Chris Across Atlantic
June 18th, 2006

Loch na Lathaich, Isle Of Mull, Scotland

What do you know- It’s raining here! I arrived yesterday after a difficult 24 hour sail from Tory Island on the NW of Ireland. Difficult because the winds were light, the swell was running and it rained most of the time.

Two weeks of catchup- From Roundstone, I went onto one of my old haunts- Inishbofin, and then onto Clare Island. The wind was so light that making Westport in Co. Mayo was all but impossible. Sailing downwind against the tide was very slow going, and Clare Is was a close reach to port, so off we went. I spent a day on Clare Is, launched the mountain bike and explored the three roads on the island.

An interesting place Clare Is is. Clare stands in the entrance to Clew Bay and has high cliffs to the west on which break the ever present swell. There is a new pier there- 14 million Euros worth- giving a nice breakwater against weather from the SW. I had an interesting conversation with a worker who has spent two years working on the pier project. Turns out the islanders don’t want it! The local boats are largely engaged in Salmon farming on the leeward side of the island. The pier is there for tourism and I got the impression that tourism isn’t what the people want. There was also a certain toughness of the people there, a new pier (and it’s protection) may insult that toughness. The worker said that after two years on the island in this climate he felt like he was in prison.

I left Clare and rode the tide into Westport. I spent two fantastic days there catching up with old friends from last year. My friend Eugene from Kinvara had also made his way there and was doing last minute jobs before heading for Iceland. Two nights and two great sessions- one on Tradition with Eugene and Bill who plays the Bouzouki, one in a local pub with a bunch of the Westport gang. Some of the best tunes ever.

Leaving Westport in the early dawn I had quite a difficult passage north to Aranmor. I knew the winds were going to be strong, but I hadn’t counted on a gale. Blew it did and I spent 11 hours hove-to off Erris Head and finally made Aranmor in a force 7 the next day. No sooner than I got the anchor down I heard that yet another gale was going to be upon us overnight and the next day. A mile away was a narrow channel with shelter from almost any direction and off we were to hunker down. We were snug all night and the next morning until the tide came in, covered much of the rocks and sent in a bit of swell. So, off again to the nearest pier in Burtonport. I won’t bore the reader, but it really is difficult to get onto a pier in a gale by yourself and I was thankful that the harbormaster came out and lent a hand. I tried to pay him the next day and he gave a great quote in the thick Co. Donegal accent “I wouldn’t charge for anyone seeking shelter from bad weather. Now if you were taking up valuable pier space in fine weather that’s another matter…”

Tory Island is really the most Northwest point in Ireland. Northern Ireland lies to the east. Isolated as it is, it is equal parts Scottish, Irish and, well Tory. Tory is home to about 150 people, mostly involved in fishing lobster. Tory is the only place in Ireland with a King. No kidding, the king is elected and these days is not as important as he was in the past. We spent two delightful days on Tory tied up the new pier. There are four boats fishing out of Tory today and I was amazed by the stories of fishing out of Tory before the new Pier was completed a few years ago. The boats would carry a mooring with them made of huge anchors and ship’s chain. Often they would leave the “harbor” and the wind would blow from a direction that would make the harbor unsafe and they would have to go to the back side of the Island and setup the mooring there to wait out the weather. At times of really bad weather the boats would all shelter on the mainland and be cut off from the island all together. Even with the new pier, the boats are all hauled out for the winter. In days of old the lads would all head to Scotland to work some trade over the winter, and return in the summer to fish. I was amazed to learn that the boats weren’t hauled out with a crane, but dragged up the slipway on their keels. The boats have legs on either side with a car wheel on them!

Some interesting conversations from this time:
I’ve a friend on Inishbofin who is a retired marine biologist. Another local boat was in from Galway and we all got talking about marine farming. Turns out the Norwegians have a lock on the Salmon market, having the fjords and salmon cages that you can drive a truck out on. Turns out retired prison guards make the best salmon watchers. They are hired to watch the cages and spot anything unusual. I suppose caged fish and caged humans are similar enough.

The British yachts fly the Red Duster- a red flag with the Union Jack in the upper left hand quarter. An Irish friend calls it “The Butcher’s Apron.” No love for the Brits in Eire’.
On Inishmaan the electric company had power off to the whole island. An American tourist came into the only shop looking for a phone card to call the states. The reply: “come back at 6 pm, we rejoin the crazy world then.”