Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

6°C

Swell today

Direction NNE, height 0.1 metres, period 8.7 seconds, significant wave height of 0.2 metres.

Haven position?

55° 13.145' N, 006° 32.880' W

Where is that position?

This is in the middle of the mouth of the cove in three to four metres.

What is the initial fix?

It is 600 metres north-northwest of the bay on the 10 metre contour. A bearing of 160°(T) from the initial fix will lead into the anchoring location in the middle of the mouth of the bay.

What is the story here?

Portballintrae is a small horseshoe shaped bay on the north coast of Ireland approximately four miles east of Portrush Bay and three miles west of Benbane Head. It has a shallow pier that is home port to several local fishermen and offers larger boats the possibility to anchor in the middle of the bay.

The cove provides a tolerable anchorage with fair shelter in offshore winds. However it is entirely exposed to anything with a northerly quadrant. Access requires attentive navigation as there are outlying reefs on either side of the bay’s entrance with a covered rock on the eastern side of the entrance that requires particular attention.

Please note in northerly winds the Atlantic Ocean rolls directly into the cove with a swell that breaks across the mouth of the bay. It is important to exit well in advance of such a wind to avoid being trapped in the bay. The direction and velocity of the tide should be the central feature of any navigation planning in this area.

Why visit here?

Portballintrae derives its name from the Irish ‘Port Bhaile an Trá’ that broadly translates to "port of the beach settlement". It lies at the mouth of a shallow river valley that was once the outflow of melting glaciers. Today the River Bush flows out to the sea immediately east of the horseshoe-shaped Ballintrae Bay.

Evidence of Bronze Age occupants can be found high above the village on the elevated promontory that divides Ballintrae and Bushmills Bay (access to the site today is available from Beach Road Car Park). Here a visitor will find the significant historical site of Lissanduff. This is an ancient ritual site that consists of a pair of concentric earthen rings specifically designed to retain water for ancient purposes of worship. Although as yet unexcavated, theories suggest that one was designed to hold the water, for what is presumed to be have been Bronze age water rituals, whilst the other served as a fortified settlement.

In a later period a small harbour village formed around a fishing settlement situated at the mouth of river; that remains to this day well stocked with trout and salmon. The settlement extended to a cluster of whitewashed cottages in a line along the horseshoe-shaped shore. Many of the old whitewashed cottages that still stand on the shoreline have been restored to their traditional charm. In addition to these there are other classic examples of Ulster's Architectural Heritage throughout the village, such as the Old Coastguard Station, that served the village and castle of Dunluce, and the 18th century bathing lodge ‘Seaport Lodge’. However rapid physical growth occurred in the 1970s that changed the character of the area. Almost all the recent dwellings are being used as second homes along with a considerable proportion of the older housing. The area today has a population of approximately 750 people and less than half of the dwellings in the village remain as permanent residences. Locals and visitors alike are drawn to the areas coastal walks, golden beach, rugged rocks and sand dunes.

From a nautical historical context Portballintrae is world famous for being the operating bay for the greatest recovery of Spanish Armada treasure. The story dates back to a wild October night in 1588 when more than two dozen fleeing ships from the Spanish Armada came too close to Irish shores. One of these was the Girona that had sailed on 16th October from Killybegs for Scotland and it was one of the most seaworthy of these ships. Tragically, caught in the eye of a hurricane that was one of the most ferocious ever to hit the area, it crashed down on the razor sharp reefs of Lacada Point (or Port na Spaniagh located one headland away from the Giant's Causeway). The ship was quickly ripped apart and nearly 1,300 desperate and terrified Spaniards, including members of most of the noblest families in Spain, drowned in a cauldron of writhing surf beneath the dark towering cliffs of Antrim.

There the ship lay untouched for 380 years during which time its timbers were dissipated by the wild local seas. It was not until the summer of 1967 when a Belgian marine archaeologist Robert Sténuit, along with a team of Belgian divers, found and excavated what remained from the shipwreck in the cracks and crevices off the point. They retrieved an unprecedented collection of gold and jewellery including 12,000 artefacts and brought it ashore in Portballintrae. Items included gold and silver coins, jewellery, silver plate, a bronze cannon, and eleven of twelve 'lapis lazuli' cameos. The recovered gold jewellery is preserved for all to see and exhibited at Belfast's Ulster Museum.

