“The best laid plans of mice and men, gang aft agley…”
Robbie Burns
by Harry Whelehan
Having been turned back last year by southerly gales in our attempt to cruise the south west coast of Ireland we decided this year to play “absolutely safe” and return to the Clyde with the genuine expectation of almost guaranteed conditions for pleasant cruising and the likelihood of being able to sail every day for a few hours without necessarily going to windward.
There being just Liz and myself on Sea Dancer, a 32 foot Jeannau Sun Odyssey, we were confident that the idyllic cruise planned for the Clyde would be preceded by the mundane though unchallenging delivery to the Clyde which would be the easily accomplished i.e. Howth –Ardglass- Clyde routine. Thereafter it would be idyllic downwind cruising all the way wherever the wind would blow in this most beautiful and varied stretch of water.
In order to be “absolutely” sure of weather this year we banked on the last week of June and the first week of July.
We left an overcast Howth at 0630 on June 24 for Ardglass, (62nm), under main and genoa and we enjoyed a relatively uneventful but most pleasant sail to Ardglass arriving at 15.30. On passage as we were passing north of Lambay at 0715 we spotted Granuaile (Irish Lights vessel) already at work. I took the opportunity of calling them on VHF both for a radio check and to confirm that our AIS was transmitting and got a friendly thumbs up on both counts.
The next day June 25th the weather was showing signs of being unfriendly, fresh variable or northerly winds with patchy rain or drizzle. The tide called for a departure for Bangor at 1300 (35nm), and once we cleared the harbour we got the sails on. The wind, in fact was, SSE light and variable, which gave us a very pleasant sail along the Ards Peninsula to Bangor via the Copeland Sound (with periodic injections of help from the engine). We arrived in Bangor at 1800, topped up our diesel at, the now, 24hour self-service fuel berth.
Something arose that required Liz to be back in Dublin on June 27th which would involve her having shore leave for two nights. I intended bringing Sea Dancer up to Belfast into the Abercorn basin to drop Liz off for her train to Dublin and await her return. We had previously spent a couple of nights in this very centrally located marina and we had enjoyed the facilities and the access to nearby central Belfast. Luckily, I checked with the marina, before leaving Bangor only to learn, sadly that the marina was closed for refurbishment. Liz, nonetheless, had a very seamless train connection both ways, Bangor-Belfast- Dublin.
Meanwhile I was at large in Bangor for a few days which passed very quickly. The Bangor City regatta was on and it was blowing absolute stink F7 in the lough outside! Ed Wheeler ICC and Jan took me to a splendid lunch in the RUYC, from where we watched the mayhem among the competing sailors on the water. This we did from the comfort of the club dining room as the Waverley, the last of the passenger carrying paddle steamers in the world built in 1946, made her way majestically up the lough to Belfast without a bother! Ed also came on board Sea Dancer and very kindly downloaded “The Memory-Map for All” to my iPad, this comprised a very detailed set of electronic charts, which I was glad to have as a backup to my chart plotter.
With very low temperatures and strong winds persisting, and being without crew, I was snug in my berth in Bangor and enjoyed all the buzz being generated by the regatta. While passing the time and looking at the marina notice board, I noticed a considerable range of technical services being offered by local technicians and wondered if, during my few days, I could sort out a few matters on the boat which had been “long-fingered”. To my delight I ended up having my gas piping partly replaced and re-certified and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms replaced. The ship’s heating system fixed after a very simple diagnosis (the heating had not worked for a few years, the installer, had despite numerous requests refused to attend, and a different electrician, who was installing new batteries had looked at the installation for me and claimed that the unit was poor, and badly installed and he said he could do nothing). The Gas Man (as his business card describes him) who came on board (Alan Cockerill), looked at the system and discovered that the electrician who installed new batteries three years ago had attached both the heating system supply leads to the positive terminal on the ship’s battery - this was very easily rectified, thankfully without any damage. Little did I realize, at that stage, what was in store for us in terms of cold weather to come, and to continue throughout our cruise. We were extremely lucky to have the heating back and “purring” for the remainder of the cruise and we remain deeply grateful to Alan, The Gas Man! I also had the brainwave of getting Liz to bring our heaviest sleeping bags from home when she returned to the boat!
