|
SKERRIES TO WESTERN ISLES STARTING 2 JUNE 2007
The passage plan—weather
permitting—was to make a long initial leg from Skerries, Co.
Dublin, to Glenarm in County Antrim, then up the North Channel outside
the Mull of Kintyre to the Isle of Ghia in the Sound of Jura. Next a
stop at Craobh (pronounced ‘croove’) Haven Marina in
the Firth of Lorne, followed by a visit to Oban. Puffin did spend a day
motoring up the Sound of Mull to Tobermory, but Oban, Ardnamurchan and
the Isle of Skye slipped off the schedule due to time constraints.
Instead, from Tobermory, Puffin headed south and east, first to Craobh
Haven via Cuan Sound, then to Craighouse on Jura, Port Ellen on Islay,
then to Ballycastle in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Next stop was
Bangor in Belfast Lough (where Fitzgerald left the boat) and finally a
12-hour push back to Skerries.
Tides: The separate tidal streams through the North Channel and
in the Irish Sea meet roughly at St John’s Point just south of
Ardglass in County Down. The squeeze at the North Channel causes the
flow there to reach up to 4-5 knots at springs. Thus the skipper
thought it important, at the start of this trip, to catch the rising
tide in the Irish Sea as far as Ardglass, then the northerly ebb
through the North Channel, thereby benefiting from over twelve hours of
favourable tide. (The Admiralty Tidal Atlases for the region
relate to HW Dover, so while Puffin was away from home port we
referred to Dover tide times).
Sunday June 3d: Left mooring at 0430 hours. Heading 025º,
wind dropping. Filed traffic report with Dublin coast guard estimating
arrival time Ardglass at 1400 hours. Sea lumpy. Ship’s log notes
Fitzgerald feeling “not so good”. Tied up Ardglass 1300
hours. Distance sailed—43 miles.
Monday June 4th: Left Ardglass 1345. Wind variable south to
southwest, later north, at force 4-5, heading initially 60º then
tacking 250º. Slow progress. At 2100 hours put into Bangor Marina.
Pubs dreadful—except for one located by the skipper near the
marina. Distance sailed—35 miles.
Tuesday June 5th: Departed Bangor for Glenarm, County Antrim.
Winds light and variable W to NNE. Sea state smooth, very
pleasant. Arrived Glenarm 1730. Distance sailed—28 miles.
[Passage note – Glenarm … This is a relatively new marina
and it was Puffin’s first visit. The marina is easy to
enter, with a friendly manager, and located at a pleasant village.
Leaving in the dark we needed to be aware of the yellow lights of fish
farms near the entrance.]
Wednesday June 6th: Left Glenarm 0215 for the
Isle of Gigha in the Sound of Jura. Wind NE. Good breeze until the sun
came up and then it died. Sea state smooth. Picked up visitor’s
mooring in Ardminish Bay, Isle of Gigha 1040. Distance
sailed—55 miles.
Thursday June 7th: Departed Gigha for Craobh Haven 1400. Wind SE light and variable. Tied up at Craobh Haven marina at 2130. Distance sailed—33 miles.
[Passage note—Gigha …God’s island or good island.
Fertile, mild climate, abundance of wildflowers, birds, outstandingly
beautiful National Trust garden, attractive hotel in island’s
small village Ardminish. Accessible by ferry.]
Friday June 8th: Remained in marina for a rest and
repair day. Replaced a battery and repaired an inspection hatch in the
cockpit floor.
Saturday June 9th: Left Craobh Haven 0600 for Tobermory on island
of Mull. Attempted passage in company with yacht Way the Wind Blows
through Cuan Sound, but after an hour in dense fog Puffin
backtracked in favour of longer route through Loch Shuna and the Sound
of Luing into the Firth of Lorne and the Sound of Mull. Wind N and
light. Motored without sail. Arrived harbour entrance Tobermory 1330.
Tied up at visitor’s mooring 1400. Distance traveled
today—30 miles.
[Passage note—Cuan Sound—from 1998 trip: Come out of
Loch Melfort, turn starboard up Seil Sound with the Isle of Luing to
port. Cuan Sound does a dog-leg between the islands of Luing and Torsa
on the one side, and Seil on the other. I see from the chart it is
about a mile long. Seemed shorter. Maybe 200 yards across. There is a
small island in the middle of this narrow sound but the current will
take you past it. The tide runs so fast that you can see the slope in
the water. Exciting and safe. You go from inland loch to the broad
expanse of the Atlantic and the basalt cliffs of Mull looming five
miles away in minutes, with the peaks of the Great Glen to the north.
