Today's local tide estimates
High water: 04:51,
Low water: 11:23
High water: 17:13,
Low water: 23:48
Local weather
NNE Force 4, Light drizzle, 7°C
Swell today
Direction NE, height 0.0 metres, period 6.9 seconds, significant wave height of 0.3 metres.
Summary
A good location with straightforward access.
LWS draught
2 metres (6.56 feet).
Shelter See it »
Sheltered: N, NE, E, SE, SW, W, NW
Unprotected: S
Nature (summary)
Anchorage, jetty, scenic.
Facilities (summary)
(None)
Haven position? See it »
51° 31.530' N, 009° 9.340' W
Where is that position? See it »
The north end of the channel where it enters the bay.
What is the initial fix? See it »
The following Blind Harbour initial fix waypoint will set up a final approach:
51° 31.000' N, 009° 9.170' W
This waypoint is approximately half a nautical mile off the entrance to the harbour.
Why visit here?
Blind Harbour is an excellent harbour and very pretty. It does not have a beach as it has a mixture of sand and clay making it dark but apart from that it is a truly lovely spot.
How to get in?
Approaching the bay from the East, Galley Head or Glandore Harbour side, will take you though ‘Big Sound’ that is a nautical mile wide and resides between Low & High Islands and the mainland. Please pass wide of Rabbit Island as Belly Rock, a covered rock, lies 300 metres to the south of it’s furthest exposed Southern Rock. A Southern approach has no obstructions whatsoever.
As you go beyond the neck where the bay starts to opens out it shelves gradually to 1.5 metres and then less. Because it has a sandy bottom so you are free to feel your way around further back to get a depth that is comfortable round the shoulders. On neaps most cruising boats would have a lot of scope to find a nice spot in the bay.
You could comfortably leave a shallow draft vessel unattended here for a few days around the corner without any concern. This would not be the case with deeper draft vessels however who would be limited to the channel that would be exposed to South.
What are the tides here?
Today's local tide estimates are based on High Water Cobh -0025
Today's Cobh tides — High water: 05:16, 17:38, Low water: 11:48,
Today's Dover tides — High water: 11:14, 23:30, Low water: 06:06, 18:22 (From Tide Times)
Cobh -0020sp, -0030np, Dover +0605
MHWS 3.7m MHWN 3.0m MLWN 1.4m MLWS 0.7m
Outside the harbour the tide runs,
Dover + 0200 East, Dover -0400 West.
The latest monthly Dover Tides and Cobh Tides courtesy of the National Environmental Research Council. Printable monthly tides for Dublin, Dunmore, Cobh, Galway, Belfast are available from the ISA.
The national weather forecast, Met Éireann and BBC shipping forecasts, plus a very simplified Munster tourist outlook. From an Atlantic perspective a 24 hour North Atlantic synoptic chart that you may ‘right click’ and save to your hard disk. Met Éireann’s Eastern Atlantic chart and the BBC’s surface area forecast plus visible satellite images for Ireland and Northeast Atlantic from Met Éireann. Wind observations, XC UK & Ireland, Windguru wind & wave reports, and Windfinder where you can determine a forecast time. Coastal radio stations (VHF Channel) Weather forecast at 0103 and thence every 3 hours updated every sixth. Cork 26, Bantry 23, Valentia 24. Radio broadcasts on RTE 1 (89.1FM) 0603, 1253, 1655 and 2355.
A free tidal range prediction application for windows, a simple tide monitor plus the rule of twelfths are available in inyourfootsteps.com shared ‘experience’.
What facilities are available?
There is nothing in Blind Harbour save for a small boat pier to land the dinghy against. You will see this as you enter as it is directly up from the entrance but don’t approach it as there is not enough water for a yacht.
What emergency contacts are there?
Valentia Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) VHF Ch 24 & MF 1752 kHz covers this costal area. Cork (26), Mizen (04), Bantry Bay (23), Shannon (28) and Galway (04) provide relay stations. Coastguard Radio is always called on a working channel. Emergencies are worked on 16, 67 and working channel.
Alternatively, or if ashore, phone 999 or 121 (free) and ask for ‘Marine Rescue’. Gardai (police), Fire and Rescue are also available on this number. Valentia (MRSC) may be called on +353 669 476 109
Any security concerns?
It would be unlikely that you would experience any issues on anchor in Blind Harbour.
What navigational resources are available for this area?
Admiralty Charts 2049 ‘Toe Head to Old Head Of Kinsale’ Scale of 1:50,000 covers this sailing area. The Pilot ’Sailing Directions - Irish Cruising Club - South and West Coasts of Ireland’’ covers this in great detail.
With thanks to:
Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford.
Please note inyourfootsteps.com makes no guarantee of the validity of this information, we have not visited this haven and do not have first-hand experience to qualify the data. Although the contributors are vetted by peer review as practised authorities, they are in no way, whatsoever, responsible for the accuracy of their contributions. It is essential that you thoroughly check the accuracy and suitability for your vessel of any waypoints offered in any context plus the precision of your GPS. Any data provided on this page is entirely used at your own risk and you must read our legal page if you view data on this site.