Aleria's Jaunt to Scotland: 31 July 2013, Broad Haven to Clew Bay, Ireland
Mackeral sky and mares tails, soon will be time to shorten sails. Making our way home to Clew Bay, bypassing the Inishkeas The wind was < 2 knots on the nose, so motor boat we were once again. We left Broad Haven early, shortly after sunrise, as it would be a long day rounding Erris Head and Achill Head and high tide was mid-afternoon. We have a 15-foot tidal variation and need a minimum of half tide to get across a shellfish bed to our mooring. The weather turned miserable. Welcome home! We made it to the Inishkeas around 1130 and poked our nose into the anchorage. The Inishkeas are relatively flat and said to be much like the Outer Hebrides, which we had not made it to in Scotland. There is a wide expanse of sandy beach, abandoned houses, some being restored as summer holiday cottages, and lots of ruins. Another of St. Columba’s monastic settlements – the guy was like George Washington, he slept around – and the remains of a whaling station. We toyed with ancho