Donegal Bay

A fine morning, so a departure on schedule - actually a little ahead of schedule at 06:45. Broad Haven was looking beautiful in the early slanting sunlight, which highlighted the undulating curves of the landscape. An unusual feature was the arrangement of fields round two hills. The fields were radially organised in equal strips with the upper narrow ends meeting at a cluster of farm buildings. The geometric pattern accentuated the gentle curvature of the hills and seemed unlike any we had seen before.

Broad Haven is alive with fishing birds. We became almost blasé about the numbers of Gannets executing their dramatic high-speed dives into the sea around us.

The route today left the shelter of Broad Haven and took us past the Stags into the broad expanse of Donegal Bay.

The open jaw of the bay is about 45 miles across, before Rathlin O'Birne Island and Malin More Head complete the inlet. We left Sligo, Donegal town, and Killybegs to Starboard and continued up the coast past Dawros Head to Church Pool off Portnoo.

The sailing was slow at first and needed some engine assistance, but later picked up for another glorious sail in kinder seas.

We picked up a visitors' mooring In Church Pool by 20:00 and are now quietly settled for the night before piloting through Aran Sound in the morning on the way to Tory.