As we had 91 nautical miles (168 km) to go from Inishkea for Buttenport, we decided to sail at night in order to arrive in Buttenport in the afternoon. On such winds, it could take us up to 20 hours for the distance, and it did. Night sailing on Cybèle 17 was very comfortable as we could keep the tent all way long given its many windows allowing a good watch in all directions, including the sail over the tent roof. It was most pleasant when it started to rain!
Night shift on Cybèle 17
The coast is similar to what we have seen so far in Ireland, in particular for the square defense towers as on the picture below.
The only spot we found in Buttenport to moor was along side two old fishing boats in the state of wreckage after pushing out the two small boats along their side, to the extent that we were scared that they may drown overnight!
Buttenport had not much to offer for a short stop over. The grocery store was 1.2 km away, and had very limited sortiment. We stayed overnight and departed the following morning for a direct crossing towards the Hebrides in Scotland, UK.
Departing towards the North from Buttenport brought us along a very scenic but busy channel. The traffic of ferries is continuous in this busy summer period and requires much attention as they go fast and the channel may be narrow at times.
We come across very tempting white sand beaches.
An illustration on how to paint a beacon in the channel :-)
François on dishwashing duties while sailing towards the Hebrides
We cover the 126 miles of the Buttenport-Castlebay segment in the Hebrides (Scotland) in 22 hours. We were sailing with full back wind, 8 to 14 knots, with the mainsail and the genoa under outrigger being chiseled the whole time.
We finally make it to the tiny marina in Castlebay fully equipped with hot showers and washing/drying machines, but limited WIFI connexion, for 2.5 £ per meter and night.
Castlebay marina
Below is the journey so far after 400 nautical miles (740 km).
Ca fait une paille que j'ai pas vu Valérie !!!
ReplyDelete