2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 16 Kinsale to Youghal

I had intended to move on to Ballycotton Bay but the wind which had been forecast to veer to the SW stubbornly stayed in the east to north east which makes the anchorage untenable so I had to go further to anchor at Youghal (pronounced Yawl). The wind had moderated significantly on Sunday morning so at 06:40 with the last of the ebb tide, and the boat pointing up river, it was easy to get off the pontoon and out to sea on a grey, often damp day.

The wind which had been easterly soon backed north easterly so it was a long beat to Youghal.

Heading in towards Ballycotton Island with the full headsail and
iirc one slab in the main..

Ballycotton Island

Youghal has a fairly narrow entrance, after a right hand turn close
to the lighthouse. More pics of the passage to the anchorage
can be found in the slide show.

Once through the narrow passage you end up in an extensive estuary with large drying sandbanks.

My theoretically up-to-date charts still have not been updated from the 2015 survey mentioned in the 2020 edition of the pilot and relies on lead line surveys from 1903/4; but in any case, with shifting sands care is always going to be required. 

The pilot recommends a spot "out of the tide" referencing the 2015 survey but even an hour before low water on a neap tide there was still 1.4 knots of tide there and there abouts. I found a likely spot well east of the anchor symbol on the chart above and had a peaceful night. 

The slide show illustrates the way in and displays chronologically, but I have no pictures from the anchorage because just as I had the boat settled for the night the rain returned, there is a reason Ireland is called "The Emerald Isle".

44 miles over the ground in 11 hours.

On to Dunmore East and Milford Haven.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Days 12 - 15 Baltimore to Kinsale.

I had planned to be in Waterford on Saturday to avoid strong winds on Sunday then head for Milford Haven on Monday to pick up favourable winds to make for the Isles of Scilly on Tuesday but the forecast has changed again. The wind remains unpredictable, forecast strong winds not being as strong as predicted, light winds somewhat stronger and timings changing with every download. 

But there looked to be a window on Wednesday to move along the coast before more strong winds on Thursday, Glandore looked to be an attractive anchorage but I could get there in just a few hours so I decided to move to Kinsale.

The headland on the southern side of the entrance to Baltimore.

The Northern side with a day mark named "Lott's wife".

I left at 07:00 with light winds and once having made my offing I spent the day reaching in winds varying a little in direction from N to NNW and occasionally NW and significantly in strength from a few knots to 20 when I was making > 6 knots on a beam reach with 2 reefs in the main and genoa. 

Passing inside of "The Stags" north of Baltimore.

Galley Head

I made good time until short of The Old Head of Kinsale when the wind died, after struggling to get round the headland against the tide in light winds I put the engine on half a mile short as I wanted to get into the river at low water before the flood would potentially make getting onto a berth tricky.

The Old Head of Kinsale shortly before the engine went on.

Charles's Fort has the leading lights for the first part of the
route up to Kinsale, not many pics as I had to drive and there
were a couple of boats nearby.

Part way through the big loop around to Kinsale.

The marina in the town of Kinsale was essentially full with boats gathering for a race to the Fastnet Rock and could only offer an outside berth rafted up, perhaps 3 or more deep. That is problematical single handed, firstly getting on to another boat if there is some wind or tide and no one on board the other boat to take your lines or to get away early in the morning if there is a boat outside you. 

The Castlepark Marina across the river did have a space, also on the outside but not rafted, the down side was that it is exposed to the SW and as I write (Thursday) the boat is being bounced about a bit in a F5-6 wind, hopefully the new paint job will survive it! Also there is no shop and the pub does not do food even bar snacks, so I am down to ships stores with a few remaining fresh items. It would not surprise me if I am here for a while, the Irish Met service forecast is not encouraging.

Still here on Saturday, A little bumpy in 20 knots of wind, earlier 
on it was blowing over 30 knots and things got rather wild with
fenders being forced up and out, fortunately I have a lot of fenders.

Yesterday the manager of the marina gave me a lift into Kinsale for lunch and a little shopping so I have some fresh food. A 10 Euro taxi ride back with retired fisherman with some tales to tell.

 

44 miles in nine and three-quarter hours.

Click here for Kinsale to Youghal.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Days 8 - 11 Newlyn to Baltimore (IRE)

A trip of two, or perhaps 3, halves.

Newlyn to North of the Isles of Scilly.

The first decision to be made was whether to head for Baltimore via the Scillies or Carnsore Point / Waterford, probably via Milford Haven. That was quickly made, there was little in it from the point of view of tides, Milford just meant leaving an hour or two later, but the current and forecast wind favoured Baltimore.

Approaching Mousehole at 07:00 outbound from Newlyn.

I had thought to visit the Isles of Scilly on-route to Ireland but the forecast models I down loaded after leaving ("PredictWind" makes half a dozen models available twice a day at c 08:30 & 20:30) showed strong north-westerly winds arriving in 2 - 3 days, Scilly is not a good place to be in strong winds, particularly from the NW as there are few anchorages sheltered from that direction and in peak season they would be busy, so I decided to go direct, something that had been on the cards for a couple of days.

