Baltimore Rally – Feeder Cruise
Having arrived home with Tra Bui on
the Thursday afternoon and after carrying out some necessary repairs to the
standing rigging and the trailer, Saturday saw both car and boat repacked ready
for our planned trip to the Baltimore Rally Feeder Cruise. Due to work
commitments Kathleen was unable to spare the time for the week long trip so our
son Scott who was is to sit his Day Skipper examination in August came along to rack up an extra few sea miles.
Sunday 3rd August
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| Yet another ferry crossing! |
With Tra Bhui in tow we set off from
home at to catch the 07.30hrs Ferry from Cairnryan to Larne in Ireland. The
ferry is pretty quiet and as we set sail into a very wet and grey day we tuck
into bacon rolls and coffee as we watch the ladies Cycling event at the Commonwealth
Games on the TV. It may still be dry in Glasgow but the weather we are sailing
through on the ferry is heading their way!
Larne is wet! We head south towards
Belfast and then continue south to Dublin and Cork looking out on the way for a
supermarket where we can stock up with provisions. In Scotland it is easy
enough to find a supermarket when travelling along a motorway or trunk road as
developers seam to build them at junctions, not so in Ireland which appeared to
us as a land devoid of large supermarkets.
Reaching Cork the until now wide and
empty roads change to more rural country roads. The Irish do not appear to be
believers in straight roads and prefer meandering roads complete with Tractors
and “Sunday” drivers. Having made good time to Cork we then proceeded to follow
many a tractor, push bike any other slow moving vehicle the locals could find, for two very slow hours until we reached the outskirts of the coastal
town of Bantry.
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| Nearly there |
Now that we had our destination in
sight it was time to call Jack O’keefe who as “Cruise” organizer had already
launched Tyboat and who was somewhere in Bantry bay. The call would let us know
where he was and where we should launch.
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| Looking out over Bantry Bay |
Jack was moored off Bere Island and
suggested that we launch at Castletown - Bearhaven which was another hour or so
away around the bay and which had two potential slipways, one at the ferry and
one in the harbour. On arriving in Castletown - Bearhaven we found the town to
be bursting with tourists and people out for the day. Driving along the main street
was a challenge in itself as cars were parked on both sides of the road and the
rest of the road was being used as a number of informal beer gardens outside
the many pubs and bars in the town. Finding it impossible to stop let alone get
into the car parks beside the slipways we had no alternative but to continue
through the town until we could find a place to stop on the far side.
Calling Jack again to discuss
alternative launch venues, Jack was able to suggest that there may be a small
usable slipway 5 miles or so outside the town. Unfortunately as it was an
isolated spot there was no Sat Nav features to go to, nor were any of the small
roads leading to it named. Taking Jacks advice of go 5 miles or so and turn
left we set off again. Having passed one road at 4.5miles, another at 5.5 miles
and a third at 6.3 miles we turned around and took the one at 5.5 miles which
was exactly the same width of Tra Bhui’s trailer! This could be fun!!
500 yards or so down the road we met
a local car which graciously pulled into a field entrance to let us passed. As
we pulled alongside, Scott lowered his window to get directions, which turned
into a bit of a pantomime when once we had established that we were looking for
a “slipway” and not a “slipway” (It is in the pronunciation!!!) the local
looked at us incredulously and advised that there was no slipway down this
road. I asked him if we turned around and headed back could he give us
directions to which he replied that there was no need to turn around as we
could go along the road we were on (having just told us there was no slipway in
the direction we were heading!), and if we took the first right and then the
first left we would see the slipway.
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| First sight of Black Ball Bay |
Onwards again and the road started to
climb which when you are looking for a slipway is never a good sign! Shortly
after starting to climb a lovely carpet of grass started to appear and the
verges grew higher and closer together. With the trailer wheels now running on
the verge on each side we reached the top of the hill and the right turn that
we needed to take. The right hand turn was an adventure in itself and soon we
were driving down a steeply inclined track towards a farmyard. Convinced we
were on the wrong road I was surprised to find that the road actually wrapped
its way around the farm buildings before delivering us to the left hand turn
which involved an incredibly steep
hairpin bend which was so tight that I could practically reach out my
window and touch Tra Bhui’s gunwales as we drove around it,
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| At anchor in Black Ball Bay |
Sure enough after another half mile
or so we found the promised slipway and pulled into a grassy area in order to
inspect the slipway and the end of the road before committing ourselves to
using it.
