Round Mizen Head

The weather forecasts have been very changeable. When we left Dingle we knew we had three days of friendly wind. It might gust a little strong, (16 gusting 20 knots is strong for us) but the direction West or North West was good to help us on our way. Then on Thursday it would get stronger and swing round to the South West. The wind strength, (20 gusting 30) was something we would not take Robinetta out in on these exposed coasts. She is too small, and the seas too big. Once we were past Mizzen Head South West would be as good as any other wind, but it would make our trip south then east round Mizzen Head difficult, since we would end  up with wind against tide whenever we had a favourable tide to help us round.

Then last night the forecast changed. Wind direction after Thursday stayed the same, but the speed dropped to below 10 knots. It meant than rather than hurrying to find shelter before Thursday we could take our time. We thought about staying an extra night at Lawrence Cove Marine to explore Bere Island, but in the end we decided to stick with our original plan and head round Mizzen Head today.

We came off the pontoon at  07:10, in bright sunshine, but by the time we were out in Bere Haven channel and I was hoisting
the jib it started raining heavily. Luckily we both had full oilskins on, but Julian left me on the helm while he ducked below to add an extra layer and his sea boots. I raised the stay sail and headed happily East towards the end of Bere Island, but then realised that I did not know what happened then. Since I had passage planned yesterday Julian was doing it today, and it turned out that he had not looked at the east end of Bere Island in any detail. He quickly turned the chart plotter tablet on, and directed me back toward the small boat channel out into Bantry Bay. A fishing boat was using it too, which helped show me where it was.

Bantry Bay in the rain

Once we were clear of the rocks I put Robinetta head to wind while Julian raised the mainsail. We left her fully reefed as the wind still felt pretty strong. Julian went below to cook bacon sandwiches for breakfast, while I headed South West across Bantry Bay towards Sheep's Head. With the jib out I would sometimes feel overpowered in the gusts, but loosening the halyard for the stay sail de-powered her enough for safety.

Julian took the helm to let me eat my breakfast, and kept it as we passed Sheep Head and made for Three Castle Head. We were out in the Atlantic swell by now, and our course to clear the headland took us across the swell in an extremely uncomfortable way. Robinetta has a strong rolling motion, which is best avoided, so we headed further west and out to sea to get us more head on to the waves.
Julian, who was helming, thought we were far enough out and wanted to head back inshore. We should have gybed round for efficiency, but decided to tack instead because of the swell. It seemed to take a long time to get back onto the right course! With our stern to the waves we closed with the coast amazingly quickly, and he soon decided it was time to gybe back round to our previous course. Once we were heading out into the Atlantic he passed me the helm for my stint. Meeting the waves at the best angle took a lot of concentration, and within half an hour I became convinced that we were heading way too far west.

between Three Castle Head and Mizzen Head

Meanwhile Julian had turned on the chart plotter to check on how we were going, and proved to himself that we were actually doing very well, and should continue as we were. His earlier tack towards the coast had been prompted by the “We are heading too far west” feeling I now had, so he was able to assure me that we did not need to head East yet. The chart plotter went off, and it was back to eyeball navigation.

Mizen Head visitor centre

Looking east towards Mizzen Head various headlands and islands came into view past it, including the Fastnet Rock lighthouse. I decided it was time to gybe, and round we went. Mizzen Head was on the bow, then to port of it, as the tide pushed us past. We were on the edge of a run, and every time the stay sail began to come over I nudged the tiller so it stayed on the same side as the mainsail. With a reefed main we had no preventer to hold the boom out on the proper side, and while the swell was now behind us if a wave came at a different angle there was a chance we would roll and the main sail would gybe. The last thing I wanted was an accidental gybe, and the staysail flopping over makes a good indicator that we were getting close to one.

Entrance to Crrokhaven

As we got further past Mizzen Head the swell died away, and we were soon in much calmer water. We unfurled the jib, and sped along the coast, for a truly enjoyable sail. We passed the entrance to Crookhaven, which we had considered trying to get to yesterday, and the lighthouse marking the enterance was certainly impressive.

Our initial plan had been to finish today's sail in Baltimore, but as we passed along Long Island we decided to stop earlier, and headed for Schull instead. We sailed into the bay, hoping to wait for some wind shadow before lowering the main, but it continued to feel strong, so we ended up going head to wind just after the Bull Rock red beacon and dropping the main there.

After looking round the bay we found the visitor moorings and picked one up at 15:30, after a lovely but tiring sail round Mizzen Head.