ArchiCAD University Sailing: Cape Clear + Fastnet, Ireland June '06

Thursday 22nd June: Most of us met up at Cork Airport having arrived from Stansted. Andreas and Schorsch had arrived earlier and got a combination of bus and hitchiking to get to Bere Island ahead of us. Daniel and his wife met us with his cars and trailer, and drove us through rugged mountain scenery across to Glengariff, and then we followed the northern coastline of Bantry Bay. The ferry to Bere Island is a bit of an experience in itself, especially for the newcomers. We ate on the boats and spent a pleasant evening chatting.

Friday 23rd June: Our plan was to go round the southwestern cape and spend the night in Skull. The wind was light and from the south, so it was a long beat south, Daniel skippering W_E and David NC skippering L_of_G. The two yachts are different, White Elephant has a longer waterline, a fin keel and new sails - so poor Lady of Grace was left far behind - but she's a plucky goer and fun to sail. We were visited by dolphins on the way. Near Mizen Head, we changed our plan to spent the night at Crookhaven, and motored the rest of the way. Crookhaven is remarkably sheltered in any weather, and has some good pubs. On our visit, it was shrouded in dense cloud almost down to sea level. After a fine Austrian goulasch Dinner, we got the dinghy ashore and visited O'Sullivans pub with live music - we were rewarded with a superb set from a 4 piece band that got the pub crowd dancing.

Saturday 24th June: We sailed South East towards the Fastnet Rock with an excellent beam Force 4 wind from the North East - perfect sailing! The rock is spectacular close up, and one can only wonder at the fortitude of those who built the present one in 1904 (and the previous lighthouses) in such an inaccessible place. We continued on a run from the Fastnet to Baltimore, a pleasant little sea port with some nice eating places. Later in the afternoon, we continued on our voyage by setting out to sea from Baltimore in stiff force 5 [gusting 6] wind with reefed sails on a beat out to sea, so we could tack back to the channel between Cape Clear and Sherkin Island. See the Video above. We found the North Haven, a sheltered cove in Cape Clear, also with a good pub - which is high on the island and allows a view over the South Haven.

Sunday 25th June: Light south easterly wind, and we left Cape Clear and ghosted along all the way to Mizen Head using cruising chutes ('gennakers') to sail with. At Mizen Head, we found that our wind met a light north westerly airflow meaning that there was almost none at the meeting place. So we motored north, picking up brief periods of sailable wind - during that leg, the crews observed a basking shark. As the evening approached, so did rain clouds, and we hurried under motor to Lawrence Cove. After Daniel's dinner, we had another pleasant evening at the pub on Bere Island.

Monday 26th June: After a good boat cleaning, we got the ferry back over to the mainland and the two cars took another picturesque route through the mountains back to Cork Airport.

See more about the yacht at the website: http://www.dod-architects.com/zeilen
Many thanks to Rob who lent us the second boat, and allowed us the pleasure of sailing in a small flotilla (always more fun).