The slipway was ideal although the
acute angled bend halfway down which was part blocked by a boat on a trailer
would prove to be a bit of challenge. Looking seawards from the slipway, Black Ball Bay looked very promising as a
sheltered overnight anchorage so we set about getting Tra Bhui rigged and launched.
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| Tyboat at anchor - Black Ball Bay |
With Tra Bhui in the water a couple
of locals very generously suggested that we park the car and trailer in a
nearby field beside their cousin’s house where it would be safe while we were
away.
Jack joined us at anchor in the bay
just before midnight as he had sailed around from Bere Island so that both
boats would be able to set off early the next morning to make the most of the
morning tides.
Monday 4th
August
Black Ball harbour / Cannalough to
Crookhaven
With breakfast out of the way we
passed out of the natural harbour a few minutes before 08.00hrs and some 20
mins after Jack on Tyboat – there are some disadvantages of a tent over a fixed
cabin. With the wind on our port bow we beat in a general SSE direction towards
Mizzen Head which is the southernmost part of Ireland.
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| Scott helming towards Mizzen Head |
The south coast of Ireland is
stunningly beautiful with dramatic sea cliffs set against a background of green
countryside. As we crossed the mouth of Bantry Bay we were joined by a school
of dolphins which took great pleasure in playing around Tra Bhui as we sailed
along. Soon the dolphins were joined by a Puffin which circled around us, it’s
wings beating at an unbelievable speed.
Later in the day we were also fortunate enough to see a whale which rose
twice near us.
Mizzen head is the southernmost part
of Ireland and is associated with strong tides which lead us to give it a wide
berth. After rounding the head we took an inner line towards our destination
Crookhaven while Jack in Tyboat kept further offshore. Jack's route proved to be
better as with the wind dropping and becoming more and more fickle reached the
stage where we were making no way against the tide. Jack however appeared to
have more wind and less tide so while he sailed into the mouth of Crookhaven
harbour, we had to resort to the outboard.
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| Crookhaven Harbour |
Crookhaven harbour was a busy little
place with numerous holidaymakers out enjoying the sunshine.
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| Scott - crew for the week |
Amid the numerous
vessels of all descriptions we managed to find a suitable place to drop our
anchor a 100m or so from the very congested village pontoon.
Ashore we enjoyed a pint outside what
is advertised as Ireland’s most southerly pub, a claim which may be hard to
substantiate as we then went next door – southwards- for another pint and some
locally caught fish and chips at the pub next door!
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| The southern most pub in Ireland |
Miles
sailed - 24
Tuesday 5th
August
Crookhaven to North Harbour – Cape
Clear via Fastnet Rock
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| Crookhaven - early morning |
For a change Tra Bhui was the first
boat away today. With no wind we motored out of the harbour to the open sea
where we hopefully raised our sails to catch what little wind there was. Our
planned route would take us around the Fastnet rock which we could see on the
horizon some 7 miles away. As we moved gradually offshore the wind filled in and
soon we were beating into a south easterly wind towards the rock.
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| Towards Fastnet - where is the wind? |
At Crookhaven we had been joined by
Vernon and Kay Turnball on their Drifter 22. The Drifter 22 is not known as the best
boat to beat to wind wards with and soon we had opened up a reasonable gap , however as usual Jack on Tyboat was the man to beat
– not that any of us was racing – having left last from Crookhaven, Jack
appeared alongside us as we approached the Rock before bearing away to
investigate the possibility of landing there.
With Scott on the helm we rounded the
rock just as a rain front moved in. In heavy rain we reached towards the Island
of Cape Clear. Heading towards the only
harbour shown on the charts we had an exhilarating sail as the front brought
fresh winds and soon we were topping 6.5 knots over ground.
