Pathos and Pleasure. Glenarm to Rathlin 31 August 2024

 

The Pleasure

Yesterday we saw a walking route sign for the International Appalachian Trail.         In Glenarm?! In Co Antrim, Norn Iron?!  Weird.

This morning we found out what this is all about:

The International Appalachian Trail (IAT) Ulster Ireland is just one of a growing number of established IAT walking trails stretching across 3 continents which share a common geological heritage - the Appalachian-Caledonian Mountains.  These formed more than 250 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era.  The trail begins at Slieve League in Donegal, goes east through the Blue Stack Mountains, through Tyrone, and then follows the Ulster Way round the north coast and down to Larne - via Glenarm along the way.  Now, where did I put my boots…..?

Clive has brought to our attention the pathos:


Picture taken from the internet of Madman’s Window.
A mile or so south of Glenarm is a geological oddity called Madman’s Window, so called from a tale about a man from Glenarm who lost his sweetheart in the waters of Glenarm Bay.  It is said that after this terrible accident, the brokenhearted man, losing his grip on his sanity, visited the rocky hole on a daily basis to stare blankly through the gap and out to sea, apparently waiting for his sweetheart to return.

We slipped our ropes shortly after 11am to head north towards Rathlin. With the wind behind us and the tide in the same direction, we had a relatively smooth journey.  Slightly misty conditions made for some atmospheric views of the headlands along the north Antrim coast.

Looking towards Waterfoot and Cushendall having just passed Garron Head


Torr Head, the closest point of Ireland to Scotland - just 12 miles away.  The small building on top of the point, is the ruins of the 1822 Lloyd’s Signal Station for shipping passing through the North Channel.  It was one of the first places to use Marconi’s new wireless telegraphy system.

Fair Head from the east.

Rue Point at the south end of Rathlin, with the light and beacon clearly visible on the left.  Look closely and you can also see the East Light of Rathlin just visible on the extreme right of the pic.

We arrived at the harbour in Church Bay on Rathlin at about 13.30, and found just one free berth on the pontoon, which we tied up to after a rather challenging manoeuvre in winds gusting up to 21 knots.  Fortunately there were two men on the pontoon willing and able to take the ropes.  We made it safe and sound.

After lunch we walked to Rue Point - about 3 hours round trip.  A beautiful walk on a gorgeous afternoon (albeit a little breezy).

Fair Head from Rue Point on Rathlin.

There is a Kelp House at Rue Point, similar to the one in Church Bay - a few details of Kelp Houses are included in my blog for 06 June 2023.   Fair Head is in the background.

Harbour Seals loafing close to the Kelp House.
 I managed to count a minimum of 81 animals.

At the beacon and light at Rue Point.

Walked back to Church Bay in time for a pint (or two) in McCuaig’s Bar before dinner aboard (Susie’s korma special). A brilliant day. 

The boat bird list was just 20 species and didn’t include anything particularly different.  Our Rathlin Island bird list was 33 species, also not including anything unusual.

Our route:

What do you call a sleeping bull?                              A bulldozer!  ðŸ˜Š














































































































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plockton to Stornoway - a goal achieved! 25 May 2024

Image
Looking up Loch Carron from our mooring in Plockton on this very calm morning.  Perfect conditions for our jump from Inner to Outer Hebrides across the (notorious) Minch. 08.45 we slipped the mooring rope and left the safety of a beautiful anchorage.  We have 61 nautical miles to go across the Minch.   The myth says that the blue men of the Minch, also known as storm kelpies, are mythological creatures inhabiting the stretch of water between the northern Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink.   Hopefully, today, they will be thwarted. Here is a map of the Hebrides, Inner and Outer, just to help with orientation: By Kelisi, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=541156 The Minch, and the Little Minch, have fearsome reputations for bad weather and sea conditions.  We are crossing from the SE corner of Skye, where it says Longay on the mainland, to Stornoway near the top of Lewis. So, we’re motoring pretty much
Read more

Ardfern to Crinan Canal 06 June 2024

Image
  Lazaway in the first lock leaving the sea at Crinan. The forecast for the north Irish Sea (Machrihanish and Mull of Kintyre) over the next few days is pretty dire - lots and lots of wind - and we felt as though we had been in Ardfern long enough, so we decided to take the Crinan Canal across the top of Kintyre so that we are on the inside of the Kintyre peninsula and sheltered from the wind. Susie and Gordon have travelled this route before (in the other direction) but it’s very new to Mary and me and rather exciting to take Lazaway along this thin ribbon of water. Locks filled with enthusiasm once they started. The canal is quite beautiful to travel along - relaxing and picturesque - unless you are driving a large boat or fending off other boats in the locks! Relaxing and beautiful. Entering a lock - less relaxing. Gordon’s new camera has captured this,  and has been speeded up X6 For going through the locks we were paired up with a yacht whose skipper just didn’t care if the stern
Read more

Western Isles adventure day 1. 19 May 2024

Image
  Bringing supplies aboard in Bangor marina prior to setting off on our next maritime adventure.  We left Bangor at 08.30 heading into a brisk northerly wind - the forecast didn’t have any ‘brisk’ in it.  Cool but sunny and pleasant.  Whitehead and Blackhead lighthouse looked lovely in the sunshine, but as we got towards The Gobbins the sea state was getting worse - really rather lumpy, with a lot of spray coming right over the boat.  It was blowing a steady 17 knots, the very top end of the forecast, and with this against the tide it was quite rough. To add to the joy a fog came down, patchy but quite thick in places, and so we became reliant on radar and AIS. Our hearts were set on getting to Jura this evening, and so we stuck it out until we got past The Maidens, which in the great scheme of things isn’t very far.  However the pounding sea got the better of us and so we turned left and headed for Glenarm.  And I’m glad we did!  Who knew all the delights that Glenarm has to offer?!!
Read more