While in Bangor, apart from the Wheelers it was good to catch up with Peter and Evie Ronaldson ICC, my old school friend Simon Healy and his wife Jane who sailed their beautiful Maggie Mai out of the Quoile for many years, and with whom we had dinner in the RNIYC in Cultra the night before we set sail for the Clyde. We also met Dan Thompson, (son of my late colleague and friend John Thompson and his wife Tina). Dan was driving a beautiful classic Swan Lofna in the regatta. This boat had been bought as a wreck by Gill and Derek Fairley and stunningly restored. Also in Bangor was John Mc Inerney and his crew on Ar Nos na Gaoite from Howth, like ourselves held up by the strong winds, but, the impatient and hardy crew yielded to cabin fever and bravely took to sea despite the persistent bad weather .
The stop- over in Bangor was most enjoyable, and productive, and as it turned out would have been dictated by the weather, even if Liz did not have to absent herself and return to Dublin.
Being behind in time, the strategy was to get as deep into the comfort of the Clyde and dawdle lazily about wherever the wind would take us. So I selected Largs, an 80nm leg from Bangor which would leave us in the vicinity of the Cumbrae Islands, and within easy reach of the cruising grounds of the Kyles of Bute, Lough Fine and the Island of Arran.
On June 29th we set sail for Largs at 0500 in light airs to take the N going tide. Once outside the harbour we set the main and genoa. The forecast WNW 3/5, but soon the wind dropped away and we motored for a while before the wind filled in as predicted. The NNW, F5 arrived and we carried it all the way to Largs arriving at 1640 (11hours) tired, happy and delighted to be greeted by my lifelong friend Freddie Moran who had tracked us on AIS from Bangor. Freddie is from Howth, but settled in Scotland where his career was with IBM. He cruised extensively out of Largs with his wife Hilary in their Malo Artic Fern.
On the passage from Bangor we listened to a distress rescue arising from “multiple man overboard” calls in the Sound of Jura. We also witnessed, off the south coast of Arran a remarkable, and scary, operation of a tiny helicopter (resembling a bubble car) ferrying significant quantities of materials from the Pladda Island to an anchored- off Trinity House workboat. This was fascinating to watch as we scooted along, the chopper alternatively landing (in F5 wind!) on the tiny platform on the bow of the ship, and on occasion lowering cargo to the deck from the air. While it was an exhilarating sail, it left us tired so we had a couple of gins, fillet steaks and a bottle of wine before repairing ashore for a nightcap. We decided on a rest day on 30th June!
Liz hanging on
Now we were precisely where we wanted to be to start the relaxing part of our cruise, and we were optimistic that the fresh unsettled weather and the especially cold and windy spell could not continue into the month of July. One can never tire of the Kyles of Bute, and for us there is a mandatory stop at the anchorage just south of the Burnt Isles. The Colintraive Hotel is a delightful unpretentious Inn on the shore, and the Hotel has a few moorings laid to attract passing waterborne diners. A visit there was to be a pivot point for what was to come. We also wanted to salute our late friend and club member Alex Booth ICC, CCC and Howth YC who died earlier this year, and whose ashes now repose at the Burnt Isles.
Monday July 1st we left Largs at 1120, heading for East Lough Tarbert in Lough Fine (30nm), it was damp and windy, but unfortunately, having felt “secure” where we were “in the Clyde” I did not take a weather forecast! Before long we were beating into a F5 using the engine to push us through a lumpy sea. I decided to go east of the Great Cumbrae Island and seek quieter water up the East Kyle. This worked well, and did not add greatly to the distance to be covered to get to Tarbert, but it has to be said this was our most miserable experience of many trips through the Kyles, though we got some temporary respite when we reached the northern end of the Kyles and altered course to broad reach down the West Kyle when the joy of being in the Kyles returned briefly as we turned to reach down the West Kyle before entering Lough Fine when we had again to “man up” to the northerly F5 in order to fetch E.L.Tarbert. This we did in considerable discomfort caused by rain and a very lumpy sea. Our morale was however briefly lifted as we overtook a large fish farm work boat limping along in the same direction at 2kn!
