The final blog of 2024!

I have finally got around to publishing the last video in the series from my adventures in Southern Ireland. Here’s a brief resume of what is covered in this final video, now published on my YouTube channel.

Having been stymied in my aspirations to sail up the Wild Atlantic Coast of Western Ireland I enjoyed some glorious weather in Glengarriff, Bantry Bay. A most delightful setting on the southern fringe of the Ring of Kerry. Then it was time to begin the return to the UK.

This was no disappointment however as the coastline, harbours and anchorages are really special and, with a mixture of sailing and motoring, I visited some old haunts and some new.

I threaded my way past jagged rocks to Schull (pronounced school) which was a busy sailing location but did not tempt me to stay. It was then a fun windy sail across the aptly named Roaring Water Bay between the rocky Calf Islands and inside Clear Island before entering Baltimore Harbour, where this time I anchored off Sherkin Island. This was such a surprisingly beautiful island to visit and is a home to artists of all disciplines. Yet again I had settled weather while there, so a chance to fly the drone and capture a glimpse of a wider perspective on the landscape.

From there Thalmia and I poked our noses into a very small “harbour” at Barloge hoping to make it a lunch stop at least, but it was tight, as you will see in the video, with several permanent moorings and a lot of weed on the sea floor – not easy to pick a spot to safely drop the anchor, so it was onward to Glandore. To borrow a phrase it was so good I visited it twice. Probably one of my favourite locations on the south coast of Ireland.

In Kinsale I used a different marina, partly because the Kinsale Yacht Club was full with a fleet of big yachts from the Royal Yacht Squadron. Castlepark Marina was so friendly though and the walks to James Fort gave a wonderful view of the harbour. I had a very expensive neighbour as you will see and I was visited by two men with heavy boots from the Border Force. A deep dive into all my lockers did not find any drugs or immigrants! My luxury neighbour, Scout, (named after the owner’s dog who has a statue perched on the bow – the dog that is!) was bought for $84m from the Heineken family and has 3 bars, jacuzzi etc etc. Thalmia has a small drinks cupboard and access via a boarding ladder to the sea!

Youghal (pronounced Yawl), formerly a walled town, has historical links to Sir Walter Raleigh, was the location for the filming of the original version of Moby Dick, and has a long sea front. The bay to approach the entrance is very shallow, with just a few small channel buoys, so arriving in dense fog was nerve racking! Thank goodness for multiple GPS enabled devices on board!

My final port of call in Ireland was Kilmore Quay, which had been recommended by two Irish sailors I had met in Lawrence Cove marina, as the best port for departure to cross St Georges Channel back to Wales. Once again a foggy arrival was followed by lovely settled weather and I was able to enjoy waiting for fair winds to cross back.

In the event I had a cracking sail back. A broad reach in a Force 4 wind gave me an average speed of 6 knots over the 67 nautical miles.

I managed to sail to Padstow via Lundy Island which I had had to skip on my circumnavigation in 2021. A Guinness in the Marisco Tavern didn’t quite match what I had enjoyed in Ireland but I was so pleased to spend a night at anchor there.

https://youtu.be/VKOxlffa2JY?si=uH9GJcEtQka1cUYh

Padstow, Mousehole, the Helford River, Fowey, Cawsand Bay, Brixham and then back to the Exe. Singlehanded all the way back with some excellent sailing.

Now Thalmia sits on Topsham Quay, safe from whatever the winter throws at us and not too much fettling needed. Reviewing the year through the lens of my videos makes me wistful. My mind turns to thoughts of 2025 – what adventures await?