The South Harbour
on Cape Clear is at the end of an inlet cut into the surrounding rocks by
millions of years of geological happenings and erosion. The harbour itself consists
of a short wharf and little else. Picking the most sheltered spot we could find
we dropped anchor and in pouring rain
quickly got the tent up and some hot lunch on. As time passed we began to
wonder where the other boats had gone to and were surprised when Jack asked us
on the radio where we were as they were in the harbour and could not see us!
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| Cape Clear - North Harbour |
It turned out that the main harbour on
Cape Clear is the north harbour which is home to the ferry, the fishing fleet
and tourist boats, but for some strange reason is not shown on the charts! With
the tent still up we motored around the end of Cape Clear to the north harbour
where we found theother two boats anchored off of a small beach inside the harbour.
Once Jack had heaped praise on us for
our navigation we berthed Tra Bhui alongside the stone wharf of the old harbour
while the others decided to remain at anchor.
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| North Harbour redevelopment |
As it was still wet we all decided to
eat out at the small restaurant that is part of the island’s shop and which
overlooks the harbour only a few yards away from the boats. Once again fish and chips
were the order of the day.
Miles
sailed - 15
Wednesday 6th
of August
Cape Clear to Baltimore
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| Exploring Cape Clear |
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| ????? |
Waking to bright sunshine and with
Baltimore our destination only a few miles away, Scott and I took the
opportunity to explore Cape Clear in the morning with the plan to set sail
around lunchtime.
Cape Clear is a beautiful little island with what appears to
be quite a busy little community relying on the summer tourism for a large part
of it’s income. The island has very few cars which made our circular walk along
the narrow single track roads very enjoyable. Having just had serious knee
surgery Scott was conscious of not overdoing it and damaging his now recovering
knee again so the walk was good exercise for him however he did manage a fairly
spectacular injury to the end of his big toe when he caught it on the road surface!
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| Drascombe - Dinghy Display Team |
Back at North Harbour Jack and Vernon
had had a strenuous morning reading and eating while Kay went exploring. As the
sun was out and the wind was favourable we decided it was time to go and Tra
Bhui led the fleet out of the harbour and east towards Baltimore.
The wind which had blown from the
south east yesterday had swung round to the west which allowed us to run down
the north side of Cape Clear and Sherkin
Island, around the north end of Sherkin Island and into the harbour at
Baltimore.
Baltimore harbour is a busy little
place with a large sailing club, a role on roll off ferry slip, innumerable
moorings and pontoons. The actual Rally
which was starting the next day was starting to attract Drascombes of all types.
The favoured point of mooring seemed to be rafting up in a fairly chaotic way in
the small inner harbour, but as we were sleeping on board and as I did not want
to subject Tra Bhui to the bumps and scrapes that would go with rafting up in
this manner we opted to finding a quiet place to anchor in the bay on the north
side of Baltimore which was only 5 or 10 minutes’ walk from the town centre and
the sea front.
Having arrived at Baltimore we had to
recover the car and trailer from Black Ball Harbour / Cannalough which was
approx. 78 miles away by road. As we had nothing planned for the evening we
decided that this was as good a time as
any to go for the trailer.
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| Baltimore Sailing Club |
Buses in the Baltimore area are as scarce as leprechauns! Using the only bus service would take me 11 hours
the next day to get to the car so the
only option was to take a taxi. I have an irrational dislike of taxis and I
normally go to extremes to avoid them so it was painful to agree to the fixed
price that Jack’s friend at the local hotel was able to negotiate for us with
the local taxi firm.
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| Baltimore |
78 miles later and it appeared that
the fixed price was not a fixed price at all and the miserable little git that
drove us there demanded more money from us, despite knowing where we were going
and giving us the price in the first place! After demanding more money he hoped
that there were no hard feelings! Hard luck pal, not only are there hard
feelings but I wish ten thousand punctures on you which must be the taxi
equivalent of a plague of locusts. Be warned if you need to take a taxi in
Baltimore beware of the git in the VW Transporter who is not man enough to
honour any agreement with him.
