POOH BEAR REPORT - 10 October 2002 Across Irish Sea and on to Scotland Falmouth, England to Baltimore, Ireland In our last Pooh Bear report we finally had reached our last port on the south coast of England, Falmouth, had done our sightseeing and visiting, and with a reasonable weather forecast. At 2200 on the 19th of June we had left to catch the favorable tidal currents around Lands End. We were on our 200-mile trek across the Irish Sea. The Atlantic seas roll easterly across thousands of miles of deep ocean. As they near the Irish Sea, that stretch of water between southern Ireland and western England, they feel the continental shelf and the long swells shorten and build in height. Add the strong tidal currents generated as vast amounts of water are forced into the narrowing gap between Ireland and England and the seas can become tumultuous in even moderate winds. In gale winds it can rapidly become survival conditions as happened during the 1979 Fastnet Race when 15 lives and many boats were lost. With this sobering background we motored south all night over glassy seas to round The Lizard, then a little north of west to pass the famous lighthouse on Lands End about daylight. Through the night Judy and I keeping our usual three hours on and three hours off night watches. Keep in mind that dark of night was a relative thing. At 50 degrees north only two days before the longest day of the year, the northern horizon never got totally dark, there always being a rosy streak visible. Still no wind and we continued motoring across a glassy sea as the sun climbed higher. Towards midmorning Wolf Rock, a jagged spire jutting high out of the sea, was to the south and the light marking the Seven Stones to the north. Beyond Wolf Rock were some smudges on the horizon, the Scillies. Alone in the cockpit, I was wishing we had had time to visit the Scilly Islands when the cell phone buzz interrupted my thoughts. It was a text message from David Holden. He had left the Scillies and was only a few hours ahead of us, also enroute to Baltimore. Again our paths would cross. By noon we had some wind and set the main and jib. But the southwest wind was fairly close ahead, so we continued through the day motor- sailing. At 2000, after 22 hours of motoring, we shut down the engine; such peace! To make the silence nearly complete, we switched from the autopilot to the windvane steerer eliminating the "ehhhhh, ehhhhh" sound each time the autopilot made a slight correction. Then the only sounds were the wind in the rigging and the seas rushing past Pooh. (Unlike wooden boats, fiberglass boats don't creak.) But the easy motion was not for long. The wind continued to build and by night we took two reefs in the main. By early morning the jib was reefed way down and the seas continued to grow way out of proportion to the wind strength, which was 25 to 35 knots. Judy and I both were feeling a bit unwell inspite of having taken a Stugeron pill. It was a fast, violent, corkscrew motion that meant holding on even while seated. At 0800, now the 21st, then wind shifted a little more to the west and we restarted the engine to help drive through the seas. At 0900, both Judy and I, exhausted by the violent motion, abandoned making Baltimore and turned north toward Kinsale. But then we reconsidered, as we both knew if we went on to Kinsale, we would get no further west in Ireland. We made the decision to resume our northwesterly rocking, lurching, twisting course to Baltimore, determined to stick it out. In a few hours we could see a slight smudge on the horizon. Soon the smudges became spectacular great cliffs with crashing seas. And shortly the cliffs opened up and we motored through the pass into Baltimore Harbour. Perseverance had paid off and at 1425 Pooh Bear was riding quietly at anchor. In Ireland at last. Anchored nearby was David Holden's green hulled sloop, Skeetwell. In the peace and calm of Baltimore Bay I was feeling a little ashamed at having been almost stopped by a bit of sea. Upon asking David, a seasoned veteran of sailing the British Isles, what he thought of the seas on the crossing, he said "Absolutely Dreadful". I then felt much better. We had a wonderful time in Baltimore, a very small fishing village. We walked around town, ate ashore several times, and with David, rode the ferry to Cape Clear Island for a day. From the top of Cape Clear Island we looked out onto the famous Fastnet Rock lighthouse marking great jagged rocks a mile off of the coast. I have seen photographs in storm conditions when spray was going clear over the top of the light. Now unmanned, what must it have been like under such conditions when occupied? Baltimore was our introduction to the Euro, but an easy one as the Euro is about equal to the Dollar. Judy and I had wanted an Irish stamp in our passports so I went looking for the police station. Eventually I found it. It was locked up tight. When I