Portballintrae may not be the best anchorage upon this coast but its location is a center point of several key attractions upon what is itself a beautiful coastline. The Giant's Causeway, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and UNESCO World Heritage Site, resides two miles to the east and the spectacular Dunluce Castle a mile to the west. A mile upstream is Bushmills, the village's more famous inland neighbour that is home to the world renown Bushmills and Black Bush Whiskies. All of these conspire to make Portballintrae, in settled or offshore winds, a highly attractive anchorage for the coastal cruiser.

How to get in?

Directions are provided for eastern and western coastal approaches plus a final location approach. If coastal guidance is not applicable, skip directly to the ‘for the final approach’.

FOR AN EASTERN COASTAL APPROACH
Approaching from the Irish sea please use Ballycastle or Church Bay, Rathlin Island for further information on an Irish Sea approach. Once in western section of Rathlin Sound the approach is clear of dangers with the exception of Carrickmannanon off Kinbane Head, two and a half miles southeast of Sheep Island. This rock is visible as it nearly always breaks and dries to 0.3 of a metre.

Next is Sheep Island a highly distinctive precipitous basaltic rock island just over half a mile north of the conspicuous white cliffs of Larry Bane Head upon the shore. It is recommended that a vessel keeps 300 metres to the north of Sheep Island to avoid detached rocks on its northern and eastern sides. Also make note of Rock-on-Stewart just under half a mile west of Sheep Island.

Ballintoy Point, to the south of Rock-on-Stewart, is the next headland where a small harbour resides. It can be identified by a conspicuous white church tower, 16 metres in height. Caution is required if passing this area in northwest gales, or when a big swell is running. The sea breaks over a large sandbank called the Ballintoy Bank centred a mile to the northwest of the point and in heavy conditions a vessel should head out to deeper water.

Benbane Head is the next northern extremity, a distance of approximately five miles from Ballintoy Point. The coast is steep here and remarkably bold in appearance with columnar basalt cliffs rising almost perpendicularly from the sea to a height of 120 metres. A formidable tide race exists off this headland and it is recommended that a vessel keeps at least two miles offshore of Benbane Head to avoid it. Situated on the coastline one mile west of Benbane Head is the world famous Giants Causeway. Although appearing insignificant from sea it is also one of the most beautiful sections of the entire Northern Ireland coastline.
Great Stookan, a high rocky cliff resides between the causeway and Runkerry Point, where a small slip exists below Runkerry House; make note of the Mile Stone an off-lying rock off Runkerry Point.

The final stretch to the Portballintrae initial fix is through Bushmills Bay where the coast is broken by three miles of Bushfoot Strand’s sand hills - named after the River Bush which flows in here at the southwest corner alongside Portballintrae.

The entire passage West of ‘Sheep Island’ to Portballintrae presents a mainland coast composed of a rugged broken shore that is subject to a heavy surf. The mainland’s predominant feature is of black basaltic cliffs alternating with limestone and inland hills rising to heights of 180 metres in places. There are some outlying rocks, but there are no hidden dangers beyond a quarter of a mile from the shoreline.


FOR A WESTERN COASTAL APPROACH
The principal headland encountered on a western approach is Ramore Head to the south of the Skerries Islands where Portrush resides.

Coastal cruisers will find ample water through Skerries Sound, between these small islands and the headland, making it a convenient approach to Portballintrae. Although tides may be disturbed on either side of the Skerries it sets fair through the Sound that is free from outlying island dangers. However in poor weather or visibility, without the benefit of an experienced local boatman aboard, it would be best to avoid the unnecessary narrow channel and approach Portrush from outside the Skerries.

Those taking the inshore route will find the Skerries reside one mile from the shore and are formed from a chain of low rocky islets. From the five metres high Black Rock, at the easternmost end, they extend for a mile and a half in a westerly direction. Great Skerrie is about 200 metres across, 25 metres in height whilst little Skerrie is 15 metres high. The smaller rocks here are a washed and in north-west gales the spray flies over them all. Carr rocks mark the western end of the Skerries group. Situated 400 metres northeast by north of Ramore head they are uncovered at half-tide and are always visible by the break upon them.

