Another early departure, this time from Inishbofin and northwards again to an anchorage at Ballyglass, Broadhaven.
The Easterly breeze was insufficient for us to make much progress under sail alone so we motor-sailed along the contrasting beach and cliff coastlines inside Inishreas, Inisglora and Eagle Island with it’s impressive lighthouse.
Broad Haven is a large bay with a far more rounded and gentle green landscape and, off Ballyglass and adjacent to an RNLI lifeboat has a number of moorings. The almanac promised visitors moorings but they were not evident so, with permission of a local mackerel fisherman who was working on his boat, we secured to a local’s mooring for the night. The fisherman was keen to advise us of the location of the nearest town and pub (five miles away) and provided taxi numbers but apart from a short walk ashore we opted for a quiet night onboard.
The following day we headed across Donegal Bay towards Killybegs. As we departed Broad Haven we had mobile internet access so we listened to the news coverage of the beginning of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London. With internet access lost after a couple of hours we had a fairly boring day motor sailing, again in light winds, towards Killybegs, just the type of watch suitable for listening to an audio book – I am currently half way through Endurance – the story of Shackleton’s ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in 1914.
By late afternoon we were off Killybegs and, following a call to the harbour master, we headed into the port and to a visitors berth at the end of a small set of marina pontoons. We knew Killybegs was a major fishing port but we were struck by the number, size and modernity of the fishing vessels alongside. Several looked brand new and but there was very little activity on or around any of the vessels. We learned later that the deep sea fishing season runs from September through to April but quotas imposed by Brussels severely limit fishing activity so many of the vessels only spend a few months at sea every year - Irish Times article.
Once again the hospitality of the locals was demonstrated – this time a port employee who happily drove us and our jerry cans a mile or so out of town so we could fill up with diesel.
We found ourselves having a pint in a very republican pub – pictures of Martin McGuiness and Gerry Adams in pride of place and a pistol (fake?) in a case behind the bar. That evening we also saw the longest lorry we had ever seen with eight rows of wheels at the rear of the trailer, it was about to leave Killybegs with the shaft of a wind turbine. We were fascinated to discover that the driver of the van behind the lorry had a remote control that enabled him to steer the rear wheels of the lorry’s trailer!
