During the Napoleonic-era, a signal tower was built at Brow Head near Crookhaven, Ireland. A century later, the Marconi Wireless Telegraph company installed telegraphic equipment on Fastnet Rock and a station on Brow Head. Passing ships signaled the Fastnet Lighthouse and the keepers relayed the message wirelessly to Brow Head for transmission to the final…
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Sherkin to Crookhaven
Leaving Sherkin Island, we checked out the tiny harbour on Cape Clear Island, then did two laps around Fastnet Rock before stopping for the night in beautiful Crookhaven Harbour, home of Ireland’s most southerly pint. En route we saw another castle and two ancient watchtowers, plus plenty of dramatic scenery. Trip highlights from June 16,…
Baltimore, Ireland
The 55-foot Baltimore Beacon, known locally as “Lot’s Wife”, marks the entrance to Baltimore Harbour atop a 300-ft cliff. James knew from the moment we arrived that Jennifer, who suffers from the extreme inability to resist a good view, would find a way to reach the Beacon. So he wasn’t at all surprised when she…
Two Sides of the Atlantic
In February of 2016, we completed our longest passage ever: 3,700nm across the South Atlantic from St. Helena to Barbados. And in May of this year, we completed our worst passage ever: 2,800nm across the North Atlantic through three gales from Newport, RI to Kinsale, Ireland. In between, we’ve cruised the West Atlantic between Florida…
Sherkin Island
Sherkin Island in Baltimore Harbour has ruins dating from the 1400s, including a castle and a friary. The island also has some excellent walking trails with views to Baltimore Harbour and the Atlantic Ocean, and two pubs, also with water views. Trip highlights from June 12th through 14th at Sherkin Island, Ireland. Click any image…
Kinsale, Ireland
Kinsale was a wonderful place to make landfall into Ireland. As is often the case, the original idea to go to Kinsale was passed on by a blog reader. The town is considered the gourmet capital of Ireland, which is one of the reasons we decided to enter Ireland here rather than at Crosshaven on…
Old Head of Kinsale
The Old Head of Kinsale was a welcome sight for us at the completion of our 2,800nm passage from Newport, RI to Kinsale, Ireland. With a sunny weather forecast, we took the opportunity to make the 8-mile bike ride to get a closer look and take in the sweeping view from the restored signal tower….
Two Laps Around Fastnet Rock
Fastnet Rock is the most southern point in Ireland and the light on it is known world-wide, partly because it is the turn-around point of the classic ocean sailing race of the same name. We’ve now had Dirona at the location of several notable offshore races, including Vic-Maui, Transpac (San Pedro to Diamond Head), Sydney…
James Fort
Construction began on James Fort in 1602 after the English victory over the Spanish and Irish in the 1601 Battle of Kinsale. The fort fell into neglect, and became known as “Old Fort”, once contruction began in 1678 on Charles Fort across the harbour. While James Fort isn’t nearly the tourist attraction that Charles Fort…
Kinsale Pub Crawl
Despite our best efforts, we didn’t come close to visiting all the pubs in Kinsale, let alone all the restaurants. The problem seems as challenging as in Halifax, NS, despite Kinsale having a population of only 5,000 compared to Halifax’s 316,000. We’re told that at one point Kinsale had 38 pubs. And we didn’t have…
