Are we sinking?

A heavily pregnant Kerry Buchanan tries to stem the water ingress in a 11ft 6in plywood dinghy off the coast of Donegal in the northwest of Ireland

- Kerry Buchanan

Fraser and I have almost sunk several times in all the years we’ve sailed together. Once was when we unknowingly towed a lobster pot on our prop shaft from Coleraine to Rathlin Island, resulting in damage to a shaft seal that caused massive water ingress while the engine was in gear. Another time was when we had a leak in the rudder stock as we sailed down to Dublin from Bangor. But the most dramatic occasion was the time we thought we’d holed our 11ft 6in plywood dinghy off the coast of Donegal.

Fraser had built the dinghy from plans in our tiny garage near Oxford, about as far from the sea as you can get. She was of stitch-and-tape design, and very robust. We trailed that little dinghy, with her brave British racing green hull, all over the place. On this occasion, we brought her on holiday to Donegal with us.

Bunagee is a lovely little fishing harbour on the Inishowen Peninsula, not far south of Malin Head, Ireland’s most northerly point. The weather can be beautiful, but it’s better known for its soft and persistent drizzle and its storms.

Open water

We launched Drhumbeat (so-called because the plans were for a Rhum dinghy designed by Selway Fisher) at the slipway, beneath the severe glowers of the local fishermen.

As they muttered and glanced at us in our shorts and neon buoyancy aids, I was sure I could hear them passing judgement on the mad tourists.

Fraser’s brother, Neil, decided to accompany us. He’s not a sailor, and he has quite a cautious personality, which makes me wonder why he chose to come with us. We didn’t bother with the outboard, because the wind was perfect and we saw no need for a noisy, smelly petrol engine. Besides, we had oars, didn’t we?