Castle Haven, Squince Harbour and Blind Harbour
At a Glance
Castle Haven and the village of Castletownshend half way up its....
.... western shore is a popular destination for cruising sailors
and is the home of the South Cork Sailing Club. The Sailing Club
does not have its own clubhouse but uses the Rowing Club for its
formal meetings and the local pubs for social events. The telephone
number for the Sailing Club in the Reeds Almanac is that of the
Castle which is (and has been since the mid 1600s) the residence of
the Townshend family who now open some rooms as B&B.
Between Castle Haven and Glandore harbour there are several inlets
and anchorages which may be explored and used in settled off shore
conditions but this small area of sea must be approached with
caution as it abounds with rocks, islets and hidden dangers and has
no large scale charts to assist one. Like most of this coastline
the Admiralty Charts are based on mid 19th Century surveys; the
buoyage and lights are up to date but the actual positions of rocks
may not be exactly in line with GPS positioning, even allowing for
the adjustments required for WGS 84. You'll find this warning
repeated on all the Droggie's charts.
Adam's Island, Rabbits Island, High and Low Islands along with
Skiddy Island all have their necklaces of drying and hidden rocks
so must be given a reasonable offing and one of the best sources
for information has to be the Irish Cruising Club's Pilot Book for
the South and West Coast of Ireland. In this you will find useful
transits and photographs to assist you - especially if you want to
explore the inshore routes.
Having said that it should be noted that, of the various routes
available from Adams Island to Reen Point, the longest (4.5 miles)
is round the outside of High Island and then in via our Initial
Fix; the shortest route outside Belly Rock, through Big Sound and
skirting round Skiddy Rock is 4.0 miles. So unless you are trying
to make it before closing time it really doesn't make a lot of
difference which way you go and if you are coming from further away
the route to Castle Haven via our initial fix is as fast as
any.
Anyway, along the coast there are three or four places you could stop for a look. There's Carrigillihy Cove which is narrow and dries at its landward end. Here there are rocks extending out 50 meters from the west shore of the entrance but you will find enough water to anchor afloat just off the coves on the eastern side. There's a link to a Google Maps Photo below
Google Maps (Opens in a new tab)
Half a mile to the West of this there is Squince Harbour and it is possible to go through the channel between Rabbit Island and the mainland but ever so carefully. There's a reef right across that passage with a least depth of only 1.2 meters (so you'll be ok at HW) and you need to be about 50 meters off the shore of the island as you pass through the narrowest bit. It wouldn't be too bad in a shallow draft boat but if you are carrying nearly 2 meters draft it'll certainly exercise your sphincter muscles and you'd probably be best off going round the outside. Squince harbour is absolutely no use in onshore winds. To put it in perspective the Google link below shows the view looking East from the strand at the western end of Squince harbour; that island in the middle of the entrance is Rabbit Island and the gap between it and the headland is the channel we're talking about; it's just not worth the candle.
Google Maps (Opens in a new tab)
Of the anchorages along this coast the next, Blind Harbour, is probably the most viable; especially if you can take the ground. It has a fairly narrow entrance strewn with rocks along its eastern side but then opens out into a lagoon which, if you can dry out but only if, will provide shelter in most weathers apart from a howling Southerly gale; if you carry any draft you will have to anchor at the end of the narrows and there's no protection at all from the weather there.
Castle Haven, Squince Harbour and Blind Harbour
Approach
We have covered most of this except the straight run from Adam's Island through Big Sound to Skiddy Island.
To follow this route safely using the Mark I eyeball you will need at least five miles visibility and settled conditions; if you intend to use a GPS as primary navigation in low visibility, plot your course in a zigzag through the widest bits of the channel and give that Belly Rock a wide berth; don't even think about GPessing through between Rabbit Island and South Rock.
If you have the necessary visibility to pick out the northern of
the twin summits on Beenteeanne then you can line up Black Rock
(which is small and low) with it and follow that line through South
of Belly Rock to abeam Low Island when you can shape your course
for Skiddy Island.
After that it is just a case of heading for the middle of the gap
between Reen Point and The Battery and working your way up to
Castletownshend to find a suitable spot to anchor for the
night.
Euro GMT
Waypoint
Charts
Rules & Regs
Hazards
Tides
Berthing
The minor coastal anchorages have been covered above.
In Castle Haven itself there are several options. At
Castletownshend anchor either side of the main channel as there are
reports of sea grass on the bottom in the middle of the channel
which will make the holding weaker. We are told that there is a
good place to anchor on the Western side just before you get to the
main moorings.
Just to the North of the village there is a promontory (Cat Island)
which would give better shelter than further down the bay but tends
to have a fair few boats on moorings which limits the chances of
finding space for yourself. If you have come up at HW, the lagoon
beyond the gravel spit will look inviting but there's only a very
shallow covering of water there and it is not an option unless you
want to sit on the mud for a lot of your stay.
The river further up is navigable if you have a shallow draft
and you'd be able to find a spot to moor fore and aft but you would
be giving yourself a long row back to what passes for the centre of
civilisation here!!
One place that we haven't mentioned is the sandy bay on the West
side of the entrance just above Battery Point which would provide
an anchorage in settled conditions but it is very open to the
weather if it should spring up from the South.
Note that there is a submarine cable crossing the inlet from the
Castletownshend side to the slip at Reen.
Facilities
There is water on either side available from a tap on Reen Pier and one on the slip at Castletownshend. There is enough depth from half tide to come alongside the pier at Reen if you need substantial re-bunkering. Other than that there is a shop at the top of the main street which does have gas and petrol (but no diesel)
Chandlers
CH Marine
Nautic House
Marsh Road
Skibbereen
Co Cork
What to Do
A stroll up the Main Street ("up" being the operative word) will
lead you to Mary Ann's Restaurant which, by all accounts, should
not be missed. Our member in Ningaloo was disappointed with this
watering hole but it does receive rave reviews elsewhere (though
there has been an adverse report on their fish an' chips!)
They also house an Art Gallery there.
The Castle is open to visitors during the summer and there is also
a church here which holds a series of classical music concerts on
Thursday evenings in July and August which are held in high repute.
You can expect the village to be very busy on those evenings.
History
Local Business
Uncategorised
CH Marine
Nautic House
Marsh Road
Skibbereen
Co Cork
Tide Information for castle-haven
Tidal Information