The ‘Storks Beacon’ provides an eastbound line-of-bearing of 083.5° that leads through the middle of entire Skerries Sound south of the island group. This is situated two and a half miles from Ramore Head on the eastern entrance to Skerries Sound. The Storks are marked by a red conical metal beacon, ball topmark, 11 metres in height.

It is the point-of-entry however that is the Sound’s narrowest point, between ‘Carr Rocks’ and ‘Ramore Head’ and this requires specific attention. Here the sound is 200 metres wide, although clear of danger with depths 14 metres of water through the middle, attention needs to be paid to two dangerous sunken rocks that need to be avoided.

The first is a reef on the south side ‘Reviggerly’ that is a shelving rock that extends 50 metres into the sound from the east part of Ramore Head. Then opposite, on the north side of the sound, are sunken rocks just under 100 metres to the southwest of the 5 metre high Carr Rock. The latter sunken rocks are the particular concern as the bay’s east going tide sets strongly towards Ramore head, across the entrance of Skerrie sound and onto these covered rocks. The safest option, travelling either way, is to tend to the southern side of the sound where the reliably visible partially-exposed Reviggerly reef resides off the steep-to Ramore Head.

After this it is simply a matter of tracking along the ‘Storks Beacon’ eastbound line-of-bearing with plenty of water on each side. With the exception of the Stork Rocks, the area between The Skerries and the shore is free from danger. On closer approach the Stork Rocks will be found to be awash at high water and the sea breaks heavily in any swell here. The north side is steep-to with 13 metres and more depth and keeping 200 metres north clears all dangers. However the south and east side has foul ground that extends out 300 metres. Further south, between the foul ground and the shore, there is a clear channel with up to 11 metres of water for those who would prefer close costal cruising and there is plenty to be seen ashore.

Along the coast here for the first three-quarters of a mile from Portrush is a range of sand hills followed by ‘White Rocks Beach’ to the south of the Storks. Here the powerful dumping waves can be seen carving the costal limestone into caves and huge sea sculptures with interesting names such as the ‘elephant rock’ and the ‘lions’s claw’.

One mile to the west of Portballintrae, at the end of the limestone cliffs, stands the magnificent ruins of Dunluce castle. Perched on the summit of a rocky outcrop and overhanging the sea this prominent castle is approached by a narrow causeway over a stone bridge. Underneath the castle is a particularly beautiful cavern. From here it is mainly black trap rock cliffs heading east to Portballintrae.


FOR THE FINAL APPROACH
Portballintrae is easily identified from the sea by its distinctive row of houses at the head of the bay. The Portballintrae initial fix is positioned 600 metres north-northwest of the bay to keep vessels well clear of Blind Rock situated to the east of the entrance; between the harbour and Bushfoot Strand.

Blind Rock resides approximately 250 metres out from the shoreline. It is steep-to with a least depth of 0.4 metres over it. The sea breaks on the rock in quite settled weather along with shoreline reefs that extend out here. It is essential that vessels do not try to cut in from Bushmills Bay in to Portballintrae or they may come up on Blind Rock or the outreaching reef. Keep a minimum of 300 metres or more out when approaching from the east.

However the Portballintrae Initial Fix is well clear of Blind Rock and a bearing of 160°(T) from the initial fix will lead into the anchoring location in the middle of the mouth of the bay.

On final approach the River Bush can sometimes offer a good indication of tidal flow. After rain, a brown tongue of water enters the sea and its path provides a good guide to what the tide is doing upon entry.

The shallow cove shoals quickly from the centre of the mouth of the bay. 4 metres can be found in the between the two headlands inside the mouth and this drops quickly to 2 metres between the west pier and the southeast pier situated close inside the small bay. The best place to anchor is 200 metres or so northeast of the western pier and slipway. The best landing place is at the southeast side of the bay where the small quay has a least depth of 0.7 metres at its head.

What are the tides here?

