At Rum, we had hoped to see David and Stroma (and young Jamie) who are the island managers for Scottish Natural Heritage, but they were away on holiday. We walked in to the centre of the island but did not have time for the extra six miles required for a visit to the old village of Kilmory. Kinloch Castle, at the head of Loch Scresort, built at the turn of the century by Sir George Bullough, whose father made the family fortune designing milling machinery, is an extravagant monument to Edwardian opulence. Turtles and alligators were kept in heated tanks, a pure white Arab stallion was imported to improve the stock of native ponies, and two Albion cars were used to transport guests. Today, in faded grandeur, it provides B&B and hostel accommodation and hosts a few weddings. We had a grand sail from Rum down to Ardnamurchan point and up the Sound of Mull to Loch Aline – wind and tide with us all the way. Now in Oban, we will restock and prepare for guests joining us for the weekend.
Rum to Oban
Skye
For the trip down to Portree we had a glassy calm sea – ideal for spotting cetaceans – and we saw porpoises and dolphins but no whales. Showers rolled round and over the mainland hills but, despite the skies greying over, we reached Portree before the rain started. The next morning we sailed with the tide down to Kyleakin, berthing for the afternoon at the visitors’ pontoon. Again, the rain started just after our arrival but later we were able to get a short walk ashore. When the tide turned in our favour again we passed down through Kyle Rhea to Isle Ornsay, and anchored in time for a meal before the light faded. Strong winds overnight and all the following day saw us (and a few other yachts) waiting for better conditions – which did arrive today. A light southerly breeze has us motorsailing down the Sound of Sleat, making for Loch Scresort, Rum.
The North West
It was a day for seeing hills as we moved south – Quinag, Suilven, Coigach hills, Inverlael group, Fannichs, An Teallach and the Carnmore hills, including a’Mhaighdean the remotest of the Munros. Reminders of how little exercise is taken on an extended cruise. Mist rolled on and off the hills, but it was clear at sea except during a single short, sharp downpour. The afternoon brightened and we entered Loch Ewe – always a disappointment seen from landward but much more attractive from seaward. The loch was an assembly area for Atlantic convoys during the war, and numerous concrete gun emplacements still stand today. Aultbea is still a NATO fuel depot. The photo shows the peaks of An Teallach behind the Coastguard vessel at anchor off the Isle of Ewe.
Orkney and South
Due to adverse weather, we lay over in Kirkwall for three days after seeing Fin And J (photo) off on their return journey to London. Strong westerlies prevailed – with white horses even inside the inner harbour! At the first opportunity we moved round to Stromness, then made the long crossing south-west round Cape Wrath. It was a good passage in fine weather – rough only for a mile or so as the tide turned against us short of the Cape Wrath Light. Once round, the wind died and we motored through a still evening to the anchorage in Loch a’Chad-Fi, off Loch Laxford. This is where John Ridgway has his adventure school, and his ocean-going yacht was hauled out on the slipway, and well tethered down. At present we are southbound on the West Coast, having just passed the bird reserve isle of Handa.
Fair Isle – again
After visiting Balta Sound (Unst), Vidlin and the anchorage at Lingness we returned to Lerwick where Mike and Anne left and Fin and J joined us. The temporary loss of J’s baggage on the flight from London and near gale force northerlies kept us there for three days, but at last we got away for Fair Isle. We enjoyed beautiful weather on our day there – the skipper walking right round the coast, and Fin and J covering much of the island on photo-shoot. It’s one of these once-seen-never-forgotten places. The sail down to Orkney took much longer than usual due to adverse winds and tide, so we missed the flood tide through the sounds to Kirkwall – running into strong tidal ‘roosts’ which all but stopped progress. We switched to Plan B and spent the night tied up at Backaland pier at the south end of Eday, completing the trip this morning. It is now raining, and with gale force southerlies forecast for at least the next two days we are happy to be snug in the marina.