We arrived in Tarbert 1730 after five challenging hours mostly motor sailing. It was well worth the hardship as this is such a beautiful ancient and natural anchorage completely unchanged except for a very fine new shower block and shore facilities constructed, since our last visit, as an adjunct to the marina.
Tuesday July 2nd we left Tarbert at 1130 for Colintraive the wind was in the same quarter as yesterday. However, with rain and mist galore, we decided to backtrack via the Kyles and enjoy a downwind version of yesterday’s ordeal. We carried a fully reefed main and a well rolled jib down Lough Fine, and then motored up the West Kyle around the north and through the Burnt Isles where we did our formal salute to ALEX Booth + R.I.P
Salute to Alex at the Burnt Isles
We then continued the short distance south and took a mooring at the Colintraive Hotel where it was still “raining on our parade” the day’s voyage 20nm! The idea of pumping up the dinghy and rowing ashore was not at all attractive even if tradition and sentiment required it. However fortune would, I hoped, favour the brave, so I pumped up the dinghy, booked the table in the Hotel and invited our guests Freddie and Hilary Moran to join us for dinner. Thankfully as time to go ashore approached the rain stopped and we had a most enjoyable evening with Freddie and Hilary in what, for us at least, is a very special place.
Harry loving Colintraive Hotel
Needless to say in view of the persistent rain, wind and cold conditions, I had begun paying greater attention to weather forecasts!
The forecasts were full of, rain, mist, poor visibility and freshening winds from the SE, and continuing low temperatures. The entirely unsettled weather over the previous week was going to last with no indication of respite in the forecasts. Further west and to the north, in Baily and Hebrides the forecasts were for gales all week, so there was little comfort to be expected from those quarters! We decided that, in the days ahead, we should try, as best we could, to make a civilized cruise out of our passage home.
Sea Dancer at Colintraive anchorage
Wednesday July 3rd we slipped our moorings at Colintraive at 0925 heading for Troon (30nm). Conditions were calm and misty, visibility was poor. We motored until wind came up from S/E and it quickly freshened, through stages, as we continually reefed to the point where we ended up with the main fully reefed and a “ lady’s” handkerchief for a jib, as we plugged to windward. Our direct course would have taken us west of both the Great and the Little Cumbrae islands, but as we came south of the Great Cumbrae the seas were building and I had the engine going in order to push through the seas. I decided to tack through the Millport Sound and hug the mainland shore for a quieter passage and maybe find less weight of wind. I think this worked, visibility certainly was better, though coming and going, and sea seemed somewhat quieter inshore. Approaching Troon the visibility reduced significantly, and while I had been into Troon before, I found it very hard to pick out the entrance. Another worry was that we could not comply with the requirement of calling in to the Ferry Terminal to get clearance before entering the harbour. There was no response to many attempts to raise them on VHF and by telephone. In the end Liz phoned the marina and asked them to inform the Ferry terminal of our ETA. We tied up at 1425 after another heavy five hour slog.
Crew distracted
Throughout July 4th, the weather forecasts were adamant, W. F 5/6 occasionally 7, with a similar outlook for a further 24hours, so clearly our homeward march was stalled. There was however a suggestion of winds moderating and veering NW F3/5. We knew that our departure from Troon would have to be timed in order to catch a favourable south going tide at Corswall Point when entering the North Channel. We also knew that in Troon we were about 6 hours sail from Corswall. There being just the two of us on board, in the predicted winds it was going to be too much to undertake a 6 hour leg to Corswall Point followed by a six or eight hour crossing to Bangor or Ardglass . Port Patrick was unlikely to be a comfortable haven after such sustained winds over the previous week. I was delighted to find in the Clyde C.C . sailing directions, and to receive confirmation from Freddie Moran that there was, just a mile or two south of Corswall Point in Lough Ryan, an anchorage, in Lady Bay which would provide on overnight anchorage to enable us to catch a favourable tide at 0600 on July 6th.
