Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

12°C

Swell today

Direction S, height 1.1 metres, period 9.9 seconds, significant wave height of 1.4 metres.

Haven position?

51° 53.200' N, 010° 22.020' W

Where is that position?

The pierhead at Portmagee village near the bridge.

What is the initial fix?

In the middle of the entrance to the harbour approximately half a mile east-southeast of Bray Head.

What is the story here?

Portmagee resides upon the mainland at the south side of the entrance to Dingle Bay. It is situated in the west end of the channel between Valentia Island and the mainland, to the southeast side of the island. The small fishing port provides visiting yachts with a sheltered anchorage and secure moorings.

Portmagee is a pleasant harbour that affords good protection from all wind and sea conditions off the quay. Access requires normal navigation with due diligence. Although there are no specific dangers in the entrance, in fair conditions, once inside Reencaheragh Point the channel contracts and has offlying rocks and reefs. The chart should be studied carefully to approach the quay. There is also an alternate northern approach via Portmagee Sound from Knightstown for shallow air draft vessels.

Please note during southwest gales Portmagee should be avoided owing to violence of sea under Bray Head and baffling winds. In these conditions Knightstown should be used.

Why visit here?

Portmagee, known in Irish as "An Caladh", or "the Ferry", (Irish because of the once constant traffic back and forth between the village and nearby Valentia Island) is a quiet picturesque village and southwest Kerry’s main fishing centre. Today, the two are linked by the harbour road bridge.

The English name ‘Portmagee’ comes from a notorious 18th Century smuggler Captain Theobald Magee; originally known as Magee's Port.

Theobald Magee was a retired officer from King James army who became a merchant trader shipping goods between Portugal, France and Ireland. Owing to the difficulty of policing the intricately jagged southwest coastline, his trade opportunistically turned to extremely profitable contraband spirits, textiles and tea and tobacco. He married Bridget Morgell, the widow of a rich Dingle merchant and daughter of the then MP for County Kerry, Thomas Crosby.

Being related to the best smuggler in Ireland placed Crosby in a difficult position and he managed to have Magee exiled to Lisbon. Magee subsequently died in a Lisbon monastery and the suspicion was that Thomas Crosby was the author of his departure. That however was not the end of the smuggling as his wife Bridget and sons continued the family trade.

Today Portmagee is the main departure point for boat trips to the Skelligs. For about 600 years these remote island were a place of solitude and refuge for Christian monks who set up a monastic settlement and lived in beehive huts - the remains of which can still be seen today. Sceilig Mhichíl is the most popular of the islands and is in fact a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Finally Portmagee is the holder of an unusual 160 year old tradition called the "Old Year", a parade that is held on New Year's Eve.

How to get in?

Approach from the initial fix into the middle of the entrance surrounded by high cliffs. Expect a rough sea in this area and, with the wind inclining off either shore, violent gusts from the surrounding high lands.

Nevertheless it is a quarter of a mile wide and free of obstacles. Please note however Long Island’s offlying ‘Bull Rock’ (7m) and Horse Island’s offlying ‘Deaf Rocks’ all of which show.

Pass into the narrows Portmagee Sound midchannel between Reencaheragh Point and Scughaphort Reef. Here you will see rocky islands to the north off Valentia Island and a reef fringing the mainland shoreline.

Once the narrows open continue east-northeast on a midchannel route until you see Quay Brack abeam to port. An anchorage is available in the bay to the south off a quay on the mainland. This is a quiet location away from the Skelligs tourist boat traffic and you should sound your way into an appropriate depth.

To continue on to the harbour follow the line of the north shore studying the chart carefully. Please keep off Quay Brack as there is a sunken rock that is awash at low tide that lies 50 metres off the point called Anchor Rock.

When abeam of Quay Brack take a course of 065° along Valentia Island’s shoreline. This takes you north of a shallow rocky patch extending from the mainland shore opposite Quay Brack and leads you to the six visitor moorings to the northwest of Loughan Islet.

Portmagee moorings – position: 51° 53.300’N, 010° 22.500’W

The moorings are rated to 15 tons and are large, coloured bright yellow and labelled VISITOR. The moorings here however can be a bit lumpy if there is a swell running.

If continuing up to the harbour pass midchannel between Valentia Island and Loughan Islet (4 metre and surround by foul ground) that resides off the mainland shore. From here the pier and village will become visible.

There is a good anchorage off the pier but where you will find up to five metres of depth one hundred metres off the pierhead. There is a strong tide in the anchorage but equally good holding in sand and mud.

By anchoring off the north shore you will avoid the worst of the current and be less of an obstruction to manoeuvring fishing vessels. Avoid the section close west of the pier where an underwater cable runs to Carriglea Point.

You may be able to come alongside on the pier for short periods or for longer period at the quieter pontoon on the north shore between Carrigalea Point and the bridge.

There is a road bridge across the channel at Portmagee. The original eleven metre wide opening span is no longer operational and the bridge is now permanently closed. Hence only shallow air-draft vessel may pass under the bridge to anchor further up the Portmagee Channel.

The channel provides a high water depth of 4.6 metres up to Knightstown but local knowledge is required as the channel is obstructed by rocks and the navigation is challenging.

What are the tides here?

Today's local tide estimates are based on High Water Cobh -0058
Today's Cobh tides — High waters: 06:31, 18:48, Low waters: 00:38, 12:54
Today's Dover tides — High waters: 00:05, 12:22, Low waters: 07:13, 19:27 (From Tide Times)
HW Cobh –0118sp, -0038np
MHWS 3.5m MHWN 2.8m MLWN 1.2m MLWS 0.3m

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?

Limited quantities of provisions can be obtained from this small remote fishing village. Fresh water is laid on to the pier and a good restaurant and public houses.

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?

Never an issue known to have occurred in Portmagee.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

The large scale Admiralty Charts 2423 ‘Mizen Head to Dingle Bay’ Scale of 1:150,000 covers this area. 2125 ‘Valentia Island’ scale of 1:30,000 (including Valentia Harbour scale of 1:10,000) provide detail. Imray C56 ‘Cork Harbour to Dingle Bay’ scale of 1:170,000. 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.

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