asked at a pub, they said, "Oh yes, it usually is closed". Ireland, South and East Coast We could have stayed several more days, but our goal was Oban, Scotland, by 10 July to join the Classic Malt Cruise. Our original plan had been to sail at least part of the way up the west coast of Ireland to enjoy some of its spectacular scenery and delightful pubs. But the weather is often very tough along that coast and we simply could not spend the time waiting out bad weather. So on 24 June we started east along the south Coast of Ireland enjoying far better conditions than upon our arrival. It was here we split with David as he sailed northwest pursuing his goal of circumnavigating Britain and Ireland alone. And hopefully doing the Classic Malt Cruise on the way. After a wonderful day sail we anchored in Glandore Bay, a perfectly protected anchorage with a small town on the left and great mansions on the right. Arriving late and departing early, we didn't go ashore. A pity. The following day we enjoyed another fine sail (remember it was now downwind) on to Kinsale. We arrived late in the day and found the marina area jammed with boats rafted two and three deep, so anchored in the river. As we sat in Pooh's cockpit enjoying a sundowner, a small blue boat with an obviously experienced single-hander sailed in and skillfully anchored nearby. We did not meet that evening, but we were to meet and become friends soon. It spite of great advanced billing, we were not turned-on by what we saw of Kinsale so left the next morning without ever going ashore. Maybe if we had not been rushed and had made the effort to go ashore, we would have felt differently. The following day we sailed on to Cork. Or I should more properly say Crosshaven as Cork has few if any yacht facilities. For eight days we enjoyed the hospitality of the worlds oldest yacht club, the Royal Cork Yacht Club. Never mind that it is no longer located in Cork. Although much less elegant than I had expected, they did treat us right and were very helpful. However, they are heavily into racing with few cruisers so we met only few of the club members. Shortly after our arrival, in came the little blue sailboat with the single-hander from the Kinsale anchorage. He was David Rainsbury, a photographer and freelance writer for boating magazines. Together we explored Crosshaven and talked for many hours. For years he has sailed single-handed gathering photos and material for magazines articles. We thumbed through some of the British sailing magazines aboard and there were several articles by David, some we had already read! It was here also that we met David and Jenny Still on Psyche. Psyche was a beautiful boat that David, a boat yard owner, had built. He was having one problem, though, that I was able to help him with. He had the same Fab All diesel cabin heater we do, but could not get it to work properly. I believe we solved his problems and last I heard they were staying warm. As is usual among cruisers, we shared drinks and meals on each boat and had the usual regrets when it was time to part, probably to never meet again. We found Crosshaven to be a very small town with little except a hardware store and some pubs, several of which we visited. In one, the two Davids, Jenny, Judy and myself enjoyed a delightful evening listening to an informal musical group singing mostly Irish songs. Club patrons, some obviously regulars, would join in or drop out of the group depending on what was being performed. Even Piper David was the singer at one point. After midnight the old stick-in-the-mud began to fade and I went back to the boat. I don't know what time the others came in! We wondered how Fred and Kitty on Mariah, friends who had wintered at Crosshaven the year before, had made out without a car. Incidentally, Mariah is a Westsail 32 like Pooh Bear and when we sailed in the yacht club staff first thought we were Mariah returning. Only the most basic of items are available in Crosshaven. Laundry, phone cards and an ATM machine, meant a 20-minute bus ride into Carrrigaline. Purely by chance, while there I found a "proper breakfast" at Drake's Inn making the trip worthwhile. Big time sightseeing meant an hour and a half ride into Cork including the bus change at Carrrigaline. In Cork, we followed our usual pattern of a short walk around downtown, found the Information Center and an Internet shop. We rode a bus out to Blarney Castle, really quite an interesting and picturesque place. Judy kissed the "Stone" while I recorded the event. We didn't even come close to seeing Cork properly in that one day and planned to return for a second day. The weather was improving and back at Crosshaven we saw David on Piper and David and Jenny on Psyche sail away. The following day the lure of fair winds overcame us and we cancelled any plans for a second day in Cork. Late in the afternoon on the 3rd of July Pooh Bear passed under the light