On Saturday July 5th at 1100 we left Troon for Lady Bay Lough Ryan, 40nm, in a fresh NW, having topped up our diesel. We had a delightful sail, quite close along the shore, conscious that we were very obviously in the middle of heaven for golfers, passing the courses of Royal Troon, Royal Turnberry et al! I had little doubt that the golfers had a much better time the previous week than those of us who had ventured afloat. It was however a great relief to be at sea again despite it still being penetratingly cold. We had no trouble finding Lady Bay and arrived at 1745 anchoring in three meters onto a clean sandy bottom, a delightful agricultural backdrop, though we could have done without the “Hummm” of freshly spread high octane slurry wafting from the shore.
Ailsa Craig leaving the Clyde
Sunday July 6th we lifted the anchor at 0700, and made for Corswall Point aiming to be well around before the change of tide and have a full tide to take us across to Bangor (27nm), or if the wind stayed strong and favourable to take us past the tidal gate at South Rock to Ardglass (55nm). The wind did fill in SE2/3, fine on the port bow, and we held our course for Ardglass, just managing to slip by South Rock in time to avoid the adverse tide change. We arrived in Ardglass at 1530 (55nm). Again we had a very cold voyage. On arrival our shore lines were graciously taken by John Magowan who with his wife Joanne, both ICC, were on a jaunt from the Quoile on their enviably comfortable and elegant motor cruiser Privateer 1V.
I was cold to the core despite many layers topped by oilskins. I actually suffered bouts of involuntary shivering on the passage, and even in the harbour in Ardglass where it was warm and pleasant, I just could not shake off the embedded cold. I was definitely out of sorts and not feeling at all well so we had an early night.
Monday July 7th we left Ardglass at 0800, having discussed leaving the boat in Ardglass and travelling home by alternate transport but as I felt up to the trip we sailed for home (62nm). The wind again filled in from SE F3. We set full sail under blue, but cold, skies; it was yet again oilskins, layers and boots all the way. Otherwise, it was a delightful sail. We really enjoyed the Mourne landscape at its best, ever changing, shade and colours brought about by the passing clouds. I tried unsuccessfully, to console us both about the continuing artic temperatures, by observing that the Mountains would not have looked half as well if there was a warm heat haze obscuring them.
We arrived at our berth in Howth at 1640, and our marina neighbour Paul Newport Puffin Eile ICC, was at hand and greeted us and took our shore lines. Paul and Fiona were back in Howth from Scotland a day earlier than us having experienced similar windy, cold and wet conditions to us further north. I was still “not myself” and was to discover when we got home, and I took a Covid test, that I was positive with the virus.
We both went straight into isolation, but strange to relate Liz, who despite our forced close proximity on Sea Dancer, escaped the virus. What a weird, selective and random enemy this virus is!!!!
Reflections
We had an utterly different cruise to the one I thought I had so meticulously planned. Our best sailing was on the way to and the way back from the chosen cruising ground …..so much for careful planning!
We had tried, unsuccessfully, last year to break through the lethargy which had built up and with which we were beset as a result of the Covid pandemic lock-down. This year was to be a “make or break year” for us, to get back to cruising after being land bound for almost 5 years. Clearly if we could have foreseen what was in store for us, we would, almost certainly have cancelled, postponed or signed up an “unwitting” competent enthusiastic young crew member to supplement our on board “workforce”!
Having coped as we did, and needed to do, and having been mightily challenged by the experience, our confidence in ourselves and in the boat was fully restored. The overriding verdict is: “Mission Accomplished”!!
Lambay and nearly home!
In addition, we were jollied along, and sustained by the great pleasure which we enjoyed ashore and by the kindness and company of the above mentioned friend.
Liz, my loyal wife and crew, is still talking to me and crewing for me, and I am both grateful and lucky, on both counts!
Days away …………….... 16
Days at sea…………….... 9
Days’ weather-bound…… 4
Distance covered………... 407nm
Destinations……………… 9
Top photo: Corsewall Point astern
