We made landfall in Ireland in Bantry Bay just over two weeks ago. The weather has been unseasonably warm. Ireland is on its second or third heat wave. When we were sailing here, we experienced many days that were cool, overcast, and foggy. This is more of what we expected. However, since arriving, we have had bluebird days with lots of sunshine and not a drop of rain.

In the last two weeks, Remedy has been anchored in six different locations, each with its own charm. Because it was late in the evening and overcast when we arrived in our first anchorage, Lonehort Harbor, we did not really see much. But when we awoke the next morning, we were surrounded by flower-dotted fields and cows grazing and lazing on the shore behind us.

As the sole boat in the anchorage, it was quite a peaceful welcoming into this new country. However, we needed to move on so that we could check in with Customs and Immigration, do laundry, and get groceries. So we pulled anchor and moved further into Bantry Bay, anchoring in the heart of Bantry.

Bantry Bay Harbor is very quaint. We spent one week there. Of all the places we have ever been, it is the closest grocery store we have ever had access to. We only had to walk a block or so to get to it, and it was incredibly well-stocked. It was glorious.

We also had a few repairs we needed to make from our passage. A day or two before we made landfall in Ireland, we noticed that our boom was sitting lower than normal, almost resting on top of our bimini (the canvas cover for the cockpit) and had chafed through the fabric.

We have two ways of supporting the boom to keep it from crashing on our heads: a rod kicker is the main support that holds the boom up, and a topping lift—a line attached to the end of the boom that runs to the top of the mast. Once we arrived in Ireland, we were able to remove the rod kicker and found that the inner support rod was bent, which had caused the boom to sag just enough to touch our bimini and chafe it. Thankfully, we found what we needed to repair it, and Ken stitched patches onto the bimini.

Ken repairing our bimini and cockpit enclosure panel

Me working on the next WholeHearted Project article

While we were in Bantry, we did a free tour with the tourism office and learned all about the history of Bantry Bay. We enjoyed eating the local fare: ice cream (of course), fish and chips, corned beef and cabbage, and shepherd’s pie. We took a bus into the neighboring town of Skibbereen, where we meandered through all the streets. We attended church at St. Brendan the Navigator church. And we were able to welcome our friends Brian and Helen from S/V Hellacious, who arrived from Nova Scotia after an 18-day passage.

With Brian and Hellen of S/V Hellacious at Ma Murphys in Bantry

From Bantry, we moved onto Glengarriff, where we shared a beautiful anchorage with seals and their pups. I love seals. In Maine, you knew when a seal was around because you could hear them breathe when they surfaced. But in Glengarriff, the bark of the seal pups was the sign that they were nearby.

Picture of a seal and her pup, captured by our friend Brian Russell from S/V Hellacious!

Glengarriff was lovely. We kayaked around the anchorage, explored the gardens on Gairinish Island, and took our first cool swim in Irish waters. We met some new friends, Bill and Johanna from S/V Visions of Johanna, and enjoyed a nice hike and watching England vs. Argentina in the World Cup with them and Hellacious.

Hanging out on S/V Visions of Johanna with Bill and Johanna and Brian and Hellen (Hellacious)

It was then on to Adrigole Harbor for one day and night, where we again kayaked around the harbor with the seals and enjoyed a short walk in town. From there we went to Bere Island. Bere is stunning. While we were on a short hike on Bere, we met a local named Jim, who joined us. He gave us so much local history and pointed out things we would have never noticed on our own:

Old boundary stones from the war with England
A 4000-year-old grave
A 1921 British internment camp from the war with Ireland
A breakwater built by the Vikings

We also enjoyed an 11.5-mile hike around Bere Island with Bill and Johanna. And the views were nothing short of breathtaking! It is everything I expected from Ireland: old stone house ruins, roadsides lined with heather and hydrangea, sheep grazing freely all over the hillsides, and a lighthouse looming dramatically along the coast. Everywhere I looked was picture-worthy, and none of the photos I took could ever truly capture the beauty.

Lighthouse on the Beara Way Trail, a stunning hike on Bere Island

One of the things I have loved doing in our travels is placing resources from WholeHearted Project in little free libraries across the country. So when I came across a free library on Bere Island, I was excited to leave the resources there! I always pray that the person who finds them either encounters the depth and breadth of Christ’s love for the first or the one millionth time.

As our time in Bantry Bay drew to a close, we made one final stop in Castletownbere—a quick one-night stopover to get groceries before moving on north to Kenmare Bay. But our new friend Jim from Bere Island had told us we could not go to Castletownbere without stopping in the infamous McCarthy’s pub, which was established in 1860 and has been in the McCarthy family ever since. You can read more about WWII war hero Aidan McCarthy, father of the two current owners, here. While we were there, we had a nice chat with Adrienne, one of the owners, and her pug Herbie.

Our time in Bantry Bay was fantastic—the food, weather, hikes—all of it! But one highlight has been the people of Ireland. Our accent clearly gives us away as foreigners, so whenever we speak to someone, they always ask us if we are on holiday. This has given us many opportunities to meet and have nice long conversations with locals. The Irish people have truly been delightful.

Our next stop is Kenmare Bay. We are still trying to decide whether to travel north up the west coast of Ireland, which will have more rugged natural scenery, or travel along the southern coast, which would take us into towns like Kinsale, Cork, and Schull. Either way, we can’t go wrong!

Here is a gallery of photos and videos from our time in Bantry Bay. If you are reading this in your email, you will need to click this link to view them.