house on Roche's Point and turned east. Our departure path, as we neared the lighthouse, probably puzzled any watching natives. Seizing the first opportunity since leaving Queenborough where we had calm water, light wind, sufficient space with no traffic, we motored Pooh very slowly in large circles to calibrate our new 4000GP autopilot. Now the autopilot display would show our course properly and steer more consistently. With nice winds well aft we made good progress through the night and instead of stopping as planned at Dunmore East, we continued on in spite of the now foul tide. As we revised our route plans, a call on the radio came from a familiar voice, Piper David. He had stopped overnight and was then only a few miles ahead of us. He had reached the same decision as we, and planned to continue nonstop across the Irish Sea to his homeport in Wales. Sort of like a slow motion slalom run, we dodged through the east side of the Saltee Channel, skirted the Bohur reefs, left menacing Black Rocks and Barrel Rocks close to starboard and went on toward Tuskar Rock. Enroute we were entertained by dolphins and saw a multitude of birds including the comical puffins. We bucked a 2 to 3 knot foul current passing inside Tuskar Rock, thus turning the corner from the south coast of Ireland to the east coast. Gradually the foul current faded and we gained a fair current north towards Dublin. Now in the lee of the land we had smooth seas, yet a nice SSW wind so made good progress. Such good progress that around 1800 we decided if we really pushed by motorsailing, we could make it all the way to Dublin before the last bridge opening. Well, we didn't, but we did. About 2100 Judy called the bridge tender, who said he would wait for us, and indeed he did. We passed through at 2150, some 30 minutes later than we had told the bridge operator. We tied up at the Dublin City Moorings right on the River Liffey. The City Moorings were adequate, but certainly not what we expected of Dublin. However, we understand it is a lot more than was available only a few years ago. It is a small part of a massive downtown development project. The staff was very friendly although no one in the office on the weekend knew how to handle a charge card so we had to pay cash. Having arrived so late we missed the 4th of July fireworks. Yes, for some reason they have an American 4th of July celebration. Our mail was waiting for us in the marina office, but we left it unread and headed for the big "I", the information center. As was our habit in a new city, we bought a ticket for the open topped tour bus. A must on any tour of Dublin is the Jameson Whiskey (spelled with an e in Ireland) distillery. It was our first, but not last, distillery tour and very well done. At the end the guide asked for several volunteers to take part in a whiskey tasting. The participants tasted several different whiskeys and for the finale were asked their choice. Three picked Jameson, two picked other Irish whiskeys and the sixth picked "Jim Beam"! That was good for much widespread laughter. We rejoined the tour bus, walked around town a bit, ate dinner at a pub (OK, but very bland). We very much wanted another day in Dublin, but the 10th of July was fast approaching. We had motored and motor sailed many hours and needed to refuel, but there being no fuel available in Dublin, we motored on the afternoon of 6 July to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced something like Dun Leary), on the south side of Dublin Bay. We found a rather new very nice and rather expensive (at $2.50 per meter) marina. There, an incident highlighted the disparity between Pooh Bear's deck length of 9.7 meters (32') and overall length (including the bowsprit and boomkin) of about 11.5 meters (39'). Judy always gives our size as "documented 9.7 meters, but we do have a bowsprit". Most marinas charge only for the deck length; some charge an arbitrary additional length, typically a meter. Only one or two have ever charged us for the true overall length. As we entered the marina, Judy gave the usual "documented 9.7, but… ". Enroute to the fuel dock we were assigned a slip. While at the fuel dock, apparently the attendant reported to the office that we did stick out a long way in front. When we went to move from the fuel dock the office said we would be more comfortable in a different slip. It turned out to be a T-head and certainly easier to get in and out of. They still only charged us for 9.7 meters so the bottom line was not too bad. We liked Dun Laoghaire, both the marina and town, even inspite of a couple of glitches. Judy did laundry at the slowest washers and driers in Europe; four hours for two loads. And Judy has still not forgiven my selection of an eating place. The next morning we arose at the unearthly hour of 0400 and pulled away our T-head slip at 0500, a fair tidal current calling, you know. As we cleared the north point