Keeping Ireland to Starboard

The weather was much better the following morning and we all went for a walk along the old railway line which used to go to Letterkenny but is now a greenway.
We returned to the pier and found ‘Lady Belle’ in the process of taking on water from a nice large hose on the pier so I too took the opportunity to fill my water tanks before the hose went back ashore.

After a relaxed morning we left at 12.15 via the main channel which I thought was just as tricky as the one we had come in by.
Outside the wind was blowing force 4-5 from WNW so it looked like we’d have a good sail to Tory.
I had a reef in the main just in case. When I have a doubt especially when sailing solo, I always say to myself, it is much easier to take out if you don’t need it than to put one in when you’re hard pressed outside.

Once in open water I hoisted the sails and off we went towards Owey Sound.
It was just as easy to have kept outside the island but we had heard nice things about the sound from ‘Lady Belle’ so I furled the genny and motorsailed through it to have full control in the narrow meandering channel and to be able to see the leading marks while doing so.
It was well worth going through it. If I had more time I’d have anchored off the beach and spent the afternoon there, but on we had to go.

On the other side of the sound I unfurled the genny again and shook out the reef in the main as the wind had eased on the north side of the island.
We stayed west of the nasty looking Bullogconnell shoals, NW of Gola and then headed NNE towards Tory.

As we sailed past Bloody Foreland I discovered that it must have been the red cliffs that gave the headland its name and not some bloody battle fought nearby.
Beyond it we could see the silhouette of the low lying Tory on the horizon.

It was a strange feeling sailing out to Tory.
It was the only island where we were seemed to be leaving Ireland and heading offshore. All the other islands had been on our course with the mainland just off to starboard.
But even though Tory is only 6 miles off Bloody Foreland, this time the island was on the horizon and the mainland was almost disappearing astern.

It was flat calm inside the harbour when I tied up outside a small ferry that luckily had all the appearances of being finished for the day. Many of the free berths seemed to have permanent mooring lines rigged and I didn’t want to find myself in someone’s berth and having to move later. As it turned out, the berth I was going to tie up to up to before seeing the lines, had its normal occupant return shortly after I had arrived.
‘Second Chance’ came in about half an hour later and tied up to me.

It was very quiet and not what I was expecting as it always seemed to be busy anytime I saw programmes about Tory on TV but then Patsaí Dan Mac Ruaiddhrí (Rodgers) the King of Tory, who used to welcome visitors was no longer alive, having died in 2018.
I don’t think a new king has been elected and covid probably had replaced any warm welcome we could have expected.

We went ashore and explored for an hour or so before ending up at the hotel where we had a drink before deciding to stay and have dinner there as well.
The staff were very friendly and spoke in Irish but in a dialect that was a bit difficult for my Munster ears. Jim having spent time in the Gaeltacht in the North West fared better.

When we got back to the harbour, we found that with the low tide we couldn't get back onto the ferry to got to the boats.
There was no ladder. Jim eventually got to his dinghy and we were able to make out way aboard via a ladder and the dinghy.Read more