Today's local tide estimates are based on High Water Belfast -0404
Today's Belfast tides — High waters: 11:15, 23:31, Low waters: 04:56, 17:13
Today's Dover tides — High waters: 11:14, 23:30, Low waters: 06:06, 18:22 (From Tide Times)
Nearby Portrush is High Water Dover -0440. Belfast -0433
MHWS 1.9m MHWN 1.4m MLWN 0.8m MLWS 0.4m

Direction of stream Skerries (approximates)
Dover -0345 east going, HW west going, at 3- 3.5 knots.

Direction of stream between Inishowen Head and Benbane Head (approximates)
Dover -0530 east going; Dover +0030 west going, 2 knots Springs.

At the Skerries the ebb stream or west going stream sets fair through the anchorage and sound to the westward, attaining a velocity of 3 to 3.5 knots in the constricted passage between Ramore head and the Carr rocks. Eastbound vessels should make note that the flood stream sets from Ramore head towards Carr Rock. However it turns east in about mid channel in the sound when it sets fair. In heavy weather an unpleasant seaway will be found in the sound that is best avoided.

Off Benbane Head the rate is 2.5 knots except within a mile of the headland where the spring rate attains a speed of 3 knots. Great seas can build up off Benbane and off Bengore Head 1,000 metres to the east. A useful east running eddy may be availed of close inshore and to the west of Benbane Head. The eddy occurs during the second half of the west going stream and it begins at Dover +0330 and continues until it is overtaken by the main east going stream at Dover -0530.

The latest monthly Dover and Dublin (North Wall) 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 Ulster 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. Dublin 83, Wicklow Head 87, Rosslare 23 and Mine Head 83. 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?

In Portballintrae Harbour, there is a public slipway, a boat club and public toilets in the car park alongside. Water is available at the harbour. Fresh provisions that you would expect from a village that services a population of 750, and twice that during the summer, can be found here. In addition there are plenty of restaurants a hotel and post office.

Nearby Portrush is a busy and friendly holiday town with all the pubs, good restaurants, wine bars and cafe resources you would expect in such a location. Portrush railway station is the last stop on the Coleraine-Portrush line, where travellers can connect with trains to Derry, Belfast and beyond. Translink run a regular bus and train service to and from Portrush. Nearest airport at Aldergrove 77 km.

What emergency contacts are there?

Belfast Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC). Operational Area: Northern Ireland/ Irish Republic Border, Lough Foyle to Northern/Irish Republic Border Carlingford Lough. Belfast Coastguard (MRSC) VHF Ch 16, liaises closely with IRCG. Emergencies are worked on 16, 67 and working channel.

Alternatively, or if ashore, phone 999 and 112 and ask for ‘Marine Rescue’. Police, Fire and Rescue are also available on this number. Belfast (MRSC) may be contacted directly on +44 2891 463 933. Portrush is an auxiliary station with an all weather lifeboat and an inshore lifeboat (summer only) stationed in the harbour. There is also a coastguard lookout upon Ramore Head. HM Coastguard Sector Office +44 28 70 823356 has a remote aerial connected to Bangor CG VHF Ch. 16 and 67.

Other useful contacts in this area
Portrush Harbour Master: VHF Ch. 14; Phone +44 28 70 822307
Portballintrae Boat Club - Tel. +4412657 32301
Police phone: +44 28 7083 44122
Doctor phone: +44 28 7082 3767
Hospital phone: +44 28 7034 4177

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred to a boat on anchor in the Portballintrae.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

British Admiralty 2798‘Lough Foyle to Sanda Island including Rathlin Island’ and / or British Admiralty 2723 ‘Western Approaches to the North Channel’ scale of 200,000:1 large scale. 2494 ‘Ireland-North Coast, Plans on the North Coast of Ireland’ at a small scale of 37,500:1 including Portrush the Skerries and approaches. Imray chart C64 ‘Belfast Lough to Crinan and Islay’ C53 ‘Donegal Bay to Rathlin Island’ plus Northern Ireland Ordinance Survey No. 5 and 4 at a scale of 1:50,000 for inland details.

With thanks to:

Terry Crawford, local boatman of many decades.

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