We went through Cuan Sound both ways. Once you enter events are out of
your hands. You go where you are sent.] But not in fog. However, we make it through Cuan Sound on our return.
[Tobermory—Mary’s Well, on the Isle of Mull: Hamish
Haswell-Smith’s gazetteer, The Scottish Islands, calls Tobermory
“One of the loveliest and best-known small towns in
Scotland”. Planned and built by the British Fisheries
Society in 1788. Brightly painted stone houses on the main street. Good
facilities, including bookstore, hotels, shops, bank and post office,
library, museum. Good restaurant (The Fish Café) on upper floor
of former fish landing station at the far end of the village harbour.]
Sunday June 10th: Departed Tobermory 1230. Winds against us. Motored without sail. Arrived Craobh Haven marina at 1900. Distance traveled—30 miles.
Monday June 11: Departed Craobh Haven 1345. Weather bright. Sea
calm. Winds light and variable. Crossed Sound of Jura to Craighouse on
island of Jura. Picked up visitor’s mooring 1800. Distance
traveled—27 miles.
[Craighouse—on the protected east side of the Isle of Jura:
Haswell-Smith calls Jura the “wildest island in the inner
Hebrides. It is a vast area of rock and blanket bog, most of it
without roads or habitation of any kind and the haunt of deer and wild
goats. Crossing this terrain of rough ankle-twisting rock and scree, or
knee-high grass, heather and bracken, is painfully slow.” The
island’s people all live on the East Coast, mostly in and around
Craighouse, which has a post-office, shop, hotel, school
and—since 1963—a distillery. We sampled the
distillery’s single-malt and can report that it is quite nice.]
Tuesday June 12th: Depart Craighouse 1400. Tied up at municipal
marina Port Ellen at 1845. Distance traveled—18 miles. Two
of the crew visited the Laphraoig Distillery and came away even more
impressed than they had been with the quality of the product, one of
Islay’s finest peat whiskeys.
Wednesday June 13th: Departed Port Ellen 1245. Wind easterly 3-4
and gusting 4-5. Planned originally to land at Rathlin Island but
changed destination port to Ballycastle, County Antrim after noticing
unusual noise coming from general engine area. Judged Ballycastle
more likely to have repair facilities. Concern ended, though, when
vibration found to have been caused by harmonics due to the wind
affecting the tension in the topping lift, main sheet and boom! Tied up
1800 at visitor’s berth Ballycastle. Distance sailed—27
miles.
Thursday and Friday June 14-15th: Gales, small craft warnings, rain.
Remained in port. On Thursday after breakfast Garry and Roger took a
bus to Belfast for some sightseeing, had to leave for the return bus
ten minutes before the end of a movie where they sheltered from the
rain. While in port investigated seeming inability to charge number 2
battery. Problem solved (a failed spring in the engine starting switch
didn’t return it to the charging setting), aided by marina
manager John Morton; permanent fix awaits return to home port.
Saturday June 16th: Departed Ballycastle 0630 to catch favourable tide
through North Channel. Wind up. The tide took us through severe
overfalls at Fair Head and conditions were interesting for 30 minutes
or so. Reflected on difficulty in boarding the liferaft in such a
disturbed sea state. Sea initially lumpy but eased somewhat. Arrived
Bangor 1330. Distance sailed—44 miles.
Sunday June 17th: Left Bangor for Skerries 0600, availing of the tide
in Donaghadee Sound inside the Copeland Islands which turns an hour
before that in the North Channel; we thus achieved a fair tide all the
way from Belfast Lough to Skerries. Forecast wind W 3, to go ENE and
then E 3-4. Reached Skerries 1805. Distance motor-sailed—78
miles in just over 12 hours, good going for Puffin.
GOOD TRIP TOTAL DISTANCE SAILED—448 MILES
|
PUFFIN
Puffin is a Mirage-28 bilge-keeler built in the late 1970s by Thames Marine in Essex, England.
It has been extensively refurbished since 1997 by its present owner,
who has replaced sails and standing rigging, and added among other
things a Volvo 18hp auxiliary engine, a chart plotter, GPS, VHF,
life-raft and autopilot. Her progress is slow but steady and she
is reliable in heavy weather.
|
