12. Busy going nowhere

As predicted in the last post, we were stuck in Elly Bay for 3 days.  We had some short, sharp, rain squalls but in the main it was sunny and very windy, force 6 to 7.  The anchor chain was bar taught and windsurfers were having a great time,  the relatively shallow water and little short waves suited them.  

Fortunately the phone signal was pretty good so Debbie was able to communicate with the rest of the world rather than just me!  A few jobs got done and plenty of reading.

When the wind finally eased enough for us to leave we had options involving getting around Erris Head and making our way along the South side of Donegal Bay before making the long crossing of the bay.  The decision was made for us when we came to get the anchor up.  CQR anchors like sand and firm mud and ours loved the bottom of Elly Bay!  When the cable was vertical the windlass circuit breaker tripped out.  With some forwards and reverse on the engine we eventually broke out the anchor but the windlass would not re engage so we had to get the last 5 metres up by hand.  We couldn’t contemplate the rest of the trip with no windlass so we needed a harbour that was likely to have marine engineering facilities.  Killybegs, as the main Irish deep sea fishing port seemed to fit the bill and it had a small marina.  This was too far to do in 1 day so we opted to break the passage up by stopping overnight in Ballyglass, deep into Broadhaven Bay on the South side of Donegal Bay.  

Choice made mainly because Reeds said there were visitors moorings so we would not have to use the anchor.  We did not find any dedicated visitors moorings so picked up a buoy in amongst the local fishing boats.  

As the tides were neap tides we had just enough water to stay afloat at low water.  Ironically Blacksod Bay and Broadhaven Bay are almost back to back so we sailed 30 miles and ended up a couple of miles from where we started!  But we have got another headland, Erris Head, out of the way.
We were up early the next morning for the 60 mile trip to Killybegs and were expecting a close reach all the way in a SE wind varying from force 2 to 5, pretty much what we got.

 On the East side of Broadhaven Bay we passed close to the Stags, pretty impressive peaks of rock rising out of the sea and spectacular cliffs on the shore.  

As the passage progressed it became more and more misty, which eventually turned to rain so for most of the trip we could see nothing and the wind strength varied so we were reefing, shaking reefs out or motor sailing at times throughout the trip, at least it kept us occupied.  Approaching Killybegs Debbie was able to contact the harbour and also get contact details of a marine engineering company, KER, who agreed to have someone visit us at 0800 the next morning to look at the windlass.  All looking very promising apart from the persistent rain.

Killybegs has a marina?  Depends on your definition of marina.  Killybegs has some pontoons with secure access.  That’s it!  No facilities whatsoever, no toilets, no showers, nothing!  The pontoons have power and water but the power posts all have 32 amp sockets and 16 amp 110 volt sockets, both of which are useless for the average yacht.  

The main harbour office is a half mile walk away and they do not have adapters to allow 16 amp 240 volt sockets to be used.  They did suggest where we could buy an adaptor but we declined as it would probably never be used again.  Just to add to our woes the phone signal was rubbish and there was no WiFi!  Not on our favourite places list but we were stuck there for a couple of days getting the windlass fixed.  By the way did I say it was raining?  For two days it rained non stop.
We did have some saviours.  Pauric (apologies if I’ve spelt it wrong) arrived from KER, checked the windlass control box and breaker, all OK, and removed the windlass to take back to his workshop.  He returned with an adaptor so at least we had power and the power box had money left on it so we didn’t have to buy a card.  We got showers in the local Tara hotel, a hot shower without worrying if the time was going to run out was bliss.  WiFi was provided by the Ahoy Cafe, close to the entrance to the pontoons.  

Tea and cakes while catching up with the internet was great and Claire didn’t mind us coming in dripping all over her floor!  Viv, who runs the local launderette kindly brought the completed washing back down to the harbour for us and Debbie managed to get a couple of lifts to the main, out of town supermarket and I got a lift with one of the harbour staff to get a couple of cans of diesel.  Helpful, friendly people makes a big difference..
The problem with Killybegs is it is quite a prosperous town on the back of the deep sea fishing fleet, and some of these trawlers are big!  

But fishing is changing and is not bringing as much money in as it used to.  The town hasn’t yet got it’s head around tourism as an additional revenue earner.  A cruise ship was due in after we left.  It would be interesting to see what the passengers think about the place.
Back to our windlass.  Pauric stripped it down and found the problem was due to some internal corrosion.  By mid morning on the 2nd day (Friday) the windlass was back in the boat and tested.  A good job done although the labour charge was eye watering!
By Friday afternoon the rain was showing signs of easing off as the weather front passed through so we prepared to continue Northwards.  A deep Atlantic depression was forecast for overnight on Saturday and during Sunday so we needed shelter from south east through to west.  Our choices were Aranmore (N Aran island) or Church Pool, tucked behind Inishkeel.  We opted for Church Pool as we were advised that Aranmore would be heaving as it is an Irish bank holiday weekend, the passage would be 10 miles shorter and the anchorage was very sheltered.  
We left Killybegs on Saturday morning in a SW breeze which varied from 7 to 15 knots, needing a push with the engine from time to time.  Approaching Rathlin O’Birne Sound at the North end of Donegal Bay we saw the cruise ship on her way to Killybegs.  

Turning North we passed Glen Head, with it’s fantastic cliffs, then low lying Davros Head before turning East for the last few miles to Church Pool where we found a visitors buoy well tucked into the bay and sheltered from swell.

 The sandy beach looks very tempting and we can read the name of a restaurant on the shoreline (with binoculars) but we are now sitting out the forecast SW gale force 7 to 8 and awaiting the imminent gale 8 to strong gale 9 this afternoon which should ease off overnight.  

Busy going nowhere again!  It’s dry, we have good phone signal and some internet so we can catch up on the things we couldn’t do in Killybegs.  We might even be able to post this blog.