The highlight of our journey back was
stopping for some of the best chips I have ever had – more high dining for the
crew on Tra Bhui. Scott did not have any highlights as after rashly promising
to keep me company slept most of the taxi journey and the return trip, waking
only to be fed.
We had had a very generous offer from
Kay to drive me around for the car on the Thursday which would have meant both
of us missing a day’s sailing. The offer was greatly appreciated, but I felt it
would be unfair to accept it as she was here on holiday and she should not be
spending it driving me around – Drascombe owners always willing to help out!
Miles
sailed - 13
Thursday 7th
August
Day sail from Baltimore
Having retrieved the trailer on the
Wednesday evening we had a free day to go sailing and join in with the first
day of the Baltimore Rally. After the morning briefing we headed out into
Baltimore bay where we tacked about for a bit while the other boats got ready
and set sail. As a Gig Tra Bhui is one of the faster boats in the Drascombe
range so we did not want to be too near the front when we set off as we wanted
to sail with the others.
Our destination for the day was the
eastern of the Skeams Islands which lie to the northwest of Baltimore. The
rally fleet of circa 27 Drascombes (yes 27!) was to be accompanied by kids from
the local sailing club sailing a variety of dinghies and accompanied by a
number of rescue boats. As Baltimore bay has a
pretty narrow access channel to the north the prospect of fifty odd
sailing boats squeezing past Spanish Island and Sherkin Island at the same time
was going to be interesting. As it turned out things became even more
interesting when the local ferry decided that it was going to set sail at the
same time.
Showing great seamanship the local
sailing school chose to keep well out of the way of the ferry which was
magnificently held up by a number of Drascombes which oblivious to the large
metal monster behind them gaily sailed up the center of the navigable channel.
The ferry being held up allowed the sailing school to fill the channel behind
it so that when the ferry eventually managed to pass the offending Drascombes (what
ferry, Oh!!!! That ferry!!! S**t!!!!!). All fifty odd boats converged at the
elbow in the channel at the top of Sherkin Island. To make matters even more
interesting the elbow in the channel was the narrow point which funneled the
incoming tide into force that stopped everybody in their tracks as the sailing
school boats being smaller and more nimble frustrated any attempts to tack
around the elbow when the normal rules of right of way were thrown out of the proverbial
window!
Luckily we were slightly ahead of the
carnage and with clear water ahead of us we matched Vernon and Kay in their Drifter 22 as we sailed past Heir
Island to our lunch stop at a beautiful sandy beach at the end of Skeam Island.
Twenty seven Drascombes along a beach
is an impressive sight!
After a very pleasurable lunch in the
sunshine Scott and I set off to explore the island. The ruins of a number of
good size farm houses were all that was left of the small community that had
once lived there. The houses would make ideal homes for someone who did not
mind the commute by boat to the mainland.
Back on board we opted for a longer
sail back to Baltimore and joined by a few other boats we set off around the
Skeam Islands in an anticlockwise direction. By the time we had reached the
south end of south Skeam the wind had died to nothing so we headed back to Sherkin
Island under motor and sail and dropped anchor just off the pontoons in front of the Island’s
hotel.
As we had taken a longer way back
from the Skeam Islands, we arrived as most people were finishing their meals in
the beer garden in front of the hotel, but as we planned to stay there at
anchor overnight we were in no rush and made the most of the evening.
Miles
sailed - 10
Friday 8th
August
We
were hauling out at Baltimore a mile or so across the bay and we had
to get up to Dublin by early afternoon. As we wanted to use the roll on roll
off ferry slip before the ferry started an early start was called for. By
6.00am Tra Bhui was being winched on to her trailer and by 8.00am we had said
our farewells and were heading north to Dublin where we were meeting family and
flying to Portugal while Tra Bhui was going into short term storage for collection
in September just before the Loch Lomond Rally.
Total
Miles sailed - 62
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| Feeder Cruise Track shown in yellow |
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