Clockwise around Ireland
John Latham fulfills a long-held ambition to circumnavigate the Emerald Isle in his Jeanneau 349
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to sail around Ireland, headland by headland. The ambition soon became a reality when John Mcquaid and I joint-purchased our Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 349, Scoundrel, in early 2017. A shake down cruise to West Cork later, and we were ready to sail clockwise around Ireland.
We decided to split the voyage into two parts. The first passage was a non-stop 275-mile voyage from our home port, Dún Laoghaire, south of Dublin to Dingle during the last weekend of June. We would then rejoin the boat in Dingle a few weeks later to continue with daily passages up the Atlantic coast, around the top of Ireland into the North Channel and then back down the Irish Sea to home.
John’s son, Eoin joined us for some of the circumnavigation, although John had warned me that for romantic and social reasons, he would quite likely jump ship somewhere along Ireland’s Atlantic coast.
The first half of the circumnavigation was fairly uneventful. With no wind, it was a 48 hour passage under engine to the excellent Dingle Marina. The only drama was lobster pot entanglement near the Saltee Islands, which necessitated Eoin donning a wetsuit and freeing the propeller with a diver’s knife. The second half was more memorable. Leaving Dingle on 15 July, we stopped at Fenit in Tralee Bay and Kilrush in the Shannon Estuary before we rounded Loop Head to enter the Atlantic proper. We were excited by the prospect of our first island destination: Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. Having safely arrived at Kilronan, we spent a full day exploring the island in the sunshine, walking to the Bronze Age promontory fort Dún Aonghasa before a refreshing swim in the harbour.
The shimmering smoke-grey peaks and ridges of the Maamturk Mountains of North Connemara were the highlight of our 62 mile passage, from Inishmore to Clare Island.
The Atlantic coast cannot be surpassed for dramatic scenery, high cliffs, mountains and mighty headlands. Islands are a special feature of this most western part of Europe and we were sorry that we had only time to visit three, although we certainly needed our wits about us as we navigated the extensive maze of rocks which guard South Connemara and Roundstone.
Mist and drizzle greeted us when we arrived at Clare Island harbour, where we picked up a visitors’ mooring overlooked by Gráinne Ní Mháille’s Castle. Better known as Grace O’malley, Gráinne Ní Mháille was the famous 16th century Irish noblewoman and pirate queen.
As expected Eoin abandoned ship the next day, taking the ferry to Roonah Quay on the mainland. Scoundrel is well set up for doublehanding, so we continued, motoring out into the drizzle and fog and pointing our bow towards Ballyglass, a tucked away harbour up a narrow inlet south of Broad Haven Bay. We only passed two other boats – a fishing trawler and a yacht – during the entire 50 mile passage, neither of which were transmitting AIS. On the west coast we rarely met other yachts.
Our next port, Teelin Harbour, across Donegal Bay, is hidden within steep surrounding cliffs, and we were grateful for the small lighthouse at the harbour’s entrance as fog had reduced visibility to 100 yards. Once safely on a visitors’ mooring we headed to the welcoming and intriguingly named Rusty Mackerel pub for dinner.
The fog was still with us in the morning and it was a delayed start for the 55 mile passage to Tory Island. We chose to motor sail out beyond Rathlin O’beirne Island
before heading NNE towards Aran Island. Most of the passage was a dead run in a Force 4 under mainsail alone, as the wind was too far aft for our asymmetrical chute. This fairly uneventful passage became more dramatic as we approached Tory Harbour.
The wind had increased to 25 knots and the choppy seas were manageable, but our approach to the high harbour pier almost ended in disaster.
With fenders at the ready on the starboard side, we were sidling into a nice berth next to a ladder only for Scoundrel to came to an abrupt and sickening, clanging halt.
A hydraulic crane jib, protruding 90° out from the pier, had engaged with our mast about two-thirds of the way up. My heart sank as I imagined the rig coming down around our ears. A gust of wind then blew us off the pier and we somehow disengaged from this aerial hazard. The mast and rigging survived unscathed, not so our nerves!
With gales forecast in the Irish Sea, we didn’t linger at Tory Island and left early the next morning bound for Co. Antrim. Leaving the Atlantic, we rounded the north of Ireland and the next three days brought passages to Ballycastle’s superb marina looking onto Rathlin Island and Bangor in Belfast Loch.
The final passage of 102 miles to Dún Laoghaire took 18 hours due to the hard slog around the Ben of Howth into Dublin Bay, with adverse wind and tide. As we pulled into our home berth, our adoring wives were waiting to take Scoundrel’s lines.
Our circumnavigation of Ireland had taken a total of 158 hours at sea, with 34 hours under sail alone. We had covered 858 miles at an average speed of 5.4 knots, and completed 11 passages. Scoundrel’s engine had consumed 250 litres of diesel.
I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.