Out Skerries/Unst
With no recent photos taken, here is a playful kitten we met in Fair Isle. At Symbister the day dawned sunny with a N4 wind, tempting us not to linger, but make the 10 mile trip northeast to the Out Skerries. The pier is in a fine natural harbour formed between three small islands, and there we berthed after a sparkling sail from Whalsay. We met another yacht just returned from a trip to the Lofotens and the Arctic Circle, and again with local acquaintance Gibby, who very kindly arranged for us to have a complimentary salmon from the processing plant. On the dreich day following, our only full day of steady rain so far, we moved on to Balta Sound in Unst. Today proved brighter, so we motored round to nearby Haroldswick, where Mike and Anne went ashore to visit the Boat Museum – well worth a visit by anyone. We are now on passage in light airs to Burra Voe at the south of Yell, where there is a snug harbour – the forecast suggests a strong east wind tomorrow.
Lerwick/Whalsay
We motored up from Fair Isle to Shetland on a calm, sunny day and saw no sign of the notorious roost off Sumburgh Head, nor of whales, much to Mike’s disappointment. The anchor was dropped at Mousa, letting Mike and Anne go ashore to to visit the famous Pictish broch, the best preserved in Europe. Evening saw us berthed in the Small Boat Harbour at Lerwick among almost exclusively Scandinavian yachts. The morning dawned with clear skies and bright sunshine, and it became too hot to sit out in the cockpit in comfort – this while parts of England suffered severe flooding. On the way up to Whalsay we saw the North Sea Rescue Helicopter doing repeated drills, retrieving a man from the water. A race among the matched double-ended yoles was just finishing as we reached Symbister, where we met up again with /Iris May II /and her lady skipper, whom we last saw in Wick. The sunset was particularly fine – a fitting end to a grand day.
Fair Isle
A fresh breeze, moderate sea and occasional sunshine made for a superb
sail from Westray to Fair Isle. The old and new light towers on North Ronaldsay, so prominent against the very low-lying island, seem to take much of the passage to approach, pass and leave astern. Bearing down on Fair Isle, the island basked in sunshine – but there was a sting in the tail. The tide had built a big roost off the entrance to North Haven, with 4 metre seas and breaking crests. It made for an exciting final approach, and a superb contrast to the calm once through the narrow entrance. Fair Isle is high on our list of favourite places and we were fortunate to time our visit for a Thursday, so enjoyed an evening of dinner, slide show and live music at the Bird Observatory.
Stronsay & Westray
Sailing north from Kirkwall on the ebb, we were increasingly subject to a dying breeze and a building tide. We were gradually swept further west than intended and had to contend with a 5kt tide off Muckle Green Holm (S of Eday). The sea was spectacularly boiling and noisy, and we spent a frustrating length of time in its grip before breaking free and resuming course for Stronsay. Once again we were greeted by the black guillemots which nest in crevices in the stone pier. Next morning, we all went for a cycle run, unfortunately just missing the short visit of the inter-island plane at the airstrip. Later, we took the ebb tide north and west and, with a good wind, had a fine sail to Pierowall, Westray passing through the violent roost (tide race) off Red Point at the N exit from Calf Sound.
Orkney
We left Wick in a NW6 gusting 7 and set shortened sail for the passage
to Orkney, making 7.5kts with a little help from the tide. We sailed
thus past the Pentland Firth and up the coast of South Ronaldsay, round Copinsay and into Deer Sound, where we spent the night at anchor off Tankerness Pier. In the morning we sailed north to Stronsay and berthed at Whitehall pier, where we were joined by /Seol na Mara/ with Iain and Barbara aboard. Centre of attraction was this superb replica Bugatti waiting on the pier for the Ro-Ro ferry. Not just wheeled out for rallies and shows, it is the everyday transport of its owner, who keeps it in beautiful condition. We are now in Kirkwall for the arrival of Mike and Anne, who will cruise with us to Fair Isle and Shetland.
Northbound
Our ports of call northbound to Orkney were Helmsdale and Wick. We had a fine sail in good weather through Inverness Firth, past the Cromarty and Dornoch firths, and up to Helmsdale. This attractive little town has a small, sheltered harbour with a visitors’ pontoon and good shoreside facilities. We arrived in Wick on the best day of the summer so far, lacking only a sailing breeze. The town, much maligned, is indeed rather grey with mostly stone buildings, and somewhat lacking in character. However, the harbour area is extensive, and has a new yacht pontoon in the outer harbour (photo), and there are plans for a full-scale marina in the inner harbour for next season. The general improvement in marine leisure activities is the silver lining in the black cloud of the sad decline of the fishing industry. We are waiting an extra day in Wick before crossing to Orkney, as a favourable wind is forecast for tomorrow.
