12th to 19th August
Glengarriff to Scilly
With sons, Tom and Johnny, aboard, we left the pretty little Irish village of Glengarrif for a night in Lonehort, before sailing next day, round the southwest corner of Ireland to Clear Island. It is near the Fastnet Rock and some of the leading monohulls in the Fastnet Race, with their sinister-looking dark sails, were rounding the rock as we passed.
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| Pretty Glengarriff anchorage |
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| Smart monohull reaches Fastnet Rock |
We dried out on the sand in Clear Island’s North Harbour as heavy rain fell, but enjoyed a gentle walk to the ‘Heritage Centre’ and the first wild blackberries of the year.
Then, with a good wind forecast we set off next day for the Scilly Isles, coincidentally accompanying the middle-ranking yachts in the Fastnet Race most of the 150 odd miles to Scilly. At around 6.5 to 7 knots most of the way - reefed too – we weren’t a lot slower than them. I’d unnecessarily stayed west of the racers’ direct route, thinking we might encounter competitive folk charging down on us in the night. In the event you realise how big the sea really is, and we didn’t see more than a handful of the 300+ yachts out there.
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| "The crew" and 'Misty' drying out N. Harbour, Clear Island |
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| A walk on Clear Island, S. Ireland |
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| A Fastnet racer for company (for a bit) |
After 26 hours we were anchored in sunshine off the heavenly Scilly island of Bryher, and stayed there a few days enjoying warm sun, swimming and the fresh veg that’s sold from little stalls. (Isn’t it called hedge veg?) We stayed for the summer fete on Bryher, then over to St Mary for fresh water, and on to St Agnes for beer, burger and chips in the popular Turk’s Head.
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| Green Bay, Bryher |
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| Green Bay, Bryher |
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| A meal for the staff |
It’s warm, sunny and very pretty wherever you are in the Scilly Isles, and blue and white agapanthus overwhelm the little lanes and paths that are always close to an inviting silvery sandy beach.
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| Beautiful water for a swim! |
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| Near full moon, The Cove, St Agnes (might have wrong setting on the camera?) |
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