of Dublin Bay, we looked guiltily at what had always been a must stop, Howth. Pat and Olivia Murphy, cruisers we met in Spain three years earlier had repeatedly urged us to visit Howth, their yacht club. (Pat and Olivia are now in New Zeeland on their way around the world). Regretfully, lack of time forced us to sail past Howth as well as several loughs that we could have spent a week exploring. We were leaving the Republic of Ireland and heading back into the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland. With west winds backing to south, we had a fine sail with lots of sun, but looking over our shoulder as a gale was forecast for the evening. By mid-afternoon we were secured in the tiny marina at Ardglass. Mike the manager, an Irishman who had lived in Monroe, Louisiana, for 15 years helped us tie up. I felt it was the friendliest marina and town; the sort of place I would have liked to stayed for several days. Judy was not quite as enthusiastic, but there was no decision to make. It was already the 8th of July and we needed to be in Oban before the 11th. We walked around town in a light drizzle, and ate at a little restaurant. The gale blew through during the night, and, while we prepared for a morning departure, it was with some misgivings, as we knew the wind would still be quite fresh and the seas quite large. During final preparations, Judy struck up a conversation with Jim Carpenter, the owner of Bala, a green boat in the adjacent slip (green and white hull, green canvas, even green fenders, maybe Irish?). He knew the area and gave some excellent local knowledge including an invitation to use his mooring in Larne Lough (Irish spelling of Scottish Loch; both pronounced Lock). We had a swift passage past several loughs and harbours we would have loved to explore, but time was short. We had much wanted to visit Bangor and Belfast in North Ireland. We passed close by South Rock Lightship, one of the few lightships still in operation, the wind backed, then died, and we motored into Larne Lough about 1900. We had a very peaceful night on Bala's mooring. Larne is the terminal for one of the high speed ferries from Glasgow and we had to pull out of the channel to let the arriving ferry pass us. We watched in awe as he did what I would call marine version of a 180-degree broad slide (just like with cars in the movies) into the ferry slip. Really spectacular. We have since heard that several weeks after we were there, the ferry made an even more spectacular arrival than planned. They reportedly had a steering problem during the slide and slammed into several moored yachts including Bala. We have no details, but evidently Bala was one of the boats badly damaged. Scotland, Jura to Oban We were coming down to the deadline. On the morning of 9 July we left Larne Lough, and Ireland, and motored the 50 plus miles to Craighouse Bay on the island of Jura in Scotland. We motored as again the wind was absent, and the sun was warm. Gigha had been our intended first habour in Scotland, but it became Craighouse as suggested by Jim (on the green boat, Bala) upon learning of our lack of detailed charts (a whole new subject for later). Our first night in Scotland was calm and peaceful and again we had a dead calm day motoring on north, awe struck by the scenery on both sides. At the north end of the Island of Jura is Scarba Island. Between these islands is the Gulf of Corryvreckan through which waters pour at a prodigious rate into the Atlantic. Photos of the standing waves that occur on the west end of Corryvreckan are almost beyond belief. No passage is recommended except with a powerful seaworthy vessel at slack tide. We motored past the east entrance to Corryvreckan on a dead calm day and looked through at a wall of white on the west end. Our route exiting from the Sound of Jura via the Sound of Luing was exciting enough. In every direction were boils, slicks and whirlpools though the depth sounder showed over 50 feet of water under our keel. The turbulence grabbed Pooh's long keel and twisted us right and left, sometimes 45 degrees before Roo, our faithful autopilot, brought us back on course. Though we entered not far from the time of slack water, the GPS showed 9 and 10 knots through the Sound of Luing. But we were right down the center of the channel and were spit out into the Firth of Lorne like a watermelon seed. A few hours later on the afternoon of 10 July we were motoring into Oban. A few weeks earlier I had said there was no way we would make Oban in time for the Classic Malts Cruise. What's this business of the Classic Malts Cruise? End of "Across Irish Sea and on to Scotland" *********************************************************************** Bob & Judy (aboard s/v Pooh Bear in England) P.S. You can check our latest "reported" position (usually updated each night when traveling) at the following URL: http://www.aprs.net/cgi- bin/winlink.cgi?W5TFY