Week 6
| Date | Blog Entry | Related Pictures |
| 03/08/08 |
We left Portrush at 6 to catch all of the
fair tide down to Glenarm whilst avoiding the Rathlin Sound in
full swing. It was a clear morning with flat seas and not much
wind so the motor was on to pass the Giants Causeway before
entering the sound. With tide under the boat we whistled through
in flat water with some swirls on the surface, the top SOG
(speed over ground which is attained by the GPS position) was
12.2knts, the more surprising thing was that the tide still
carried us along the coast after the sound between 8-9knts. It
was wonderful to be scooting along and only slowed down coming
into Red Bay with Glenarm in sight. Up to this point the weather
had been fair but clouds were starting to build up as I entered
the marina. Glenarm is a small marina and a perfect stopover point if you are travelling down the Irish coastline. I was sandwiched in between two boats as the marina was surprisingly busy, Padiwak was moored up, I sorted something out to eat and then looked at the next passage before going to sleep ready for the next day heading for Bangor, listening to the torrential rain on the coachroof. Thank you to Glenarm for the free mooring and great service. |
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| 02/08/08 |
Padiwak is now in Northern Ireland after
sailing from Port Ellen to Portrush. We sailed in company with
Wild Goose of Moyle on a beautiful day across passing close to
Rathlin Island and then carrying the tide up to Portrush. On the
map it isn't the most direct route south but with the tide times
and current weather the main aim was to get across to Ireland
before the weather closed in again and going with Wild Goose was
great as they knew the waters so well, Robin has been on the sea
for most of his life and his boat has some amazing history,
including sailing around Russia and being sunk but after lots of
hard restoration she looks great. To see Robins website please
visit;
www.robinruddock.com . On the way over saw a basking shark
and Rathlin Island looked amazing with its sheer faces baking in
the relentless sunshine. Not much sailing was done until a bit
of a squall came over as we approached the Giants Causeway and
we managed to sail for a bit but as the boat heeled over a wave
scooped itself along the spray dodger and straight into the
cockpit where my phone was waiting. I tried drying it out but it
had been attacked by the salt water this isn't bad going with
just under 900 miles covered the list of lost things are 2
bungees, one fuel can lid and a mobile. Once we arrived in Portrush it was off to the shops to get some fuel and food and then to Robins house where we had something to eat, it felt strange to be in a house with an oven and places where you could walk around and doors.... The next stop will be Glenarm through the Rathlin Sound and across Red Bay. Thank you to Portrush and especially Robin and his family for making me so welcome. |
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| 30/07/08 |
Still in Port Ellen but it isn't the worst
place to be stuck, there's lots to do and the marina is very
sheltered. The weather today has been really quite bad and
looking out to sea there's lots of white water and very big
waves. Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to go out on an
Irish skiff. These vessels were used for
fishing around this area for many years, normally the fishermen
would row out to where they were fishing (normally upwind) and
then once the boat was full they would sail back to port. The
skiffs had to be very sea worthy but also had to provide a good
turn of speed to get the catch home. They even had regattas
between the fishing communities and by the sounds of it it can
be quite a competitive thing with skippers hauling the boat out
before the race to get her as light as possible whilst using an
older boat to fish in whist the other one was out of action. The
one I went out on was owned by a local fisherman called Boo and
it sailed beautifully, cracking along in a fairly brisk breeze
through the waves and leaving almost no wake, it was a great
experience that will always be remembered. The other people went
out where Robin and his daughter Kate who live in Northern
Ireland and with Boo being Scottish the conversation quickly turned to
who was the most worrying to be at the helm, the Englishmen, the
Irishman or the Scotsman.......... Today we visited the Bruichladdich whisky distillery which is towards the north end of the island so we travelled along the completely straight road rarely passing another car. Its a wonderful place with the way of life so relaxed and the sense of community is strongly felt as soon as you arrive, fishermen were helping yachts moor alongside their boats which doesn't normally happen in other places. Everyone looks out for everyone else and helps where they can, its a wonderful place and one which I would like to visit again. It was very interesting to learn about the local whisky, with whisky being so big in Scotland it was interesting to hear that Islay's malt goes all over the globe with a large proportion going to places like Japan. All I can say is there are quite a few 'wee drams' being made, stored and drunk on Islay! The next stop will be Port Rush on Northern Ireland as after looking at the charts it looks like with the unsettled weather we have been experiencing it will be easier to go down the Irish coast and then cross over when the weather permits. |
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| 29/07/08 |
Sailed across from Gigha to Islay which is
quite a large island south of Jura and is the furthest south of
all of the Hebrides, the passage was very calm with almost no
wind so the engine was on for most of it. With the recent
forecast I was expecting quite a windy and potentially rough day
but none of this materialised and it was pretty uneventful with
just a few trawlers to avoid. The entrance into Port Ellen was great and we managed to find a berth on the fairly recent pontoon installation, the facilities are great and with excellent shelter it seemed the right choice to sit out the weather. Everyone is very friendly, especially the resident seal who can smell fish from miles off. The weather is looking as though its going to be coming in tonight and lingering about so it looks as though we'll be here for a few days yet. |
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| 28/07/08 |
A good day passage wise but followed by a
very restless night due to un-forecast weather.... We left
Croabh Haven in the baking sunshine without a breath of wind,
motoring out of the marina and heading towards the Dorus Mor
dolphins were a regular sight and for the first time on the trip a
basking shark was seen. The one I saw wasn't a full size one but
must have been around 15ft but didn't even notice the boat but
instead just carried on enjoying the sunshine. Due to the
geographic situation of this area the tide does some strange
things so using it to your advantage is a must. The Dorus Mor,
Gaelic for the 'Great door', has strong tides in itself but as
well as that you have the Gulf of Corryvreckan which is quite a
serious place and contains an interesting whirlpool. Lots of
videos of this can be seen on YouTube and a film was also made
about it. As I was going past you can feel the boat slowing
being drawn in to its violent grasp. With a slight course
correction we counteracted the pull of the tide and kept pushing
on. The wind was pretty much non-existent all the way to Gigha but as we approached the entrance to the Gigha sound the wind began to build, that's ok I thought its just a bit of a sea breeze which will drop off later. That was not what happened and the expected quiet night turned into one which we were heavily rocking and rolling. The wind had east in it which was causing the waves to roll straight into the bay. I had two options, one was to go round to the West side of the island where it would be more sheltered but the holding isn't as good due to weed being on the bottom. The other was to put up with the waves knowing the the holding was as strong and just to sit it out until the morning. A fast moving low pressure system had built up in the Atlantic meaning that there was a SW gale coming in within 48 hours so I needed to find a place to run to knowing we would be there for a few days. After lots of thinking I decided my best option would be to run to Port Ellen on Islay and just hope that the wind wouldn't get up before I could get there. The wind had increased by this time so the boat was all over the place along with the 20 other yachts in the bay. During the night one yacht drifted down between all of the other boats luckily without hitting any of them, doing this though caused him to foul someone else's anchor so there were boats driving about at about 1am in pitch darkness. It didn't get any worse and Padiwak's anchor held solid but all in all about 2 hours sleep was had and in the morning we left early heading for Port Ellen aware that there was some weather on its way. The next morning the owner of another boat in the anchorage came over and was talking and after discussing the options he also decided to go to Islay so we sailed in tandem and that's where the Wild goose chase began....................(Wild Goose being the name of the other yacht!) I must say a huge thank you to the petrol station/shop on Gigha for opening out of hours, please visit; www.gigha.org.uk for more information about this wonderful island. |
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