Sailing to Glengarriff Bay County Cork Republic of Ireland

Heading out of Crookhaven

After lifting our anchor 0635, we quietly slipped out of Crookhaven.  The wind was very light and our wake stretched out a long way behind us in the calm sea.

The morning light brought a beautiful golden tinge to the vista but we could also see the slow buildup of clouds; the weather was definitely changing.

Mizen Head

The early start was necessary to catch the morning tide that would help us get west and past Mizen Head. That worked and we avoided counter-tide but it wasn’t until we had motored for 2 hours and were abeam Mizen Head that the wind had built sufficiently for us to switch off the engine and sail. It wasn’t fast going; with a poled out genoa we drifted ENE along Bantry Bay making 3-4 knots. However, we used the time to flush the watermaker to get it going again and to refill our tanks. The system had sat idle over the winter except for periodic pickling to preserve the membranes, so it was good to know that it was working again (after changing one of the filters) and that the water output tested as pure as it had done last year.

Approaching Glengarriff Bay with Garinish Island in the left of the picture

When we were in the outer part of Glengarriff Bay we dropped our sails to make our way past Garinish Island. We had visited the island during our last visit in 2021 and it is beautiful but looked very drab today in the grey light from the overcast sky.

Friar (L) and Bark (R) Islands

Bark Island and the Eccles Hotel

Once past Garinish Island, Friar and Bark Islands stood out with their colourful rhododendron bushes and we could see the large Eccles Hotel buildings on the shore.

Our most likely anchorage ahead

We needed to pick a spot to anchor that would be sheltered from the strong southwesterly and westerly winds forecast over the weekend. Our favoured spot was tucked in on the western shore…

Otter Rock and the channel behind it where we last anchored

... but before committing to that we took a look in the area immediately to the north of Garinish Island where we had anchored during our last visit.

Otter Rock (which does look rather like an otter) – with resident Common Seals.  
Apparently there are 400 seals resident in Glengariff Bay!

The resident seals on Otter Rock kept a close eye on us as we passed. It was nice to have close up look at Garinish Island, but we decided that the channel would not be as sheltered in the strong winds forecast so we went back to the western shore and dug our anchor in well, also letting out some extra chain.

Motoring up to our chosen anchorage by the bungalow

On the other side of the bay, on a mooring buoy, we saw another OCC yacht, Moonstone of Aberdour, with Allan and Claire on board. We had met them at an OCC gathering in Falmouth a couple of years ago and wanted to say hello before the weather turned grim, so we inflated the dinghy and zipped over.

Seals on Sunken Rock

On the way we took a look at our new seal neighbours on Sunken Rock. They didn’t seem to mind the tripper boats passing closer by but were very suspicious of us in our unknown dinghy.

It was nice to catch up with Allan and Claire on board Moonstone of Aberdour and discuss sailing plans over a cup of tea. They also gave us some top tips on walks ashore and where we could leave our dinghy. All we needed would be some gaps in the forecast rain; perhaps Sunday.

Glengarriff Bay, County Cork, Republic of Ireland