Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

9°C

Swell today

Direction SSE, height 0.8 metres, period 9.9 seconds, significant wave height of 1.1 metres.

Haven position?

51° 31.440' N, 009° 22.050' W

Where is that position?

Mid river approximately 200 meters approx east of a private slipway.

What is the initial fix?

This waypoint is quarter of a mile due south of the entrance, midway between Beacon & Barrack Point in the white sector of the lighthouse.

What is the story here?

Reena Dhuna is in the Ilen River north of Baltimore Harbour. The river tends northeast leading to Skibbereen, 7.5 miles upriver, and the anchorage is on a bend in the river 2.5 nm from the river mouth, north of the island of Inishbeg.

This anchorage is sheltered from all wind directions and completely protected. It is a location that I would be comfortable leaving the boat unattended for extended periods, and have done such, with complete confidence that it would come to no harm.

It can be approached from Baltimore Harbour or directly from the west but it requires careful navigation. The river entrance is situated behind Hare Island, at the North entrance to Baltimore Harbour where ‘The Sound’ and the Ilen River entrance meet. You will find a depth of two metres or more all the way up to the anchorage but there are no markings and as such it is inaccessible at night.

Please note the holding is in mud and although it is reported to be poor this is not my experience. I recommend you use a tripping line as I have found the bottom foul in places and left an anchor behind there once that didn’t have a release line.

Why visit here?

This is a safe location to sit out a bit of bad weather in a nice quiet setting. Skibbereen is well serviced with buses one hours walk away.

How to get in?

Use the Baltimore harbour initial fix and navigate up to the Ilen River and Reena Dhuna. You may also enter and exit Baltimore Harbour from the north or west and this is covered in ‘Routes’ where you will find usefull waypoints.

The river entrance is situated behind Hare Island. A useful waypoint is 51° 29.750’N 009° 24.330’W at the North entrance to Baltimore Harbour where ‘The Sound’ and the Ilen River entrance meet, amidst and above Sandy Island and Quarantine Island.

Leave Baltimore by the North entrance and turn to Starboard up towards Skibbereen. You may also come in from Long Island Bay into Baltimore’s north passage and the river entrance. This route lies between Hare Island and Sherkin Island and requires careful navigation as there are many dangers to be avoided.

From the entrance you may simply follow the river to the anchorage. It is at the top end of a northern length of the river before it turns east. You will see a big holiday house on the north side with a private slip just above it.

What are the tides here?

Today's Dover tides — High waters: 10:33, 22:54, Low waters: 05:34, 17:58 ^{From Tide Times}

Baltimore’s tides are Cobh -0025sp, -0005np
MHWS 3.5m MHWN 2.9m MLWN 1.4m MLWS 0.6m

Tidal streams river Ilen plus Baltimore’s north and south entrances.
Dover -0005 (Cobh +0545) In-going
Dover +0610 (Cobh –0025) Out-going

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?

Reena Dhuna in the Ilen River has no facilities. Further upriver, the large provincial town of Skibbereen is a one hour walk and is well serviced by buses. The town is the hub of west Cork and has all stores available plus one of the best Chandleries in the SW that has nearly everything a boatman could require. 1.5 miles further up river at Old Court there is a quay with a boatyard frequented by trawlers.

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

Other useful contacts in this area:
Baltimore Harbour Master - Telephone 087 235 1485
VHF Ch.16 & 09
Cork Radio 16/26/67
RNLI Lifeboat - Telephone 028 20 143 or 0208 20174
Gardaí / Police 028 20102
Ambulance 028 21677
Skibbereen Medical Centre 028 23456
Skibbereen Hospital 028 21677

Any security concerns?

Never an issue known to have occurred in Reena Dhuna. The owner of the big house is a sailor and has kept an eye on my boat when I left it there unattended. My reciprocation was a duty free contribution that I thought fitting. Of course he may be off sailing somewhere himself but I am sure arrangements can be made if that is the case.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

The large scale Admiralty Charts 2424 ‘Kenmare River to Cork Harbour’ Scale of 1:150,000 covers this area. 2129 ‘’Long Island Bay to Castlehaven’’ Scale of 1:30,000 provides 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.

---

Please zoom out to see the 'initial fix' for this location.

How can I get this offshore?

If a mobile signal is available you can access all of our information via a mobile phone's internet browser. We provide a 'Lite' site, Lite In Your Foot Steps using the shorter initials www.liyfs.com, that presents our data in a simplified, speed optimised format. Similarly, if an internet connection is limited or expensive, switching to the 'Lite' site enables faster and more efficient access.

Alternatively print this page's text, illustrations and photos, but without the internet menu, layout, backdrops and Google maps, or economise upon printer consumables and print this page with text only, to get a hardcopy of this location.



Print this haven

Add a review or comment:

Please log in to leave a review of this haven.

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.