Timing the tides to Tobermory

Brian Lennon plans a tricky non-stop sail between Skerries, his Irish home port, and the Inner Hebrides harbour of Tobermory

- Brian Lennon

If sailing has taught me anything, it’s this: if you’re still afloat, there is really no such thing as failure. It’s not like driving a train; there is no guarantee you’re going to get to where you want by the route you want nor at the time you want. Most of the time you go where conditions allow and enjoy it. Let me explain.

I have a Moody 29, Blue Air, bought in Christchurch, Dorset, in 2006 and sailed happily around the Irish Sea ever since from our home port of Skerries, County Dublin. Its bilge keels and spacious main cabin make it an ideal cruising boat.

Skerries has a fishing harbour but sailing has been very much on the increase due to a vibrant local sailing club and the fact that the town has become something of a culinary paradise in recent times. Blue Air spends half of the season sitting dry on the sand in the inner harbour.

My crew and I try to vary our summer escapades, one year heading north and the next heading south. Our destinations have included the Isle of Man, the Swellies, the Isles of Scilly, Glasgow, Cork, Brittany, Tenby, Craobh Haven (a failed attempt to reach Tobermory), Pwllheli (a failed attempt to reach Padstow) and Portpatrick (a second failed attempt to reach Tobermory).

In 2014 our attempt to reach Tobermory ended when I hurt my back while docked in the little gem of a location that is Glenarm in County Antrim. In 2016, our second attempt came to nothing due to a last minute shortage of crew. My replacement crew had limited time available but we had a wonderful cruise up to Belfast, across to Portpatrick and then back home via the east coast of the ever-amazing Isle of Man.

Thwarted by weather