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UlstermanAbroad · 06-01-2020, 18:55

Happy New Year all!

I was fortunate enough to run aground on this tremendous resource and community and although I'm not yet a blue water sailor, I aim to develop my maintenance and sailing skills over the next couple of years, before I buy my own boat.

I've been sailing since I was 11 years old. (I'm now 54) Mostly dinghies and crewing on small racing yachts, wherever in the world I happened to be working at the time.

My last job was corporate troubleshooting. A consulting role I was qualified for by virtue of a rather eclectic career. I've had serious disc problems for the last several years. So while I take some time out to work on my health and fitness, I'm retraining via a PhD at my local university to become a trauma psychologist.

The plan is to split my year between work and long distance sailing.

[The top photo is a shot of the coastline a few hundred yards from where I live, looking west. The last but one headland is Portrush, with Lough Foyle and Donegal in the background. The bottom photo is looking east, with Dunluce Castle in the foreground and the most distant headland is The Giant's Causeway. Apologies for the quality. Taken with my mobile phone]

stimpsonjcat · 06-01-2020, 20:20

And there you stand...in the place I want to sail *TO*.

That West coast though...wow!

I have been over the charts I can find online sooo many times.

Ballintoy looks fun...does Roarke's serve beer?

UlstermanAbroad · 06-01-2020, 20:51

Ah ha. A southern gentleman from the peach state

I've been to Atlanta a couple of times, but unfortunately in both cases it was high summer and I couldn't
take the humidity.
The west coast is pretty rugged, plus you have the Atlantic to make things interesting. No shortage of sheltered harbours between West Cork and Donegal.
Ballintoy is fun outside of the summer season, when it's a complete tourist trap.
Roarkes isn't licenced, but it's not the sort of place you'd go for a night's craic in any case. It's just a tea shop.
The Harbour Bar in Portrush is where you want to start. A few feet away is Portrush Yacht Club, where you're guaranteed a warm welcome. Then carry on at the Londonderry Arms (great live music) which is also in Portrush and then to a club called Kellys or over to Portballintrae (The Boat Club) or Bushmills. Both of which are only a couple of miles along the coast.
You can tie up in Portrush harbour year round and it's as secure a harbour as you'll find. Plus, all the best drinking establishments are within staggering distance

stimpsonjcat · 06-01-2020, 20:59

LOL

Portrush was certainly the plan...sort of kidding about Ballintoy. It looks charming and it would make a great pic from the road in I think, but I had no idea it was a tourist zone. No pub, eh?

The section that worries me is Killybegs to Sheephaven. Are you familiar with that part of the coast?

UlstermanAbroad · 06-01-2020, 21:59

Sorry. Sometimes hard to pick up on humour online.
Nope. No pub in Ballintoy, so far as I know. But, you're never far from a pub in Ireland. North or South.
I'm not familiar with that stretch of coast, from a sailing perspective.
But, there are sheltered inlets and rivers all along the coast that are safe to anchor in.
So long as you're not bringing the Nimitz battlegroup with you

stimpsonjcat · 07-01-2020, 08:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by UlstermanAbroad

Sorry. Sometimes hard to pick up on humour online.
Nope. No pub in Ballintoy, so far as I know. But, you're never far from a pub in Ireland. North or South.
I'm not familiar with that stretch of coast, from a sailing perspective.
But, there are sheltered inlets and rivers all along the coast that are safe to anchor in.
So long as you're not bringing the Nimitz battlegroup with you

Nope, probably just me in something between 33 and 42 feet long.