Rathlin Island

[Maryanne]We've had 3 whole days at Rathlin Island, and we've spent those fully exploring - each day setting out in a different direction. Each evening our legs have been stiff so we know the exercise has been good for us; we found free wifi, the marina/dock is inexpensive and they have HOT SHOWERS; and it's only rained once we are home for the evening... Life is feeling good.


One of the many tall ships we spotted on our way to Rathlin Island, presumably part of the Tall Ships race, and Footprint again at a dock - what luxury
[Kyle]From Portballintrae, we left for Rathlin Island, just a couple of miles off the northeast corner of Northern Ireland. Not being in any particular hurry and since it was yet another nice day (finally?), we reefed each sail and headed for the island in light winds. I typically plan passages to have following current and have become spoiled at seeing 8 or 9 knots over the bottom with 3 or 4 through the water. (Typical sailing speeds are 6 or 7ish.) . We had a lovely couple of hours crossing the sound with nice views on both sides and the added bonus of seeing several Tall Ships along the way. We know the leg of the race from Halifax to Belfast was supposed to be wrapping up around then. We weren’t sure if they were coming or going or just sailing around but they certainly added charm to an already lovely day.

We got to the little anchorage in Church Bay on Rathlin and after a couple attempts at anchoring in the small stones of the anchorage, we resigned ourselves to tying up on the public float like everyone else did, which should have been our first clue about the anchorage. It turns out the dock is only £12.50 per day and comes with showers, so that’s not too bad.

As it was a Saturday, The little harbour was filled with weekenders from both Northern Ireland and Scotland who were all frolicking around in the water as if it were warm. Almost all had thick wetsuits on. We took a gorgeous hike first along a deserted road and then well marked trail to the southern tip of the island. The trail alternated between sheep pastures and stunning cliff views with Antrim in the background. We ended up at a lighthouse and a bay populated by a pretty large colony of seals, which were adorable, of course.


Adorable Gray Seals, just hanging out and relaxing

Scenes From the South arm of the Island
We got back to the boat and in the middle of dinner, I saw a Customs boat go by. Our big, red sore thumb of a courtesy flag had them hovering for a bit. Knowing what was coming, I went out and welcomed them aboard. The three of them were very nice. For the first time since arriving on this side of the Atlantic, we received a proper clearing in and inspection. They spent maybe an hour on board, actually copied information from our passports and boat papers and asked the specifics of our cruise, noting dates and ports of call. One of the guys even went around swabbing for drug and explosive residue. In spite of the depth of the examination, they were very courteous and we felt no sense of invasiveness. I think we were mostly glad to actually see Customs face to face and know that we’ve now been through the official process. The only discomfort we had was because it was smack in the middle of dinner so the galley was a huge mess and there were dirty dishes all over the table. They didn’t seem to care but we felt conspicuous in our apparent pigginess.

Western Rathlin Island

Scenes from the West End of the Island
Our next morning, we headed out to the end of the other arm of boomerang shaped Rathlin, the western end. The road passed over the high middle of the island through rolling hills covered by purple heather speckled with little yellow flowers. In the distance, Rathlin Sound and the Antrim coast were visible. At the far end of the island, about four steep up and down miles from Church Bay, is the West Light and the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) sanctuary.

West Light from the sea


West Light its Cliffs full of Seabirds

West Light is unusual in that it is reputed to be the only ‘upside down’ lighthouse in the world, that is, with the lens at the base of the tower. It is also supposed to be one of the very few all-red lighthouses. Supplies for the light were pulled by horse and cart up a long ramp to the top of the cliffs and then across to the lighthouse site. The concrete was mixed on site and poured and set by hand directly into the cliff face. The light was built with the lens on the bottom because low clouds (high fog) often obscured the top of the tower, which was still necessary as it housed the long pendulum mechanism that drove the light. Many lighthouses have red sectors to warn of hazard areas. Apparently, it was decided to make West Light all-red both because of the seriousness of the adjacent hazard and to distinguish it from other nearby lights.

At the lighthouse site was also the viewing point for the RSPB sanctuary, which was home to colonies of Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Fulmars and the adorable Puffins. The site was really well done. RSPB had volunteers on hand to point things out and answer questions. They also had binoculars (nice ones!) to lend and scopes set up for people to use. We did manage to see Puffins out at sea acclimatizing their young to the environment, but they were pretty far off. We could see them well through our binoculars but they were a bit too far out for the camera.

We had our picnic lunch and then walked home under a sky that seemed constantly like it was two minutes from raining, which, fortunately it didn’t do until two minutes after we got home.

Monday

Having done the two long trails on Rathlin, we decided to have an easy day and do the final ‘easy’ trail across the narrow part of the island to the east side; the elbow of the island (the harbour is tucked in the inner elbow). ‘Easy’ was a bit of a misnomer because, to get to the other side, the path goes steeply up then steeply down. Maryanne also discovered yet another trail that we just had to do as well if we wanted the whole set.

The main focus of our first particular path was the East Light, The one that lit up our cabin in Murlough Bay. It sits high atop a cliff with a sweeping view of the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland and the entire east coast of Rathlin. Also in the immediate area of the lighthouse was the cave where Robert the Bruce lived for a year while exiled from Scotland in the 14th century. I found a very steep path leading down to the beach but was unable to locate anything more than a couple of indentations in the rock, nothing that would offer enough protection to live. The area did have a nice view toward Scotland. I could imagine that looking out and seeing it every day must have helped strengthen his resolve to return. The legend has it that he watched a spider build six failed webs before succeeding on the seventh and so he decided there and then that he would be at least as determined as that spider to succeed.

I had a horrible steep climb back up to the lighthouse where Maryanne and I then had a picnic lunch. We sat on the grass and leaned against the wall and looked out at the fields full of flowers and the sea. Little Swifts darted back and forth, playing in the wind. The sun was shining. It was almost bordering on hot. We kept looking out at various places on Rathlin and Antrim where we have been and reminiscing about them.

We got done with our lunch and took the trail to the disused coast guard lookout point further up the coast. Before ship to shore radiotelephony, lookouts used to search for boats and then report the sightings to Lloyd’s of London. Guglielmo Marconi made the first wireless transmission for Lloyd’s between Rathlin island and Torr Head in Antrim. The lookout post has a commanding view of the entire waterway between Rathlin and Kintyre and the scenery is just breathtaking.

My favourite parts of the day’s walks were the vast rolling fields of bright purple heather that we crossed. Each clump had little complimentary yellow flowers amidst the purple and green. It was magnificent.


Monday, Rush hour on the trail, and general scenery