As we headed up the Irish west coast we increasingly had an eye on the ‘distance to run’ to a safe harbour where we could leave Little Scarlet for a couple of weeks in mid June while we headed back to England. With the main west coast Irish ports (Dingle/Kilrush/Galway) behind us we were looking closely at the options ahead; we felt we needed a yacht marina with good travel links. Nigel had an old friend in Bangor so either Bangor or Belfast were beginning to look favourable. The weather forecast was OK – the wind had irritatingly stuck in the north and was then forecast to veer around to the east, so on our nose all the way around the ‘top left’ corner of Ireland but it was not particularly strong so we could motor-sail in order to maintain our progress.
On leaving Killybegs we identified Aranmore as a good overnight stop, either at anchor or on a mooring and we could then head up to Tory Island, down to the north Donegal coast and then along to Portrush or Coleraine to the east. Refuelling opportunities would be limited until we arrived at Portrush but we could then sort ourselves out ready for the trip down to Belfast.
Aranmore is a small island lying off the west coast of Donegal. The approach from the south was interesting for a navigational perspective – lots of hidden rocks and shallow water, in fact not enough water for us at low tide. The almanac advised against the southern approach at night and strongly suggested it should only be considered at least halfway between low and high water. We timed our departure from Killybegs to ensure that we arrived off Aranmore as directed and spent 45 minutes trying to pick out navigational buoys, lights and gently working our way into the anchorage. It was a relief to find a visitors buoy available so we quickly secured, inflated Terry and headed ashore. After the large-scale port atmosphere of Killybegs I was looking forward to enjoying a quiet island pub or two but we were in for a shock. The first pub we visited (highly recommended as ‘charming Irish with music’ etc) was dominated by a hen party – the ladies had come across from mainland Ireland on the ferry earlier and were staying the night and the second pub was rammed full of young Irish language students studying at the local college and footballers taking part in a tournament on the island. To be fair, while we did not find the traditional Irish island experience that we had hoped, the island was buzzing and presumably the local economy was healthy.
The following morning we headed ashore again with our fuel cans and eventually found a local who was able to sell us some diesel from a large tank in the back of his 4x4! It was an interesting morning, one of the most memorable encounters was with a young lad who was grumbling that he had had to leave his car at home as the Garda (police) were seen getting on the ferry .. he was 16 but had been a regular driver since the age of 14 – except on days when the Garda were spotted coming over to the island!
We intended to sail to Tory Island that afternoon but a couple of hours bashing into lumpy sea with a stronger northerly breeze than forecast led us to reconsider our options and we found an anchorage described in one of the Irish Pilot books. By late afternoon we were anchored in a particularly beautiful and isolated cove on the south side of Gola Island. A very tranquil evening and a very good night’s sleep – I am increasingly relaxed about anchoring!
We weighed anchor at first light on Sunbday and passed up ‘inside’ some beautiful deserted islands off the north west coast of Donegal (off Bunbeg) and then headed up to Tory Island. Earlier in the voyage we had listened to a BBC Radio 4 programme called ‘The House That Vanished’ - a story about a house on Tory that disappeared while the owner, who was not a local, was working abroad. The islanders apparently ‘closed ranks’ and all denied any knowledge but a new hotel was being built and it was suggested that the house was spoiling the hotel’s view.. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xkyx So - we were keen to visit the island and have a look for ourselves.
We could find very little detail in the almanacs about Tory - it wasn’t in either our ‘West Coast’ or ‘Irish Sea’ volumes but we knew we could anchor near to the harbour. As we arrived we changed our minds and ventured inside the tiny harbour, basically an old wall and slipway. We knew there was a small ferry from the mainland that visited the island so hoped there would be enough water for us to get in and stay afloat. We berthed alongside the wall, hoping that we were clear of the ferry berth, and headed ashore for a quick walk to see if we could find the site of the vanished house. We we found it within a few minutes.. it’s a small island with only one hotel with a flat piece of scruffy land in front of it!
After a couple of hours alongside we headed off towards Sheep Haven, a large bay on the north coast of Donegal with a number of beautiful beaches and sheltered anchorages where we could spend the night. We passed Marble Hill and headed in towards Downings bay, it looked as though it would be a sheltered spot to anchor. As we approached we could see some fast moving vessels and then, as we got closer, realised there were large numbers of jet skiers whizzing around. The beach itself was beautiful but quite busy and much of it had cars parked on it! We were surprised to find a couple of visitor mooring buoys so, despite the jet skiers, we decided to secure to a buoy and see if the jet skiers would pack up as dusk fell. Fortunately things did get quieter and we launched Terry and head ashore for something to eat. We found lots of holiday makers (it was a bank holiday weekend in Ireland) and golfers (there are several courses nearby.
As we headed back on board after a meal in a pub we were treated to a very special sunset with Mount Errigal in the background.
