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Great Skellig (Skellig Michael), County Kerry, Ireland

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Harbour position?

51° 46.334' N, 010° 32.175' W

Where is that position?

The landing area situated in Blind Man’s Cove at the northeast corner of the island.

What is the initial fix?

The following waypoint will set up a final approach:

Skellig Michael - Blind Man’s Cove - Initial Fix.
51° 46.334' N, 010° 31.852' W
200 metres east of Blind Man’s Cove.

What LWS draught is available?

3 metres (9.84 feet).

What are the tides and weather here?

HW Cobh –0119sp, -0039np
MHWS 3.6m MHWN 2.7m MLWN 1.2m MLWS 0.4m

Between the Skelligs and the coast the tides flood north and ebbs south
Dover +0215, Cobh -0420 north going.
Dover –0400, Cobh +0150 south going.
They achieved a spring rate mid-channel of 1.5kn

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 considerations are there?

The Skelligs are two prominent pinnacle rock islets lying approximately eight miles off Bolus Head on Kerry’s Iveragh Peninsula. Great Skellig (Skellig Michael) the larger of the two and the outer islet was inhabited and has a landing pier.

Great Skellig is at best a stay-aboard location in completely settled conditions. More realistically it is a location where you hove-to or sit and drift immediately offshore and land a visiting crew by dinghy.

Landing area access is clear of offlying dangers and little more than normal navigation is required to come in.

Please note that Skellig Michael is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can expect it to be busy with tourist vessels especially around the landing area.

How to get in?

Both islands are highly conspicuous steep rocky islands. Great Skellig the outer islet, is 214 m high, with a 12 metre white tower lighthouse on its southwest extremity, plus there are the remains of a disused lighthouse - about 200 metres to the northwest upon the islands western side.

Skelligs Lighthouse - Fl (3) 15s - position: 51° 46.108’N, 010° 32.519’W

Come straight in westbound from the initial fix to the landing area on the northeast tip of the island.

You will find a northeast facing cut, looking across to the Little Skellig, and see the telltale steps rise up to the summit above the quay – see photo. This is called Blind Man’s Cove where the islands small concrete pier resides on its southeast side.

The landing stage is beside a steep cliff and only eight metres across so you need to come straight in and reverse out. In very settled weather it is possible to stay there for a short time – please come prepared with large fenders and heavy warps.

However there is nearly always a swell that surges in and out of caves at the end of the cove complicating landing. Worse the confined cove makes the likelihood of rolling the spreaders against cliff walls a constant worry. On top of this the tourist boats queue to land all day and you would be obstructing their operations – save for very early, or very late, in the long summer days.

Consequently the best way to land is by dingy standing the yacht off hove too as it is too deep to anchor. As a result landing requires some planning as those staying behind with the yacht will have a long wait for the shore party to get to the monastic settlement and back. You need to be very sure of your weather.

Another dinghy landing point is in the deep bay, called Blue Cove, on the northwest side of the island. A disused pathway exists here that leads up to the main part of the island – discernable in the Blue Cove photographs below. These steps are reportedly only usable at high water and the current state of the path unknown. It is said that the islands controlling authorities are planning to improve this path to provide some flexibility of access.

It should also be mentioned that a circumnavigation of the island does provide spectacular scenery for those not landing. It is possible to pass between the Washerwoman Rock (600 metres southwest of the island) and the island.

What facilities are available?

Apart from the landing pier there are there no shops or facilities of any kind such as toilets. Despite what literature may suggest there is definitively no drinking water as the islands many wells are disused and unclean.

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

Why visit here?

Great Skellig also known as Skellig Michael (from Sceilig Mhichíl in the Irish language, meaning Michael's rock), is a unique experience. This floating pyramid has been home to some of the earliest monastic settlements in Ireland as well as providing sanctuary to extensive birdlife.

‘’Magic that takes you out, far out, of this time and this world’’ is what George Bernard Shaw, said of the Skelligs when he visited in 1910. But talk of the islands reach back to ancient Irish folklore and Christian history. The earliest reference found so far dates back to around 1400 BC. A poem tells the tale of how the Tuatha De Danann caused the invader, Milesius, to shipwreck in the area. A later reference, circa 200 AD, tells of Daire Domhain - King of the World - resting there before an epic year and a day battle against Fionn Mac Cool and the Fianna. The Skellig Islands are where St Patrick is credited with exterminating the last of Ireland's venomous snakes.

From this point on, the history of Skellig is very much a Christian one. Skellig Michael has an amazing well-preserved Christian monastic settlement. Perched on a ledge close to the top of the island, it dates back to as early as the 6th Century. The monastery is enclosed by a dry stone wall, solid and unbroken after fourteen centuries of winter gales and early Viking ravages. The extreme remoteness of Skellig Michael has left the site exceptionally well preserved.

For about 600 years this remote island was a place of solitude and refuge for about 12 monks plus an abbot who lived in stone 'beehive' huts (clochans) - the remains of which can still be seen today. The very Spartan conditions inside the monastery illustrate the ascetic lifestyle practiced by early Irish Christians.

Well worth seeing is Needles Eye, the highest peak, rises from the northwest part of the islet; between it and the east elevated part is a deep depression known as Christ's Valley. Visitors can also explore the island's oratory, cemeteries, churches, holy wells and stone crosses. With such an intact Christian monastery, Great Skellig became designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Little Skellig

The smaller island Little Skellig (Sceilig Bheag in Irish) is closed to the public. It hosts Ireland's largest and the world's second-largest Northern Gannet colony, with almost 30,000 pairs.

The Skelligs are a magical place and it would be a crime to come to Kerry and not experience it.

Any security concerns?

You should not leave the boat unattended for seagoing reasons.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

2495 ‘Kenmare River‘ Scale of 1:60,000 covers the Skelligs plus ‘Sneem Harbour’ scale of 1:30,000, plus ‘Dursey Sound’ scale of 1:12,500, ‘Ardgroom and Kilmakilloge Harbours’ scale of 1:30,000, ‘Ballycrovane Harbour’ scale of 1:30,000, ‘Upper Kenmare River’ scale of 1:30,000.

Imray C56 ‘Cork Harbour to Dingle Bay’ scale of 1:170,000 and Discovery Ordinance Survey map 83 also cover this area. The Pilot ’Sailing Directions - Irish Cruising Club - South and West Coasts of Ireland’’ covers this in great detail.

How can I get this offshore?

If you are receiving a mobile signal you can access all of our information via a standard mobile phone internet browser. We provide a streamlined version of the site at www.liyfs.com, which is a shortcut to our 'Lite' site called Lite.InYourFootSteps.com, that is simplified and optimised for speed. Here are the phonetics to pass the address on via VHF: WWW.LIYFS.COM, I SPELL... LIMA... INDIA... YANKEE... FOXTROT... SIERRA... DOT.COM. Similarly, if you have limited or expensive internet capabilities, you may switch to the 'Lite' site www.liyfs.com for faster more efficient access.

Alternatively you may print a hard copy to have aboard. Either print this page with 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.

With thanks to:

Burke Corbett, Gusserane, New Ross, Co. Wexford.

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