Galway County Galway Republic of Ireland

Galway comes highly recommended by various CA (Cruising Association) members on the CAptain’s Mate app, so we were keen to visit.  It would also be a useful place to do some laundry and a food shop. However, the marina, such that it is, is rather small and the harbour, in which the marina is located, is accessed via a lock gate which only opens from 2hrs before HW until HW (day and night). So it’s not the most easily accessible place! Also, since the marina is so small, there is no guarantee of a berth, though all the reports are that the staff members are very helpful in trying to fit boats in.

We left Inishmore on Monday 9^th June in a brisk southwesterly breeze and hoisted full main and a poled-out genoa to push us on our way the 20nm east. Shortly after leaving Inishmore, Nicky called the harbour office and was told that there wasn’t much space but that there would be a berth provided we were happy to raft. We were, of course, and so continued on making very good speed eastwards, helped by the ever-increasing breeze. The GRIB files had indicated that the wind would drop off as we made our way into Galway Bay but that was definitely not the case. In fact, the wind increased and by the time we arrived in the bay outside the harbour it was blowing 20+kts. Reeds and the pilot books talk of lots of moorings in the bay outside the harbour but there was just one enormous mooring to be seen. We spoke to the Harbour Office on the radio and were told that there were no layby moorings outside the harbour but that we could lie alongside the wall outside the harbour if we wished whilst we waited. Since the wind was now whistling through the rigging at 24kts, and we would be on the windward side of the wall, we declined the offer and, instead, picked up the huge mooring in the bay, putting one of our warps through each of the 10cm thick bridles attached to the 1m diameter buoy.

Eventually, the harbour gates opened and the commercial freighter that had been anchored in the roads made its way into the harbour with pilot aboard and under the watchful eye of the pilot vessel itself. Once through the harbour gates and into the main dock, we saw (on AIS) the freighter carry out a 3-point turn with the pilot vessel passing distances etc over the radio to the pilot on board the ship to ensure that the turn was carried out safely. The ship then moored back in the harbour entrance to take on its cargo.

Unfortunately, by the time the ship was moored a squall-line was passing across Galway harbour. The wind howled in at 27kts and rain hammered down. After a short while, the rain stopped but the wind continued unabated.  We hoped that the wind would drop as the squall line moved through but after half an hour it was clear that it wouldn’t do so quickly and, if we didn’t move reasonably soon, the harbour gates would close again. So, we slipped the mooring and headed in. As we went through the harbour entrance, we were greeted from the shore by Cormack from the harbour office who told us of the mooring options. We elected to go for rafting on a 37ft yacht, just behind the pilot vessel. Happily, the wind in the harbour basin was significantly less than outside the harbour (blanketed by adjacent buildings) and our approach to, and berthing on, Cahootswent very smoothly, aided both by one of her owners (Patrick and Annemarie) and by Cormack.

Once we were all tied up, with shorelines deployed, we were invited across to Cahoots for a cup of tea, which we were pleased to accept. We had a lovely time chatting with Patrick and his wife, Annemarie. They had had Cahoots in Ireland for nearly 3 years and were planning on taking her back into Scotland in a few weeks’ time but were concerned about tax, informing HMRC etc. We were able to put their minds at rest by telling them that, essentially, no VAT is due if a boat is re-imported to the UK within 3 years of having been exported, and we were later able to provide the CA’s confirmation of this (they may even join the CA, we have told them what a useful club it is!). It was good to chat, but Patrick and Annemarie were planning to depart the following morning, which meant we had to slip at 0430 so that they could get out to make the gate opening. An early night was in order!

Cahoots departed and Blue Velvet alongside

It felt like it was still the night before when the alarm sounded on Tuesday morning at 0415 but, as is the way, we leapt to and got Blue Velvet up and running and slipped from Cahoots to let Patrick and Annemarie get away. ­Then we took their place on the pontoon and…..did NOT go back to bed! [Ed - However much we wanted to!] There was a lot to do – admin, laundry, shopping (lots), sightseeing – it made sense to stay up and to get started so that we had (for example) our washing at the laundry as soon as the laundry opened.

Galway was very lively and busy with 2 cruise ships visiting

All was going well, the laundry was in at a service wash place and we were on our second run to the supermarket and had had a good look around the town, when my phone rang. It was Patrick from Cahoots. They had had an engine failure and were returning to Galway. What was the set-up with the big mooring buoy in the bay? I explained and Patrick said that he would sail to the buoy and then expected to be back in the marina at about 1700hrs; he’d arranged for an engineer to come out to look at the engine and to tow Cahoots in if needs be.

Rafted up again with Cahoots on our inside

We had had a couple of hours sightseeing when Cahoots returned, about an hour earlier than expected, belching clouds of white smoke and with a very rough sounding engine but, fortunately, under her own steam. We moved off the pontoon to let her go alongside – who knew how long they would be in Galway and we knew we planned to leave the following afternoon. We reciprocated the previous afternoon’s restorative tea-party and heard all about their trials and tribulations. Happily, the local engineer who had gone out to them that afternoon had agreed to visit again the next day to carry out a full check on the engine.

The tea party broke up and we took advantage of the blue skies and sunshine to take a sightseeing stroll along the River Corrib to the cathedral and back before dinner.

It was a lovely walk. The river is beautiful and, apparently, full of salmon, and the cathedral, completed and consecrated in only 1965, was not at all as we had been expecting.

It is a beautiful space but very simple and reminded us very much of a Lutheran church; it had none of the normal ornate décor that we usually associate with Roman Catholic churches and cathedrals.

Having visited the cathedral our walk took us down the other side of the river and across a bridge back to the port area.

The Spanish gate beside the Museum

Having quartered the city the previous day, we decided to spend the morning of Wednesday 11^th June in the Galway Museum. It’s free entry and we weren’t expecting much so we were surprised to find an excellent museum in which we learnt a lot about the forts on Inishmore, the geology of the area and the economic and social history of Galway City, including the part it played in the war resulting in the formation of the Irish Free State. It was a fascinating couple of hours.

Not quite such blue skies but time to get Blue Velvet ready to depart

Galway had primarily been a practical stop for laundry and shopping but we had also really enjoyed visiting the city. We could have easily stayed for longer but the lock gate would open mid-afternoon and there was a reasonable wind to get us west and most of the way out of Galway Bay. A favourable wind – not to be missed!

Galway, County Galway, Republic of Ireland