Dingle Bay

Well, all my talk of rabbits seems to have turned the weather against us!
The force 3 or less forecast for our trip from Schull turned out to be a force 5, gusting up to a 7. And of course from the wrong direction (NW), so we had a pretty bumpy trip motor-sailing into the seas. Luckily both Katie and Jessica (also aged 2) had a good long sleep after lunch, as Kathy and Fergus (aged 7) were feeling rather seasick and unable to move much.

approaching Castletownbere

Thankfully, they both made an immediate recovery on entering the smooth waters of the harbour, where Simon was waiting for us, and we all went for a pint in the famous McCarthy’s Bar. From here, they had to drive home in time for Simon’s gig and we said a fond farewell. We have enjoyed our two short days together - dining on Bantry Bay mussels & beer, visiting Simon & Kathy’s idyllic cottage, (complete with vegetable patch and free-range chickens), and taking the children to the local playpark with a stunning view over the bay. Thanks guys!



True to form, we had another day of strong winds to wait out in Castletownbere. We took the dinghy to nearby Dunboy Bay, had a walk ashore to see the castle ruins (dating from 1602) and found a tiny beach for Katie to practice throwing pebbles in. We also found three half-sunken shipwrecks so that kept Dave happy.

From there, we have come to Valentia Island, at the head of Dingle Bay, this time with no wind to speak of but a nice bit of leftover swell. We passed several uninhabited offshore islands – The Cow, the Calf and The Bull off Dursey Head, Puffin Island and the impressive Skellig islands. The smaller one of these is a gannet-breeding site and the other used to be home to a group of 12 monks, living a tough existence in tiny igloo-shaped stone huts from the 6th century onwards.

Just as we entered harbour, we heard yet another gale warning on the VHF. So we are now anchored in a quiet (but rolly) corner of Valentia Harbour and have an amazing view of endless green hills dotted with a few houses and the odd ruined castle. Directly behind us is ‘Glanleam’, the former home of the Knight of Kerry, one of whose ancestors was responsible for laying the first trans-Atlantic cable from Newfoundland to Valentia Island in 1866. Apparently there are also footprints from prehistoric tetrapods somewhere on the island.

The Barracks

The weather was still ok this morning so we took the dinghy the 2 miles to Cahersiveen for a wander ashore and ended up at an amazing castle-type building known as The Barracks. This was built by the British in 1870 to protect the transatlantic cable station after it had been threatened by a serious Fenian uprising the year before. It was later gutted by fire and left derelict for years before being turned into the current Heritage Centre. Katie wasn’t too impressed by all the history but she did enjoy climbing the spiral staircase up the turret!

By far the most amazing experience in this historic place was to arrive back after a bouncy dinghy ride (wind picked up by now) and find dolphins frolicking near our boat. They were playing right next to a group of children merrily capsizing sailing dinghies near the beach and we sat watching on deck for ages. Magic!