Day 23

We set off from Arranmore Island at 7.00am and set off for Lough Swilley.  Again the wind was set fair and we managed to sail the whole way.  A combination of a fast Broad Reach and a Downwind leg East to the mouth of the lough.  

We sailed past Tory Island, unusual in that it had up until recently a king in place.  Interview with hi here….https://youtu.be/P6hsLrdPhhM

We also sailed past the Seven Sisters that had been shrouded in cloud until we got level with them.

Lough Swilley is huge, the mouth being 5 miles wide and our destination some 12 miles into the Lough at Rathmullan, a very pretty village.  The pontoon unfortunately doesn’t have any facilities on it, so as we haven’t had a proper shower for sometime and our devices are all pretty much discharged.  We came up with a cunning plan to see if we can hire a room in the village for a clean up and recharge.

Unfortunately the weather is closing in again and we may be stuck here for a few days.

Tory Island

The Seven Sisters

Day 22

We left Kilcummin Roads at 7am and sailed for Arranmore Island.  The weather was really good for a change with lighter winds than we have had for some time.  So we managed to get all our sails up fully for what promised to be a great sailing day.  

As it turned out we managed to do the whole trip on a single tack, only changing the tack to bring the sails down to enter what is a tricky approach to the bay and Visitor’s Moorings.  We arrived in the very pretty bay at 4.30pm, having travelled 58 miles, really quick passage with a Beam Reach for most of the day pushing us along at between 6 to 8 knots very consistently.

Kilcummin Roads

Dawros Head

Arranmore Island

Rinrawros Point

Day 21

We managed to escape Blacksod Bay and had a very interesting passage through islands and rocks.  Pilotage is very important on this stretch as there are a number of submerged rocks as well as the ones you can see above water.  

We beat out of the bay very well and made surprisingly good time to our turn North.  The weather was as promised Force 4 - 6, but we managed to sail all the way with for the most part the Fore Sail up only.

The islands though gave us some shelter from the swell which was very noticable once we emerged at the top of the passage before turning East. We travelled 60 miles to Kilcummin Roads we left at 6am and arrived at Kilcummin at 4.30pm we anchored for the night after the realisation that there were no visitor buoys although the Almanac had promised a few!  Tomorrow we strike off for Aranmore Island.

Paul with Turduvillaun Rock in the background

Jim with the Stags in the background. 

Day 20

 Our plan was to leave Blacksod Bay this morning at 7.30am and move to Kilcummin In Donegal Bay.  So when the alarm went off at 6.45am and Nick said, stay in bed, we were a bit surprised.  Overnight the weather forecast had changed for the worse with F7 to Gale Force 8 winds being predicted later today.  So once again we are weather bound in a lovely little bay, however we have no way off as it is too dangerous to blow up the dinghy.  As I write this it is blowing very hard again but we are reasonably sheltered on our buoy.

Our new French friends have also just arrived in the bay having travelled up today from Rossaveal it must have been a really rough passage.

The forecast for tomorrow and for the next few days is good.  So unless it changes again we should be able to leave tomorrow.

Day 19

We finally left Rossaveal at 6.30 am and headed off into the wind and rain.  The first part of this leg took us straight into the wind to get out to sea and turn North.  It was very lumpy and we had to tack out effectively in the wrong direction for a time to get clear of the headland.  The waves once we went out to sea properly were in the region of 3 meters high and the wind stayed in the F4/5 for pretty much the whole day.  

On the approach to our mooring place we passed by the impressive sight of the imposing Achill Island with a cliff face some 664 meters high.

We arrived at Blacksod Bay at around 10.00pm some 83 miles later and just as the light was fading.  We managed to pick up a mooring buoy in the bay and had a remarkably quiet night considering the wind strength.

Achill Island

Achill Island

Our track for the day

Day 18

Today we have had a very quiet time again.  We have had the poor weather as forecast and a bit of rain.  Paul went off for another run, we did a shop run and filled up the water tanks.

We were also invited for drinks to our French neighbours, who have also been hiding from the weather.  Jean and Fabienne are on their way to Norway via the Caledonian Canal.  They have cruised extensively all over the Western Atlantic and Caribbean.  Their boat Calypso, is a 51ft Benateau with all mod cons.  A very nice evening.

We are hoping to escape North in the morning.  The weather is still challenging but relatively calm to what we have been hiding from, so hopefully cast off at 6.30am.

It is unclear as we head out to the far West of Ireland and quite a remote area, if I will have a mobile signal so the blog may not be updated for a couple of days.  We shall see.

Paul’s running photos below including some interesting tourist information connecting Connemara to the Titanic

Day 17

We are still stuck in Rossaveal with a combination of very high winds and very high sea states, continuing at least until late Thursday night.  Paul has just returned from another of his marathons.  He is soaking wet, and the rain and high winds are forecast to continue all day.  We are realistically hopeful that we will be able to escape on Friday.  Today is really a good day to just stay put and catch up with all those box sets.  Thankfully we do have a good mobile phone signal and thank goodness for iPads……

Winds of F7 gusting Gale F8 x marks our position and the line our next stop

Waves of around 6 meters in an Atlantic roll