It was a good sail to Scilly albeit tiring as with a variable largely following wind, I was forever trimming or changing sails, I remember bagging the spinnaker or cruising chute 7 or 8 times and gybing at least twice before passing Scilly.

A problem heading across this piece of water to or from Ireland is that you can't head in that direction once past Gwennap Head because of the "Off Lands End Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS)" this separates shipping heading north and south but the rule is that you can only cross TSS lanes heading, NOT tracking at right angles, this rule is enforced and people have been fined for non-compliance. So, heading from Gwennap Head you shortly have to steer 270 degrees instead of c300 and, if the passage is planned so that the tide will help you before and after the TSS, when crossing it the tide will take you south and you set off from the Scillies steering around 310 degrees.

Whilst I was heading west in compliance with the rules I ended
up well south of where I would ideally be (north of the 7 stones)
At least the tide helped me get north past the Isles of Scilly.

13:39 NE of the Isles of Scilly. St Martins on the right St Marys
on the left.

Round Island light (right)

14:23 Round Island Light (center)

North of Scilly to Baltimore.

As I cleared The Isles of Scilly the wind which had been fairly light increased and backed and I was on a fetch making very good speed, the only problem was that the wind was frequently varying in speed and in direction by 30 degrees or more. 

There was very little traffic showing on AIS and with one exception nothing within 20 miles, visibility was not good in mist and after a short rest period I came on deck in the middle of the night to see a green light ahead, the AIS alarm went off a few seconds later, it was another yacht on a reciprocal course that had not previously shown on AIS. We passed two or three hundred yards apart in the middle of the Celtic Sea, it just goes to show how collisions can and do happen.

About 06:00 on Sunday I managed to pick up a forecast on VHF - powerful coastguard stations with high antennas can reach impressive distances, well beyond line of sight - I was picking up French broadcasts most of the way to Baltimore. It was bad news from the Irish met office, force 6 north westerlies were now being forecast for that night and I would be heading directly into them. Currently the wind was NW at about 6 knots, under sail I would not reach Baltimore for a day and a half in that wind and in a F6 would face a lot of difficult conditions probably forcing me to put into Ireland well north of my objective; so, on went the engine to try and beat the bad weather. 

My variable track for a few hours before the engine went on.

I was only partially successful; I ran into a F5 about 20 miles from Baltimore and east of the Fastnet I was motoring directly into a F6 which was very uncomfortable and bad enough that I was wearing my life jacket and hooked on while in the cockpit, most unusual! I was impressed with how Sancerre coped with motoring into the wind and waves, spray was flying but we were making 5 knots, with my big engine and three bladed prop 6 knots was possible but that was just too uncomfortable and tiring, it might also have caused some damage.

The wind eased as I approached the entrance to Baltimore but it was still quite a tense entrance with dolphins playing around the boat in pitch dark; except for light from a major electrical storm to the north. With, as it turned out, a well-found fear of pots and other hazards I decided not to risk going to the main anchorage which in any case is relatively exposed to NW and particularly W winds (which were now forecast for later in the night) so at 23:45 I anchored just inside on the western shore, as I had done at the end of the 2019 Jester Challenge. Some pictures of the entrance are included in the next post.

Monday was a rest day with a quick trip ashore for a sandwich lunch at the pub, other establishments being crowded out with holiday makers, and a visit to the local store which had even less choice than when I was there in 2019. 

Baltimore.

Tuesday I was weather bound waiting for the long predicted bad weather to pass through which in truth was not as bad as forecast.

188 miles in just under 40 hours.

Click here for the trip to Kinsale.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 6 & 7 Polkerris to Newlyn

Yet more hot downwind sailing 😀😀

Running with the spinnaker, the pole should be perpendicular to

the mast for maximum effective length with the sail clews level,

but the mast slider was stuck, it was freed up later with silicone spray.

A very pleasant sail, but at St Mawes there were a lot of small boats rushing about creating wake so that the boat was rocking all the time and I didn’t see that improving over the weekend so after  meeting up with a fellow Jester sailor on his newly acquired Hamatic 30 I made a quick visit to the St Mawes COOP, had a very expensive and not particularly good ice cream from another shop and was ready to head off to Newlyn the next day.

A Falmouth working boat returning from a Falmouth week race.

20 miles in five and a half hours.

Another start at a reasonable time (07:50) initially with little wind but that picked up as I passed St Anthony Head and up went the Cruising Chute only to come down 10 minutes later as the wind hit 15 knots. This pattern continued most of the way past the Lizard until it disappeared completely a few miles west of Mullion so on went the engine. 

In the benign conditions I went close into the Lizard.

