Ddido is a Drascombe Dabber which has given us much pleasure for the past six years. In June we took her to southern Ireland. We sailed from several launching sites and saw many more. We did not explore very thoroughly the places where we sailed, but saw enough to realise that we could have spent much longer at many of these places

To start at the beginning, we took the ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare and drove in easy stages to Schull in the south-western corner of County Cork. Schull Harbour is more or less rectangular in shape, approximately one mile by half a mile. It is open to the south and protected from the prevailing south-west winds by Long Island.

Our first day sail took us out of the harbour and across Long Island Channel to Long Island itself. It was a delightful day and warm enough to sit and sunbathe.

The next day the wind was a bit stronger but under jib and mizzen only we beat along Long Island Channel again to Croagh Bay. There are many creeks and islands to explore stretching from Schull to Baltimore. Admiralty Charts 2129 and 2184 cover this area. I imagine one could easily spend a week pottering about in this area. We suspect this could be the best area for weather.

Glengarriff Harbour on the northern shore of Bantry Bay is a beautiful spot and well worth a visit. There is a launching site close to the main road about one mile south-west of Glengarriff village. We also found a well-sheltered camp site another mile along the same road. Garinish Island and much of the shoreline of the harbour is covered in lush vegetation.

The northern shore of Bantry Bay was explored by road on one of our wet days. We looked at Seal Harbour, Adrigole Harbour and Bearhaven. We crossed the peninsula to Bullydonegan Bay to admire the long sandy beach. We were now on the southern shore of the Kenmare River. We particularly liked the look of Ardgroom and Killakilleye Harbours although launching would appear difficult here.

Moving on again a few days later we took the road along the northern shore of the Kenmare River. Launching sites are not too numerous, but once you are afloat there are many sheltered creeks where a dinghy could lie in comfort. In a twenty mile stretch of coast one is rarely more than three miles from shelter., The width of the ‘river’ varies from half a mile near to Kenmare town, to three miles for the lowest part, and five miles where the Kenmare meets the broad Atlantic. Our shoreline reconnaissance and study of Admiralty Chart 2495 suggests the Kenmare to be another area for a week’s stay.

Another sunny day found us sailing just outside Kenmare River. We launched in the shelter of Derrynane Harbour and sailed round Abbey Island to the long sandy beach in Derrynane Bay. Another shore-based exploration took us to see Valentia Harbour and Island. We did not expect to go that far and did not have a chart of that area. However, from what we saw one could well spend several days exploring Valentia Harbour and River.

On our way back to Rosslare we spent an afternoon at Kinsale. This is one of the more popular and well-known harbours, but still very quiet when compared with any south coast harbour in this country. We were able to park our car and trailer at the top of a ramp at Kinsale — and leave it there without causing inconvenience to anyone whilst we had our lunch.

One or two general observations. Our Irish member Lady Barbara Levinge had warned us that if we get into difficulties on this coastline we should have to get ourselves out of them! There are no coastguards in Ireland. Make sure your suspension is sound on both car and trailer. The roads are not particularly rough but they do tend to be uneven. You are likely to find that your dinghy pitches as much on the road as it does on the sea.

We found everyone to be very friendly. The roads and the harbours are quiet. There are no harbour dues as far as we are aware. Ireland does not enjoy a Mediterranean type climate and you should be prepared for wet weather. We had two separate days when it poured with rain all day. We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and recommend it to anyone who is able to go. Be prepared for some bad weather and we should be very surprised if you don’t enjoy it too.