Dave and Jenny Morris have been off sailing around Ireland this summer. Their account is published here so read on....
When we were invited to Jenny’s nephew’s wedding, the plan was hatched to sail to the venue at
Warrenpoint in Carlingford Lough – the only thing was rather than turning left and taking the direct route, we would turn right and go all the way around Ireland before arriving.
We left on the 29thJune, and spent the first night anchored at Sanda before crossing to Ballycastle the next day. From there we sailed across to Inishtrahull.
This little island is a lovely spot to visit. Now uninhabited, there are the remains of buildings which used to house the inhabitants, who were evacuated in 1928 apart from 13 families who held on for a few years. We anchored in the little inlet by the quay where the light-house keepers used to land stores. The inlet was tricky to spot, as we arrived just as it was getting dark. We spent a day exploring, and walked to the new lighthouse and the remains of the old one.
From there we sailed into Mulroy Bay, through the First Narrows to Fanny’s Bay. It got quite foggy so we had to remain for a day, and took a walk over the hill to Downings. From there we left for Tory Island, again arriving in the dark. We loved Tory, everyone was so friendly and welcoming. A fisherman had a good catch of Pollock which he landed that day, and we were given freshly filleted fish for our supper. Walking around the island, it soon transpired that everyone on Tory would be eating Pollock that night!
From Tory we ran down the Bloody Foreland to Aranmore, another island with more fishermen. This time we were given crab; by the time it was all processed, Dave’s hands were swollen with the juices, and the boat smelled of crab for days afterwards!
We had a fairly rough passage into Donegal bay where we anchored at Teelin, before another rough crossing to Blacksod. We were escorted out of Teelin by three dolphins swimming alongside the boat and diving under our bows; three dolphins also escorted us into Blacksod, we like to think it was the same dolphins who had been keeping an eye on us during the passage.
After Blacksod was Inishboffin, where Dave had to resort to swimming to get us free of a mooring buoy which had caught around our rudder – it was very cold, but thankfully it didn’t take long. From Inishboffin to Inishmore, we were now getting into tourist country. There is an iron age ring fort on the top of Inishmore facing out to sea, over the years the cliffs have fallen away so today the fort is semi-circular. We took a tour bus to explore the island.
A long run down to Fenit in Tralee Bay. There is a marina at Fenit and by now we both needed a shower! We experienced an uncomfortable night in Tralee Bay with strong winds before making our way into the marina the next morning.
From Fenit to Derrynane in Ballyskelligs Bay. The harbour entrance was difficult to see until you were quite close in, it felt like we were heading towards waves breaking on the rocks before we could see the entrance. Next we headed out between the Bull and Cow rocks, our first bit of good weather sailing with enough visibility to see the scenery at last. We rounded Mizen Head and anchored at Crookhaven before setting off around Fastnet Rock. As the weather was settled, we managed to get close in to Fastnet, much closer than the pilot book recommends, and take some good photographs.
We ended up entering Cork Bay and arranged to stay at the Royal Cork Yacht Club - the club was established in 1720 and is the oldest in the world. We treated ourselves to a three course meal at the club-house, but were falling asleep at the table by the time dessert arrived.
With the wedding approaching we were pressed for time, but lost a day at Cork to bad weather. We crossed the South coast mostly in thick fog, before heading back up the East coast. We would sail with the favourable tide and anchor, waiting for the tide to turn. It became apparent that the only way we would make it to the wedding on time would be to motor through the South-going tides, which would make it a chore rather than a pleasant sailing experience. So we took the decision to leave Penmar at Arklow marina, and hired a car to get us to the wedding.
After the wedding we carried on North, a night at anchor off Dalkey Island then sheltering at Skerries from a Southerly gale before pressing on to Ardglass and finally Glenarm. We spent a day at Glenarm in the sunshine before heading back across to Campbeltown and more rain! 
Overall we covered 1,065 nautical miles. We ended up motoring for 23% of the time which we were pleased about, as we prefer to sail wherever possible. We spent 22 nights at anchor, 3 nights at sea, 11 at marinas (including time spent at the wedding) and 2 nights against harbour walls. We had to contend with strong winds and high seas at times, and sailed into, across and away from the wind during the trip.
We were gone for 5 weeks in all, including 3 days for the wedding and a further 3 or 4 days lost to the weather. It was a wonderful experience; our favourite area was the North and West coast with its dramatic scenery and isolation. We never managed to make it to the wedding under sail, maybe next time we’ll take the more direct route!
Jenny & Dave Morris, and Gizmo the dog!