Caledonian Canal
The second half of Arctica’s season began with a crossing of Scotland
through the Caledonian Canal, for which Jim and Linda joined as crew.
From Corpach on Loch Linnhe to Inverness on the Moray Firth the canal
is 60 statute miles long with 29 locks and 10 swing bridges to
negotiate. At a relaxing pace it takes three days’ passage time, so we
did not hurry but enjoyed the scenery and took time for walks along the
canal banks. We berthed overnight at Laggan Locks at the head of Loch
Lochy, at Fort Augustus at the bottom of Loch Ness (where Andrew and
Alison joined us for the day) and at Muirtown locks in Inverness. We
dined handsomely at the floating seafood restaurant beside the marina -
where we restocked the next day with water, fuel and provisions before
moving on to Clachnaharry sea-lock ready for departure in the morning.
Despite some torrential downpours, we all enjoyed the passage – the
photo was taken at Cullochy lock, just after Loch Oich which is the top
reach of the canal.
The Last Leg
The island of Rathlin, only a dozen miles from the Mull of Kintyre, was the last port of call on our circumnavigation of Ireland. We had
glorious weather and explored the island by bike. The lighthouse at the West end is unique in being built ‘upside down’ with the light at the bottom and the services and accommodation above. No, not an Irish
blunder but for technical reasons – to get the beam shining from the
required height. We then pottered north to Gigha, Crinan and Oban. The
23 boats in Ardminish Bay, Gigha outnumbered by 3 to 1 those we had seen on the whole trip round Ireland! Apologies for the break in blogging – due to computer failure and a mid-season break at home. Blogging will resume for the forthcoming trip to the Northern Isles.
Jury Rig
About to leave Lough Swilly, our anchorage after Tory Island, we discovered a serious water leak from the engine which delayed our
departure by a couple of hours. The problem was diagnosed as failure of the internal seal of the fresh water pump, so cooling water was
steadily being pumped into the bilge. We rigged up a makeshift solution – plastic bottle and spare tubing led into the water filler so we could top up frequently from the cockpit with water recycled by bucket from the bilge. With gale force winds forecast to arrive overnight we wanted to make safe harbour at Portrush, where a replacement pump ordered by phone will be delivered in a few days time. The delay caused us to miss-time the tidal gap at Inishtrahull Sound, which boasts the strongest tides on the whole of the Irish coast, and run into some of the stronger evening wind. Consequently it was a hard day’s slog motorsailing at reduced revs under full sail, and topping up the cooling water every ten minutes when the temperature alarm sounded, with one three hour spell seeing no forward progress against the tide between Malin Head and Inishtrahull. We eventually made Portrush at 9.30pm, noticing but not fully able to appreciate the fine sunset.
Tory Island
After a night at Burtonport, entered through a narrow, rocky channel,
where we ate very well at “The Skipper’s Tavern” we set out for Tory
Island – the remotest inhabited island off Ireland. In a few miles we
came across “Napper Tandy”, a ketch drifting in the negligible breeze
with a dead engine but our help was not needed as a local boat was on
its way to assist. The weather was perfect with the hills showing sharp in the cool air before the temperature rose as the sun beat down from a cloudless sky. Tory Island is named from its three distinctive tors, and is the home of “Balor of the blows” – the Celtic god of darkness. The island teems with bird life and the Skipper got a rare sighting of choughs – shiny black cliff-dwelling crows with scarlet legs and beak. As the photo shows, we are nicely tucked in harbour alongside a very similar yacht.
