as St Brendan is thought to have done.

Because we had intended to be in Dingle earlier, we had not provisioned for a stay along the way. The only bus into the nearest town from Fenit (Tralee) only runs once a week and leaves on Friday morning – so we had missed that. There is a rather small village shop, but much appreciated, but otherwise back to the stock cupboard. At least we are perfecting the art of making Irish coffee! We were also well sheltered from the strong winds.

We left Fenit at 9am on the last of the ebb tide and dropped anchor at Castlegregory across the bay, waiting till 4.30pm to catch the tide along the coast. By then the tide was right but the rain was torrential and strong gusty winds off Mount Brendon, swell and rough waters made sailing interesting. The winds had come in early again. So, wish the Irish met office “Met Eireann” and the weather would actually communicate and agree.

We arrived in the shelter of Smerwick harbour past bedtime in thick fog and lashing rain, but found excellent holding and shelter off the beach in the F6 southerly winds. The anchor watch showed we hardly swung. Thankfully the fog had gone the following morning. It would have been good to have stayed and explored but we had a tidal gate to catch, with strong winds forecasted to which the bay was exposed so left at 6am and we headed past the most westerly point of mainland Ireland – Dunmore Head – with its old Redstone geology and through the tidal gate by Stromboli rock and the Blasket islands with some beautiful scenery.

As we rounded into Dingle bay we passed Slea Head and noticed a   large white cross high on the hill, but we have been unable to discover more about the sculpture other than speculation that it either commemorates the sinking of Spanish armada ships or perhaps the more recent sinking of ‘Ranga’, a Spanish container ship who lost power in a storm back in 1982 and was wrecked on Dunmore head.

By this time, the wind had completely disappeared so we motored most of the way. We headed down to the welcoming Dingle Harbour past extraordinary cliff scenery. We were very tired, especially after our previous days’ battle with wind and waves, so grateful for the flat waters. Dingle is a lovely town and we spent 2 days exploring the area, re-provisioning, visiting the aquarium and enjoying a meal out.

The pubs in Dingle are famous because they sometimes sell groceries, leatherwork or hardware etc. on one side, as well as being a pub. Someone we spoke to said Dick Macs was especially useful when his belt needed repairs, as they fixed it while he enjoyed his Guinness.

Sadly, we did not see Dingles famous resident Fungie the dolphin, who lived in Dingle bay for many years, as he is reported to have died in 2020, but we did meet 2 pods of harbour porpoises, which were fun. Porpoises are smaller than Dolphins, shy and keep their distance more.

The sailors we met at Fenit Sailing Club told us that when we get to Dingle we are no longer sailing the “wild west of Ireland” but just the “west coast of Ireland”. Not to sure what they meant, but I guess we will soon find out….

It’s been an interesting month, some challenging sailing. Mixed weather with amazing dramatic scenery

There was a lovely welcome from the Harbour Master at Rathlin, our first port of call in Northern Ireland, and the town was friendly. It has a winter population of 140. We happened to be there when the Church of Ireland came around for the annual blessing of visiting boats, but we missed it as we had gone to explore the upside down light house/bird sanctuary at the West end of the island. We caught the bus there and walked the 4 miles back, which was a lovely walk with bountiful flora.

The light house was constructed on the cliff face between 1912-19. Although built to a standard design, the light was given the unusual place at the bottom of the lighthouse in order to shine under the dense fog that often sits on top of  the island.

The buildings also host an extensive RSPB Bird Sanctuary, with Fulmers, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Razorbills and numerous other gulls, but low numbers of Puffins this year. One of the guides we spoke to told us they don’t know why. They collect numbers at the end of the season and will then be able to assess the effects of last year’s bird flu.

Up until this point we had been putting off our decision about which way to go round Ireland. There are lots of opinions but only two alternatives! In the end we decided to follow the logic of the sailing directions with regard to the ‘normal’ weather patterns and go anti-clockwise, going Westwards first towards the Republic and returning to Northern Island from the South later.

We had intended that our first port of call on the mainland would be Portrush but they had their 40^th anniversary raft races that weekend in the harbour so it was closed to visitors.

Instead we anchored in the River Bann which eventually winds up to Coleraine. At the weekend, none of the marinas opened or they had no visitor space, such little provision for visitors. However, the river was lovely, it was in a nature reserve and we walked to Port Stewart along the sand dunes.

We needed provisions so decided to move on to Londonderry through Lough Foyle. At the entrance of the lough there is a feature called the Tuns which is so like the trap off Hurst Castle in the Solent.  Lough Foyle was pretty and with 2 ½ kts of tide and fair winds we made good speed up to Londonderry. We saw no one which was strange after the busyness around Portrush.

