Heavy rain – no mood to get soaked unnecessarily – so rested at anchor until 1600, when it cleared. Headed for the little bay of Frenchport but then heard coastguard saying wind might go westerly, in which case it would be very exposed, so continued to Blacksod Bay, past a series of once inhabited islands (and also past the Eagle Rock, where the lighthouse used to be damaged regularly by storms).
Magnificent evening views of the cliffs of Achill Island, the highest in Europe, though a bit disappointed as we rounded up into the bay that, when seen from the side, they were not at all steep. You could almost scramble up and down them.
Picked up buoy in bay just north of Blacksod Point, and found that a local fishermen had strung several cages of live lobsters below them. Ignored the lobsters, because it was labelled as a visitors buoy. Pretty village and a lively pub, judging by the singing coming over the water.
The contrast between the raw wildness of Achill Island just to the south and the long vistas of the low lagoon-like Blacksod Bay is extraordinary.
Passage notes: 32 miles, 6 hours, SE 3, clear
tide by tide 