Donegal Bay
Calmer seas prevailed for the long haul across Donegal Bay from Ballyglass to Killybegs. As we left in the early morning we got this photo of a rainbow highlighting the lifeboat. We answered a Coastguard request for a volunteer for a helicopter hi-line exercise (as we experienced off Shetland last year) but they wanted a larger vessel. A group of 8 or 9 very lively dolphins played around us for a spell, but as usual we failed to get a good photo. Killybegs is a major fishing port with many large pelagic trawlers laid up out of season, but we found a quiet spot out of everyone’s way in the harbour. As on the west coast of Scotland, there were many active Spanish trawlers unloading their catches on to huge trucks bound directly for Spain. Now at Teelin, a small, pretty natural anchorage on the north shore of Donegal Bay, we are well placed for the next leg round Rossan Point inside the wonderfully named Rathlin O’Birne Island and up to Aran Island (not to be confused with the Aran Islands of a week ago, off Co. Clare).
Triffids!!
Don’t know what these are, but they could certainly pass muster as triffids. We have seen lots lurking by the roadside ….. waiting to pounce? At Achill Island the cox’n of the lifeboat was very good to us – ferrying us ashore, giving us a lift to the village 5 miles away, and sending a colleague to pick us up as we walked back in the rain. Fortunately it cleared later, giving a fine evening and the opportunity for a walk ashore. Today gave us the best sailing weather and coastal scenery so far. Achill Island has dramatic cliffs backed by sharp grassy ridges leading to prominent hilltops – it looks to be a really good walking area. In places the sea surge was shooting spray 50ft in the air, but sadly no photos – the skipper fully occupied helming in the confused seas, and the mate hanging on!
Islands at Last
After 700 miles the cruising is becoming much more interesting, as we
are among islands and passages between instead of steadily passing
headlands to starboard. We are now getting some shelter from the
continual Atlantic swell, which makes 8 and 9 hour trips quite
physically tiring, but gives a real feel of being at sea when the
immediate horizon is the next big swell. After Inishmore we rounded
Slyne Head and made up the Connemara coast to the island of Inishbofin
for a good overnight anchorage. Then we island-hopped in the mist up
to the S end of Achill Island where, inside a narrow, twisting
entrance, we are in calm water on a visitor’s mooring just off this old stone tower. We have been fascinated by some of the names on the chart – here are just a few from the last couple of days …… Gubbinwee, Inishbiggle, Doonguddle, Inishgalloon and Carrickmoylenacurboga!
Dingle to the Aran Islands
It was a 40 mile trip round the Dingle peninsula to Fenit with little
gained in the way of northing. However the scenery was good – round Slea Head, through Blasket Sound, past Mount Brandon (an Irish ‘Munro’) and into Tralee Bay. Fenit has a fishing harbour and yacht marina (photo) dominated by an imposing statue of St. Brendan the Navigator – a bit over-hyped as a “Heritage Park” as it would fit in your back garden! A 55 mile trip today gave us a fine motorsail, averaging just over 6 kts with still a SW swell, up to the Aran Islands of sweater fame where we turned in to Kilronan on Inishmore. A few miles away the smallest of the three islands – Inisheer – is better known as the “Craggy Island” of Father Ted.
Dingle Dolphin
This is a bronze of Fungie the bottlenose dolphin which has made Dingle Harbour his home for over 20 years, and is a major tourist attraction. He did come out to greet us as we sailed in and eyed us closely, but decided we were not worth one of his spectacular jumps high out of the water. For once the weather forecast has not been an exaggeration and winds have reached force 9 (severe gale) with more of the same today. However showers have been infrequent and it is mostly sunny. Winds are due to moderate greatly overnight but we expect quite a residual swell off the west coast. We enjoyed some live music in a pub last night (uillean pipes, banjo and guitar) and may look in tonight at the pub advertising “mighty sessions nightly”. For anyone thinking of a visit to Cork and Kerry, we recommend Dingle – our most attractive port of call so far.
A Touch of the Irish
We knew there were smoking restrictions in Ireland, but hadn’t realised they extended to herring. So now they are having to catch their kippers at sea – as this packaging shows. We are now in Dingle after a long trip from Bear Island in Bantry Bay, with little to see other than headlands looming out of the mist as we progressed round the coast and across from Valentia. We plan on staying here to await better weather – the 24 hour forecast is for a SW Force 8 gale (and possibly 9!) – but we are tucked into a nice wee marina in a nice wee town so all is well. There are numerous pubs advertising live music so that will be tomorrow night’s entertainment. One pub that caught our eye was Foxy’s Bar and Hardware Store! Yes, there were gantries and beertaps down one side and bins of nuts, bolts and screws down the other, with the punters in the middle. A shop we saw elsewhere offered computer repairs and fishing tackle! (It’ll be ready next week – would you like to go fishing meantime?)
