An Ilur in Ireland

My name is Tim. Ilur is a 14' 8"(4.46m) sail and oar boat designed by Francois Vivier (http://www.vivierboats.com/). Here are my adventures in the Ilur that I built. Please note that I no longer reply to e-mails about the Ilur or any of my boats. If you want answers that you can't find in my archive then you can ask questions on the wooden boat forum. There are a lot of Ilur builders there now who would be more than happy to help..

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One of those days today...

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Doesn't get any better than an offshore following breeze on a morning like this..

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Leaving Millcove the next morning..

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Pictures about 10 hours apart.

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Tucked into Millcove. Mast down and ready to row.

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Getting into the lee makes reefing a lot less stressful. Kelp-y bottom in here, so I took the small kedge anchor of its ground chain and just used the chain and rode to hold the boat. Anchor can't get stuck if you don't use it.

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I had a wonderful Northerly breeze on this trip meaning I could sail whichever direction along the coast I wanted. I choose to go east as the next day the wind was to veer easterly. I sailed close hauled in an arc from the mouth of Glandore to Cloghna head on the west end of Long strand. The contours of the land meant I was being lifted the whole way. I then tacked and headed west back towards Millcove. I sailed close in under the lee shore of Castlebay and tied in a second reef. I had been on the very verge of needing the second reef since I left the confines of Glandore. Video above is the approach to Castle Bay. See if you can spot the castle on the sea stack..

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I brought the sun in with me the next day as I returned to the mooring.

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Cille Cuais is the name of the cove. I imagine that translates to church cove. Seems like an apt description..

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Kedged into a narrow cove on the west side of blind harbour. I had been eyeing this cove up the last few times I visited. Turns out it is the perfect place to stay out of a cold south westerly. Low tide at 8 in the evening and roughly the same time next morning meant I wasn't going to awaken to a crunching sound early in the dead of the night. The cove also came with a patch of oarweed that looked a bit like an octopus.

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It has pretty much done this non-stop since the end of June..

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A beat up the Big Sound to get home the next day. The wind was light - I would have had to motor last year with the short mast. I ducked through Rabbit Island sound as the tide was starting to ebb. It tends to be a more neutral current as it empties in two directions. I then reached up the harbour against the tide to get to the mooring.

That is probably it for this season, apart from maybe a few day sails. As I write this there is a westerly near gale howling outside. Looks like the weather has broken.

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I hadn't been to Blind Harbour yet this year. Always a favourite of mine. Mainly because it is always calm and I get a decent sleep! It was lovely warm September day.

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I had the notion to sail around Galleyhead, Friday, fortnight ago. The wind had been northerly all week - perfect for heading along the coast in a small boat. When I got out of the mouth of the harbour it turned out that there was too much east in the wind. Plan B came into effect -Blind Harbour. I had plenty of time so I ran down Rabbit Sound, reached across to High Island and passed to the south of it. I kept going west until copper rock lined up with the eastern end of Myross, before I turned for the mouth of Blind Harbour. This kept me clear of the submerged Row Rock - only 2 metres below the surface at low water. I wouldn't have hit it with my draught, but having a big tower of kelp loom out of the deep all of a sudden, was a scrotum tightening experience I could do without.

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10 days ago I went back to Millcove Creek. I didn't take any photos, just this video of a rare(for Ireland) migrant osprey. I stayed at the bottom of the creek and watched it fish at the top end for the evening. The nearest place they breed is Scotland. This one was passing through on its way to Africa.

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It was a great way to extend the trip.

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On the way home I stopped at Rabbit Island for a barbeque with my sisters and my nieces and nephew who arrived by rib. It was a pretty idyllic day and we got there early to claim the best beach.