It was interesting to explore around Londonderry, leaving a few days later we stopped at Moville, which had used its pier to attach water slides to. It looked great fun!

The following day, we caught the tide, although little wind, around the notorious Malin head via the Inishtrahull and Garvan sounds. Lots of careful pilotage, lots of rocks, and cliffs made it an interesting day. We were visited by a large pod of playing dolphins just as we went through a section of large standing waves and a tight narrow passage.

We had intended to stop at Crummie bay in Lough Swilly but a perfect wind filled in before even taking off our lifejackets so we abandoned our promised cuppa and had a great sail down Lough Swilly towards the marina at Fahan. The marina is cut into a sand bank, it was very shallow. It is in the process of being sold and is in need of being dredged so we had been advised that there was often no availability. We anchored just outside in a lovely bay.

At anchor we watched the many common turns, fascinated as the males tipped their head and wings down walking around the females. Then the males started offering the sand eels they were catching. The book told us that this behaviour is to prove the male is good at catching fish to show her he would be good mate to feed potential chicks. If she accepts the fish offering then they will pair up. A nearby one was being pretty fussy, but she did have a lot of choice. We spent a lovely day at Fahan (despite having to walk some distance to fetch some diesel).

We left Swilly with little wind and motor-sailed a relatively short distance  to  Mullroy Bay which is the entrance to an inland sea accessed through a succession of 3 narrows. We  anchored just after the first narrow in very thick mud at Fanny’s Bay for the night, then caught an early tide to the Old Mill anchorage at Milford Port. The anchorage was very protected 12 miles inland.

The cross track error was a bit scary with Grace Note not going in the direction she was pointing but at strange angles due to the many shallows and tidal flows. Did wonder about our sanity as we dodged another rock. Locals were impressed anyway.

It was interesting pilotage again and incorporated what the sailing instructions called ‘6kt fast narrows’. We discovered later that the locals call them the rapids … we had to get out yet!

There was a survey done in 2010 using laser technology (LiDAR) and it was found that the charts drawn up in the 1800s were, surprisingly, quite accurate. There  were several mussel farms in the water of Broadwater which is the lake part of the way down.

With good winds, we sailed on again this time around Malin More Head to the small bay and harbour at Teelin. We saw 2 Minky wales and numerous Dolphins and passed the second highest cliffs in Ireland – Slieve League (601m). The water was deep at the bottom of the cliff falling another 50m. there are many caves, stacks, inaccessible beaches with a real sense of quiet remoteness.

As we left the wind direction and speed were great so we set sail initially with the intent of going to Tory island. Unfortunately, the weed was particularly thick and we were unable to get our anchor into a sand patch below so we moved on to the beach opposite Inishbofin – the water was incredibly clear and we could see the anchor 6 meters down. The island of Tory is one of the places that still harvests seaweed and it has its own King.

With fair wind forecast we did another longer leg down to Aran Island stopping in the lee of its near neighbour, Calf island. Lots of interesting pilotage. Using transits to weave ourselves around the numerous rocks and shallows. One bay has over 365 rocks in, one for each day of the year, we did not count them though.

We have noticed a lot of renovation of older properties and new build on the islands. It appears That there are grants for people to renovate houses in disrepair on the islands to the extent of up to €50,000 to renovate a vacant property and up to €70,000 if the property is derelict. Or If you are living on an off-shore island, you will be able to get up to €84,000 to renovate a derelict building or up to €60,000 for a vacant property. There is a lot of renovation going on. We were told that the Irish had a lot of second homes.

Anthony caught some mackerel and then had to discourage a black headed seagull from stealing it off his line, it was amusing watching him jump about and the gull squawking back. Anthony won.

We sailed across to Sligo over a bar in some much gustier stronger winds. The centre of the city can be accessed but up a narrow and shallow winding channel. We heard others had got stuck at springs but our clearance is only 1 m so it was relatively comfortable. We were the only visitors. The small marina had a pontoon ( we had to raft up) but  also a brand new pod with a washing machine one side and shower/toilet the other. Bliss.

Much of the pilotage required to access places safely relies on following ‘transits’ – imaginary lines leading through two fixed objects (either natural features or deliberately placed for the purpose, or a combination). The entrance to the Sligo channel was a classic example – a concrete pillar in the water lined up with a short lighthouse on shore. However, here the pillar was decorated with the large metal figure of a man on top, helpfully pointing the way through a right-angle turn!

