HOMEWATERS WILD ATLANTIC WAY
They say that salt water helps wounds to heal. I lost my mother to the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2021. The sudden absence of her warmth caused me to yearn for some time in wild places. It seemed that only the bleak beauty of the west coast of Ireland would serve to lay down some grief. I duly readied my tough old 36ft Westerly Solway ketch, Sera, for a few weeks away with my son, Seán, 11, and my father, Peter, 72. We all needed some time away. Accompanied by my boy, I sailed Sera out of our sheltered home port of Courtmacsherry westward last July.
As you sail west along the Cork coast, the gentle, serene and lush coastline becomes rockier and more broken. After you pass the Fastnet, and round Mizen Head, the mountains glower down upon you. Yet the cosy marina at Bere Island offered a welcoming home. Nature had a treat in store, as a July heatwave transformed the island into the Caribbean. Balmy days spent snorkelling and swimming were interspersed with days varnishing and doing repairs.
Just as my father arrived for the next leg of our contemplative voyage, however, the Atlantic
