Aleria's Adventures

Leaving Bere Island in cool misty but windy conditions We spent a reasonably calm evening at Bere Island but decided to press on to Valentia in the morning despite a continued small craft warning (SCW). The SCW was for SE winds of F5-6. Aleria loves those conditions. The day before it was for SW winds F5-6, increasing to 7 for a time and we did okay. Right from the beginning, this trip took a turn from a being a cruise to being a delivery. I don't think we've really done that before. Perhaps only the first trip up from the Chesapeake to Long Island Sound when we first bought Aleria.  Interesting - I wonder what has changed. We raised the sails inside Bere Island then sailed through the cut at Ardnakinna Point, which was not easy as the seas were pretty big outside and nasty in the cut, but it saved us 2.5 miles in and 2.5 back out around the back of Bere Island. It was about 15 miles out past the end of the Beara Peninsula and we motor sailed that part while refrigera

Fog lifting n Crookhaven We left Crookhaven at a reasonable hour. It had been very foggy in the morning but by 10 am the fog had lifted enough to see islands in the distance. We pulled up anchor just after two small French boats left and headed west. The Dutch boat left just after us and headed east. It was a bit choppy and messy out there. We had hoisted our main and mizzen but not the staysail as Alex thought we'd be sailing into headwinds until Mizzen Head. He was sort of right but once we got past Mizzen Head it was just too lumpy and boisterous to go forward. So we motor sailed the 27 miles at about 8 knots, cutting the time to just under 4 hours. We sailed into the narrow cut using the sector light to guide us. Luckily only one sailboat came out while we were heading in. The wind got stronger and gustier but not a problem as we had put in two reefs expecting the wind to increase. There was a boat anchored close to the channel to the marina and no on one the moorings

Sod roofed shed  We left at 9 am with a nice light breeze out of the NW. It was to clock W then SW as the day progressed, F5 for us but higher to the north. Then, midday, a new small craft warning was issued, now with a F6 on all waters.

I'm going backwards but I did not get a chance to fill in a few details about Bantry Bay. The Bay itself is lovely with high hills all around catching light in interesting ways. Aside from Adrigole and Glengarriff, there's a lovely marina on Bere Island servicing mostly sailing vessels. The approach to the marina is now marked so access is straightforward. Castletownbere on the other hand, as well as many small harbours along the shores, cater more to fishing vessels.