Sligo is on the Wild Atlantic way which is 1600 miles long as it winds its way all along the Irish west coast from the Inishowen Peninsula in the north down to the picturesque town of Kinsale, County Cork, in the south. We found the city very friendly and it was lovely exploring.

When it came to leave, the tide was pretty un-cooperative so we sailed 12 miles to Aughris Bay to anchor behind a reef for the night to allow us to catch the early tide along to Broadhaven. The scenery was amazing with dramatic cliffs stacks and caves and plenty of wild life. We were on our own and saw no one for days.

Another early start at 5.15am for tide to go around Erris head to anchor off the little village of Blacksod. There was evidence of whirl pools but the sea was flat. There had been reports of 2 basking sharks off the head but we didn’t see them. Anthony caught a huge Pollack which fed us for days and was so scrummy.

South of Erris head is Eagle Island, a notorious rock which has some of the worst weather on the coast due to an underwater cliff throwing up enormous seas. There are photos of waves washing over the lighthouse here.

The lighthouse on close by Blackrock was a short straw for lighthouse keepers as they were so often marooned for months, the most being 117 days. The story goes that the children of the lighthouse keeper had to be tethered to the ground when they went outside to play. However, one guide did warn us that only 10% of Irish stories are true!

Blacksod harbour also has a famous lighthouse. Unusually it is square (because it was cheaper to build). From here many from the local communities left during the Irish famine for Boston in America or Quebec in Canada.

It was also from here that a weather report that proved crucial for the D-Day landings in 1944 was sent. At the time, it was the most westerly mainland weather station in Europe and therefore the first to observe changes to the weather coming in from the West before they were apparent further South and East. This early warning of a lull permitted the landings to go ahead after a only a short delay for a storm to go through, rather than a much longer delay probably saving many thousands of lives and shortening the war. The lady who made the observations and sent this report has just celebrated her 100^th birthday at a local home.

The original filament bulb in the lighthouse was very effective but required 2KW of power to run (about the same as two bars of an old electric fire) and needed regular replacement, but the new LED ‘bulb’ has now been in place for 7 years and only takes 60W to run!

Distributed along the Irish coast are 81 old signal towers, each within sight of two others. They were constructed between 1804 to 1806 when it was feared a French invasion was possible. It is reported that a message could be relayed from anywhere in Ireland to Dublin in 8 minutes by flag signals. This is impressive as we have often had no mobile signal during the past few weeks and could have done with something more reliable!

A good sail around to Bofin Harbour on Inishbofin island (yes, another one!) and into the entrance which was very tight between rocks and a headland. The leading light (put in 2012) makes it somewhat easier, but the white sector light is only 20m wide so lots of concentration needed. We anchored inside the local mooring close by the beach, grateful again for our shallow draft.

The water was incredibly clear and had purple jellyfish floating around. It was here that we met a couple on a 7-year passage around the UK and Ireland, so it made our 3 1/2-year adventure positively short!

Leaving Blacksod we went onto the Isle of Clare which meant going around Achill head and past the Croaghaun Cliffs, the tallest in the UK and Ireland at 668m.

Irish Gaelic is apparently spoken by 6% of the population and in these areas, all schooling and everyday life is in Irish Gaelic. Most of these Irish speaking communities live along this stretch of coast.

We moved onto Roundstone, which was recently voted one of the prettiest villages in Ireland. It has the 12 Bens mountains behind which are part of the Connemara National park, which is the wildest part of Ireland. We walked down to see Bohdans (Celtic drums) being made and wondered around the town. Clouds were forming over the mountains maybe a sign that our fabulous weather may be breaking.

At our next port of Rossaveel we meet up with Snow Goose – D and Michael from Weymouth – and it was so lovely to spend some time with them and compare notes.

From Rossaveel we moved onto pick up a mooring buoy of Kilronan on Inishmore one of the Aran islands. We walked up to the top of the island to Dun Eochia. The fields looked full of rocks, very little grass and we personally saw no sheep, which is surprising for Aran and all the jumper shops they had there. We were told the wool is now imported from the mainland to make the jumpers.

There was strong winds forecast so we headed down to Galway. The forecasted wind never arrived and we had to motor most of the way, but the wind made up for it the following day. We are now in the port of Galway and exploring the city, there has been plenty to do. Tomorrow we set sail continuing south along this wild windy coast of Ireland.

We had given ourselves 3 months to explore Ireland and we are about a third of the way around, so maybe on track, but the winds currently are making it difficult to move on !

As they say on the islands ….

Beir bua and beannachai!  – Wishing you many wins and blessing