Lawrence Cove at Bere Island

- July 22, 2019

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 as yet. We took our usual spot in the anchorage. The two French boats came in after us, Two more boats came in, one dropped anchor and the other took a mooring while the Frenchies went into the marina. It's a popular place even before the Irish naval vessel poked its nose in and dropped anchor.

The wind was supposed to back SE and drop off overnight but they've altered the advisory to indicate that it would remain 5-7 SW overnight. We'll be fine here, but that means the seas will be vile tomorrow and there's a stronger gale forecast for Thursday in Galway. We may be hanging out for a bit. At least we know all the good places. If we venture out tomorrow, we'll head for Valentia, then Cashla instead of the Aran Islands on Wednesday. We can sit out a gale at the new small craft harbour in Rossaveal. The weather is getting more unpredictable every day.