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| The yellow foot chanterelle, alias Craterellus tubaeformis |
On 11th August, we decided to sail to Reykjavik from Vestmann Islands, despite a no supporting winds forecast. The first surprise during a night shift was to spot on the horizon a red light not indicated on the nautical charts. Getting closer, it became apparent that this was a fire of some sort.
Only then I realised that in Iceland, such fires are erupting volcanoes...
Vestmannaeyjar is a set of volcanic Islands. It is the first safe harbour when sailing from Ireland or Scotland.
We finally were able to sail the 574 nautical miles from Bara, in the South of the Hebrides archipelago, to Heimaey, the harbour on Vestmannaeyjabær (the Vestmann Islands). All together, it took us four full days, meaning that our average speed was 6 knots. Not too bad!
The window of opportunity was quite narrow as gale level winds were expected along the Hebrides around 8 August, which would have delayed our crossing for another week. But, after carefully looking at the weather forecast we decided to leave within few hours of our assessment as there was an opening with fair winds along the course.
So, we made it...
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!
Inishkea Islands are among the most interesting places visited so far on the West coast of Ireland. They are uninhabited nowadays but have a fascinating history and a lot of vestiges from the past.