New feature: Where’s Arctica?
You can now track the adventures of Arctica using a map on this site.
Arctica’s position is updated every day or so with GPS information from her navigation system – phone signal permitting!
Watch this space for improvements to the map over the coming weeks!
Mizen Head
Today we rounded Mizen Head, the SW point of Ireland after an extra
night at Crookhaven to let the passing gale blow over. There we had a
Saturday night Murphys at O’Sullivans pub, who declined to take a fee for use of a visitor’s mooring “until June”. As at all our other ports of call, the houses and cottages are all kept neat, tidy and well painted. There is an atmosphere of pride about the place – in contrast to much of the Western Isles of Scotland. We had fine sailing weather today and an excellent sail round Mizen Head, Sheep’s Head and up the length of Bantry Bay to Glengarriff. It is a well sheltered anchorage, protected by islets and skerries and with something of the feel of Balmaha on Loch Lomond – although that has nothing to match the splendid frontage of the Eccles Hotel. Come nightfall we half expect echoes of the Goon Show to waft across the bay!
Crosshaven & Kinsale
We reached Crosshaven for the rendezvous with our crew from London for
the holiday weekend with a day in hand, so we took the opportunity of
visiting Cork for an afternoon. We had shopping to do so we did not have time for tourist attractions, but found it an attractive city. Situated on the River Lee, it shares the distinction with Paris and New York of being founded on an island. Crosshaven is near the mouth of Cork Harbour, on a river with a strong tidal flow. With Finlay and Jeannie, Chris and Maria aboard we moved the short distance round to Kinsale on a day of mirror calm and brilliant sunshine, enjoying the brief company of a pod of dolphins on the way. Kinsale is a very attractive coastal resort and a major centre for yachting. The streets are narrow and colourful, as pictured, and are home to a huge number of pubs and good restaurants. Surprisingly, it lacks a chandlers and we found that the local filling station sells groceries but not engine oil or any motoring requirements!
Limerick
No, not the town at the head of the Shannon estuary but that peculiar
form of verse. On long tricks at the helm the mind can wander (OK…..who said the Skipper’s is always so?) and today, ruminating on
the odd pronunciation of Milngavie, for no apparent reason the idea for a Limerick emerged:
A wandering lass from Milngavie
Emigrated to distant Shanghavie
But lacking the lingo
And missing the bingo
She travelled back home, bavie and bavie.
Or, bringing in an Irish slant:
A trendy young colleen from Youghal (Yawl)
Got dressed up as though for a boughal
Her gown was so highbrow
It raised every eyebrow
At the ceilidh in Cashel church houghal.
It must be something to do with the Guinness!!
The photo is of sunset this evening at Crosshaven, near Cork.
Grumpy Old Man
Nice as are the Irish folk we meet, Ireland must have its share of
grumpy old men and sure now we came across one yesterday at a fishing
port – un-named to protect the guilty! (The photo was taken at Kilmore
Quay – a lovely fishing and leisure harbour). As instructed in the
almanac, we tried calling the harbour before arrival on VHF 16 and 14 without response, so continued on in. While tying up alongside a huge laid-up deep sea trawler the Harbourmaster appeared waving his rule book and calling over about
To The South Coast
We reached the South Coast in two more legs – Howth to Arklow to Kilmore Quay. Lack of wind meant motoring down to Arklow, but we were aided by a 2.5+kts tide and arrived in harbour an hour ahead of schedule. It’s a river harbour and we tied up at the Sailing Club pontoon on the north bank. Hardly half a mile out the next morning our propellor was fouled by a floating line trailing from a lobster pot buoy. The rope cutter did its stuff but we were left trailing 30m of line and the buoy. Unable to free it off from the prop/rudder we had to cut it adrift. The passage down to and round Carnsore Point, the SE extremity of Ireland, was an exercise in buoy hopping in the haze. The coast is lined with offshore banks and shoals and we kept outside all these dangers, which are well marked with navigational buoys. Making west from Carnsore Point, we crossed St Patrick’s Bridge (a narrow, shallow gap in the reef between the Saltee Islands and the shore) and put in to Kilmore Quay, a busy fishing port with a small marina which welcomes visitors.
