Port Ellen to Rathlin

We left the pontoon at Port Ellen at 06:45, trying to make the most of the wind and tide. We needed to reach Rathlin about high water Belfast to avoid the overfalls off Bull Rock, and the tide would be running South East, with a South East wind. That actually meant that rather than steering 180º for Rathlin we should head on a compass course on 210º, which would let us sail. That was the theory, and it did work in practice, at least as long as there was wind.

When we left Port Ellen we got the sails up before clearing the reefs that protect the entrance. Almost as soon as we were clear of Ceann nan Sgeirean we went onto our heading of 210º, only varying slightly to clear Otter Gander rock. The main sail was not really drawing, and the sea was flat, so the tiller pilot went on duty.

By 08:20 we had Rubha Nan Leacan, the South western point of Islay, behind us, the jib was set, and we were doing 4.7 knots. Julian realised we were actually sailing rather well, and throttled back the engine, then set it to idle. Robinetta's speed did not drop, so the engine went off, and we had a lovely hour of sailing before the wind died.

When the wind died the swell became noticeable, and just centring the main did not stop it flogging. We lashed the boom to the back stay, then eventually lowered the sail after an hour when it became clear that the wind was not coming back.

The tiller pilot did its best to keep us on track, but by 11:30 we were in an area where the tide kept varying. There were areas of flat water, that looked like upwellings, and places were the sea looked confused, with no wave pattern, but small sharp points instead. The tiller pilot, with its simplistic knowledge of where was the bow was pointing, needed constant adjustment. Hand steering felt much simpler, so I took over.

The overfalls off Bull Point are only there around 2 hours before high water, and we had planned to avoid them, by arriving an hour later than that. However we could see an area where the confused sea's amplitude approached that of overfalls as we approached Bull Point. Julian was helming, and he decided that heading out into calmer waters felt safer than trying to slip close inshore with the way the tide was running.

I saw a small fin in the water, and thought “harbour porpoise”, then I caught another glimpse, of a larger fin, and decided it was a dolphin of some sort. It seemed to be heading away from Bull Point, just where we wanted to go. A third glimpse of fin was the last I saw of it. We did not have to go far off the direct course, the overfalls extended 3 cables, rather than three miles, and then we turned towards Church Bay.

 

Cooraghy Bay

Bull Rock is very photogenic, but the poor visibility meant no photograph could do it justice. The same went for the chalk cliffs and caves in Cooraghy Bay, but actually being there was spectacular. We saw Guillemots, razorbills, and puffins, plus a variety of gulls, and a seal.

Julian had been afraid that the tide would be against us in Church Bay, but if it was it was so weak that we did not notice. We were safely moored up on a pontoon in the harbour by 13:30, but then moved onto a different one at the request of the harbour master. Julian said he felt quite out of practice at mooring alongside a pontoon rather than in a finger berth, so I happily let him helm for both!