As often seems to happen the wind filled in when I was a couple of miles from the destination and it was not worth turning the engine off. I arrived at 14:20 and had time to visit the larger COOP there, get a shower, pick up a couple of cans of diesel and, of course, I went to Jelbert's; possibly a unique establishment serving only ice cream, made daily in house and to misquote Henry Ford, any flavour you like providing its vanilla. But you can have a flake and / or clotted cream with it although, in my view, it does not need the lift. There was no need to go to the excellent little cheese shop next door as I was still well stocked.

In the evening, as I invariably do in Newlyn, I treated myself to a Chinese takeaway. 

Click here for the trip to Baltimore.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Days 4 & 5 Hope Cove to Polkerris.

A relatively late start at 06:45 in lovely weather, albeit a bit hot when the wind was light. Again, the wind had east in it so some good sailing with coloured sails.

Out of peak season I would have gone into Fowey but the valley is a sun trap, often sheltered from any wind, boats will be rafted on the closely packed buoys and the town chock full of tourists so, close to a hot hell on earth. Much better in an offshore wind is Polkerris, just around the corner past Gribben Head and east of Par Sands.

Gribben Head with its day mark (left), the entrance to Fowey
(centre) and Polruan (right of the entrance).

This annoys me, off Fowey there was a small pod of Dolphins,
the guidance says that when close to dolphins, whales etc. you
should, providing its safe, make no changes in course or speed.
This sports fisherman and later a motor cruiser were chasing them
not surprisingly they made off under water, so it was self-defeating.

A good anchorage in the right conditions and there is space 
for dozens, even 100s of boats. Overnight there was a dozen
and with a cooling breeze it was a pleasant evening albeit
with no shower or ice cream.

No shower, so I went ashore for a swim, there are several secluded
small beaches and its easier than swimming from the boat and
having to climb back aboard.

There were a number of "Compass" jelly fish around, there sting
is reported in some sources to be mild and another swimmer said they
don't hurt but, especially as I am allergic to a lot of insect bites, I decided
not to risk it and stayed in a small area where I could not see any.
I later found another source saying stings can be very painful,
so I'll continue to avoid them!

33 miles in 9 hours.

I had intended to move straight on to St Mawes to meet up with a fellow Jester Sailor and one or two old sailing friends. Unfortunately  I got out of the bunk a bit two quickly and suffered an attack of  benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)  (where certain head movements trigger vertigo) only my 4th or 5th episode in a dozen years, fortunately I was at anchor in a safe place and not at sea, so I stayed for an extra day to recover.

Click here for St Mawes and Newlyn.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 3 Portland to Hope Cove

I weighed anchor at 04:30 to get to the Bill as the tidal gate opened, initially I thought there were only two of us taking the inshore route but as I left the Bill there were a lot of boats following behind, either they preferred an hour or two more in bed or they had spent the night in Weymouth and were delayed waiting for the bridge to open.

Portland prison in the early morning light.

Approaching the Bill

To avoid getting swept into the Portland Race, described in the Pilot by Tom Cunliffe as "the most dangerous extended area of broken water in the English Channel, overshadowing even Barfeur, the madness of Ouessant and the Race of Alderney", it is necessary to pass within 300 yards of the Bill, and only then in settled conditions.

My track through the inshore route.

The inshore route can only safely be used in daylight because of lobster pots which are often hard to see as they are dragged under by the strong current and the necessity of passing very close to rocks. Because to fluky winds caused by the land the passage has usually to be done under power, increasing the risk from Pots, as Cunliffe says the possibility of being anchored to a Pot [as the tide increases] does not bare thinking about. On this occasion the wind was from the NE and I was able to sail from a couple of miles north of the Bill when the wind set in, through the route and across Lyme Bay.

A lobster Pot Buoy c 80 yards off the Bill and another much closer in,
these would likely be underwater in an hour or two as the tide increases.
 Note the rock awash in line with the hanging rock, left. The Obelisk
is there to mark them.

Leaving the Bill, the 45 ft boat off my starboard bow overtook
me under power going round the Bill. Equipped only with a
cruising chute she tried tacking down wind, I was soon to get
the symmetrical spinnaker up and was only 1/3 mile behind
her at Start Point, 48 miles further on.

Crossing Lyme Bay with my 60 sq metre
symmetrical spinnaker during a lull in the wind.

I had a fairly quick passage in variable winds that kept me busy sail changing and trimming with some light relief...... 

Dolphins doing what dolphins do approaching Start Point.

Approaching Start Point, often referred to as THE Start, as it
often was the last bit of English land seen on a voyage in a
sailing ship.

Shortly after the picture was taken the wind disappeared and I started the engine to get to Hope Cove, the first anchorage sheltered from the easterly winds west of West Bay (Portland) and in the days of sail often packed with ships, up to 80 being quoted in one source, waiting for a fair wind up channel.

Entering the Hope Cove anchorage. Lots more pics in the
slide show below.

68 miles over the ground in 13.5 hours.

Click here for Hope Cove to Polkerris.