Kilkeel to Howth
We left Kilkeel Abruptly at 0830 when the dredger crew turned up ready to go out. As we left harbour, there were lovely views astern to the Mourne Mountains – small maybe in Scottish terms but attractive nonetheless. It was a fine day with a quartering Force 4/5 wind so we put a reef in the mainsail and enjoyed a forty mile sail down to Howth, at the NE corner of Dublin Bay. En route we passed the isolated skerry of Rockabill, the green island of Lambay, and the rocky and reef-strewn islet of Ireland’s Eye (derivation not known). Howth harbour is in two parts – a trawler dock and a yacht marina – so we took an overnight berth in the latter, enjoying a snooze in the sunshine after tying up.
Stopped and Searched
After spending a day at Portavogie while strong winds moderated, we
resumed our progress south on a fine day with scarcely a breeze. On
leaving harbour, we saw that we had got within 200m of our landfall in the fog – so near but so far away! We gave a friendly wave to HM Customs cutter “Sentinel” which passed by. Shortly afterwards, her RIB (rigid inflatable boat) raced up from astern with four burly, black-clad heavies aboard – not the sort to be tangled with. However, they were polite and charming as we were boarded, searched and questioned.
Whatever they were looking for they didn’t find, and we were soon left in peace again. We spent the night at Kilkeel, a busy fishing port with a long, narrow entrance leading to a fully sheltered inner basin, where we tied up alongside the harbour dredger at the harbourmaster’s behest. We enjoyed a stroll round the town before dining out in ther cockpit – our first alfresco meal of the season – on a beautiful evening.
Thick Fog
We left Bangor in the afternoon when the wind had moderated and the sun had appeared, and went south through the Donaghadee Sound. Soon a light mist obscured the sun and we were gradually enveloped in a thickening fog. Given confidence from picking up an offshore fairway buoy in the fog after three miles on a compass course, we continued for another four miles. On checking our GPS position, we knew we were very close to Portavogie Harbour but could not make out any shoreline. Then breaking water and surface rocks were sighted close to in shallowing water, and we were not happy. Having only a passage (not detailed) chart we decided there was no case for casting about in such conditions, and got on the VHF to contact a fishing boat which was harbour bound under radar. She directed us out into safe water, steamed up astern, and led us into harbour – the pierhead looming up out of the fog at 100m distance. When the fog thinned, we found this fine fellow standing at the harbour head.
Heading South
It was quite a day going down to Bangor, punching into a Force 7 wind against tide. The passage took five hours when three would have sufficed in normal conditions. Despite the drizzle, we enjoyed views of the low sea cliffs and green fields of the Antrim coastline. Crossing Belfast Lough was particularly rough, and it was good to get into the shelter of the large marina, although our berthing maqnoeuvre was rather inelegant due to the strong crosswind. Bangor is a pleasant, prosperous seaside town with good shops and services.
Landfall NI
We crossed the North Channel to Northern Ireland and put in at the small marina at Glenarm. Unfortunately we had to motor all the way against a SW headwind. On arrival we were welcomed by a cheery attendant who took our lines, details and berthing fee and pointed us in the direction of a lovely forest walk in the glen – one of the Nine Glens of Antrim. Showing us the toilets, which would have been a credit to any West of Scotland harbour, he opined that they were somewhat dated – describing them in his Irish way as being “new for too long”.
Problems, problems
A few unexpected problems with engine recommissioning delayed our launch for the season by a couple of weeks. Frustrating – not because time was critical, but the continuing exceptionally fine weather was giving summer temperatures in early April. At last all was put together again with no bits left over, and off we set from Dumbarton. The first short leg was down to Millport, then on to Campbeltown the next day. There we sat out a day of strong winds when the Sanda ferry was unable to reach the island.