Day 9

Still hiding from the weather, that is slowly improving, we decided to take the ferry to Castletownbere on the Bere Peninsular.  We had a great lunch and a quick wander through this charming fishing port.

The small car ferry arrives

Wind Singer rafted on the pontoon

Day 8

 Monday delivered the foul weather we had been promised, it rained and the wind blew all day.  We were very glad to be tied up in Bere Island.

Paul went for his run and came back very bedraggled, it was so bad he only got a couple of photos.

We walked down to the village, the pub was shut, only opens on Fri, Sat and Sunday evenings.  No restraunts and the village shop had very little in it.  We managed to find some bones from previous visitors.

The island also has a Viking breakwater and harbour, testimony to it’s great protection from the prevailing winds.

On the positive side the Lawrence Cove Marina staff were very friendly and helpful.  Showers and electricity were very welcome.

View from the top of Bere Island

Viking harbour on Bere Island

Martello Tower on top of the island

Martello Tower history

Remains of previous visitors

Day 7 - Boarded by Irish Customs and Excise

Due to the poor weather forecast we have had to change our itinerary.  A storm front with winds gusting to force 7 is coming in late Sunday evening and is set to hammer Ireland through Monday and maybe Tuesday.  We have decided to sail to Bere Island some 48 miles round to the West.  The marina there is well protected from Southerly winds and we should get shore power as we have been assured there is room on the marina.  At worst a raft mooring.

The trip itself took 8 hours with a number of highlights of the trip so far.  Firstly we passed close to the Fastnet rock and lighthouse, a first for us all and a picture opportunity.

The second highlight of the day came with the arrival of an Irish Customs fast boat that appeared out of nowhere and ran abreast of us.  From the rear appeared a fast rib with 3 officers onboard.  It seemed we were about to be boarded.

The 2 custom officers were very friendly and professional, duly checked our papers had a chat and then made to leave.  Paul asked them if we could film their departure, they said yes and Paul cheekily told them not to fall in the water…or something like that!  Video below….nearly had a You’ve Been Framed moment.

We had a decent sail over to Bere Island in 8 hrs 20 mins, but as we arrived the rain and very poor visibility came down.  A sign of things to come but by then we were tied up in our shelter.

The Fastnet Rock

Back a bit Skipper

Customs Cutter approaches at speed

Our track to safe haven

Day 6

We spent today onshore in Baltimore.  Transfer by our own dinghy to the quayside was easy as we have a flat calm.  Baltimore is a wonderful little fishing port, with great food and even better Guinness.  We revitaled the boat from the local shop and then had lunch on the quayside, in the sun!

The town is dominated by an old castle built the original built in 1215 by Norman settlers, Dunasead Castle.  Now a museum details here…. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunasead_Castle

We have been very lucky in landing here on the weekend of a fiddle fair.  So loads of music for free in the pubs plus a marquee with professional acts made for a very pleasant afternoon.  Dinner back on board with the sound of Irish folk music wafting over the water to us as the sun sets over the bay, fantastic.

View of the bay from shore

Dunasead Castle

Fiddle Fair programme 

Day 5

We arrived in Baltimore on Friday the 6th of May at 8.15am some 4 hours earlier than we had predicted.  The passage over was very good but very tiring, total mileage from Portland was 396 miles in 69 hours.  

Sailing past the white pillar of Lot’s wife that guards the entrance.  Baltimore is famous for a raid of Africans who kidnapped and enslaved at least over 100 of the villagers in 1631.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Baltimore

When you arrive by private boat in an EU or foreign country you have to do a few things.  In the Shrouds (bits of wire that hold the mast up), you fly 2 flags, a courtesy flag, the flag of the country you are arriving in.  Obviously the Irish Tricolour in our case and a yellow Q flag.  This declares you are quarantined on board until you have cleared Irish Customs.  Once you are clear the Q flag is removed but you fly the courtesy flag whilst in the country’s waters.

The track below is in 2 halves as the tracking signal is lost as we are too far out to sea.  But this is a fair representation of our actual track.

Nick contemplates the pointy rocks of The Stags of Baltimore

Lot’s wife

Approaching Baltimore with flags flying

Baltimore Harbour

Day 4

We made Lands End on time but for some strange reason the tides were very confused and it took us longer than anticipated to get round.  

Memorable points of the crossing was dodging a myriad of different bigger ships, Fishing boats in particular were their usual unpredictable selfs and we had a dance with a Cruise Liner just at the end of the TSS at Lands End.  A Cruise liner looks like a floating block of flats from the yacht, but they are 5 times faster than we are, so you need to be very careful when in close proximity and they want to go in a straight line over where you are.  TSS are interesting marine motorways explained on Day 32 here….https://ascotsmananenglishmanandanirishman.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2021-07-05T19:24:00%2B01:00&max-results=7&reverse-paginate=true

Scroll down for an instruction video in tacking a yacht……..

Paul happy to be in the Celtic Sea

Jim on the helm

Day 3

Through the night we have, dodged fishing boats, had a Royal Navy escort, seen dolphins on a number of occasions, had pea soup (delicious Chris, you know who you are, all will be revealed later in the blog), had pea soup fog.  Very scary and ran right over a lobster pot marker buoy. You can’t see them at night until you are on them.  We were very lucky it didn’t catch on the hull.  We arrived in Falmouth at 9.10am and fuelled up for our crossing to Southern Ireland.  We left Falmouth at 9.40am so not even a toilet break!  We have to get to Lands End at the right time for the tide or we will add half a day to our trip.

We are aiming for Baltimore, but that is weather dependant.

Full track from Portland to Falmouth

Arriving into Falmouth

Departing from the Fuel Berth at Falmouth