It's a long way between safe harbours!
As a fairly typical Solent sailor a Channel
crossing (12 hrs-ish to Cherbourg) is a significant trip. We did at least three passages of that
distance or more over a week. Nothing particularly remarkable but quite tiring for a coastal transit. In
addition, the weather was typically onshore so long hours navigating along lee shores under towering
cliffs was fairly demanding.
Yachtie facilities are limited!
Away from the main harbours (eg. Baltimore, Dingle,
Galway) we found that yachts are 'few and far between'. The seclusion was a great (a lovely contrast to
the Solent) but it did mean that yacht support facilities/marinas etc. were limited and as a result we
became quite obsessed with fuel!
Fuel!
We found that we used the engine far more than expected in order to maintain
progress, so fuel consumption was an issue. With a 57 ltr tank, cans with another 25 ltrs and a
consumption of around 2 ltrs per hour we would need to refuel every 40 hrs but, to keep ourselves with a
safe reserve we tried to refill as frequently as possible. None of the marinas we used in Ireland had
fuel available, so we had to resort to taking fuel cans ashore and heading off to the nearest roadside
fuel station. In several cases the marina staff very generously drove us to the filling station and
sometimes Nigel and I headed off through the streets with the cans in a shopping trolley!
On two occasions we bought direct from 'local sources' – in one case direct from the ferry!
Weather/Sea State Forecasting
We found the Irish Coastguard forecasts to be pretty
accurate although the sea was often rougher than we expected. On reflection this is probably not
surprising – the residual Atlantic swell can be significant irrespective of the local wind effects.
The Irish!
Without exception, everybody that we met was hospitable, generous with
their time and keen to chat! Examples included marina staff driving us to the nearest filling station,
fishermen ‘lending’ us moorings for the night and locals giving us free ferry trips, providing admission
to a museum at student rates or suggesting that we really shouldn’t worry about paying for a berth! A
personal favourite was pub staff greeting Nigel and I, two fairly ‘old gits’ with “Evening lads – what
are you having?” Cheered me up every time and the response was always two Guinness please unless we were
in Cork when we drank Murphy’s!
Irish history
There was a lot more than I had expected! From prehistoric sites to
Cromwellian forts, Spanish and French military infrastructure and of course numerous memorials to the
thousands who died during the potato famine or emigrated from these ports to a new life overseas.
Evidence of ‘the troubles’ of the last century only really became evident to us as we headed into
Donegal where there was overt support for the IRA but it was never raised directly to us .. BREXIT was
though! It was generally seen as a mistake, both for it’s impact on UK but also on the Irish who had
lost markets.
Geography
The Irish west coast is stunning. Some incredible cliffs, islands and
beaches. Well worth a visit and I hope to be back!
Nature
It was unusual not to see a dolphin on a daily basis.
We were lucky to be joined by two large pods, once when leaving Sheephaven, Donegal and another off the
Mull of Kintyre. Videos will be posted here soon! We also saw basking sharks, a whale off Malin Head
(Minke we think) and saw lots of gannets and guillemots.