- This topic is empty.
Saltee Trip
-
OK peeps! I have booked a boat to the Saltees for Saturday 11th July
so far there are no bookings for that date but will book up quickly, I
have reserved three seats for myself and a friend and Seaview that
leaves 9 places so if you want to go let me know asap so that I can
reserve you a place. 25.00 euro leaving Kilmore Quay at 11am weather
permitting and collected at 4pm.Should be a great day out for everyone, lets hope we can fill the boat with PI members. :lol:
Dave.
Is there some safe parking around?
Count me in… do you need the money in advance or on arrival?
Zoltan
Great Zoltan I think there is a big carpark just beside the harbour,
and I think pay on arrival is fine.I was there today. Great day out and the weather was excellent. Would highly recommend a trip there. There is a large car park beside the harbour and the boat trip takes about 20mins to the island.
You WILL get wet on the boat though so be prepared for that. You can put your equipment inside the cabin to protect it.Hi Folks.
I was out to the Great Saltee Island last Sunday, the 21st of June, and had a superb day with great weather. However, the young Puffins were almost fully grown and seemed to be feeding themselves. Similarly, the Gannet chicks were quite well developed, so don’t expect to take photos of Puffins feeding their young in July! Mind you, a visit to the Great Saltee Island is always a pleasure assuming good weather prevails. Parking is no problem especially if you arrive early. I recommend parking along the pier wall (near the old lightship) directly behind the public toilets. The Harbour Master’s Office is along here and there’s always lots of people around so vehicle security is good. The advice about “getting wet” should be taken seriously: if there’s a swell running, seawater can sometimes wash briefly along the passenger area of the ferry so be sure to put your gear in the the cabin or on the raised platform in the center of the passenger area. DO NOT LEAVE BAGS ON THE FLOOR AREA where passengers congregate! The chipper located almost opposite the lightship is very good as is the pub (for food and drink, name I can’t recall) on the Kilmore road opposite the RC Church. The shop opposite the lightship is great too if you want to take breakfast rolls, coffee plus other sustinance! My final words of advice: (1) When getting off the RIB (the small boat that takes you onto the landing point on the Island from the ferry boat) take great care of yourself and your gear because the rocks and seaweed are extremely slippery. And you can get your feet wet at this point too so be warned! (2) In the event that the day turns wet and you need shelter, or if you want to spread your food out on a table, the house on the Island has a rather battered old room where you can go. This is located through the trees to the right as you approach the house coming up the steps from the landing point on the beach. The remainder of the house is private property and the owner may be in residence during your visit.
Hope you all have a great trip. I’ll look forward to hearing all about it in due course.
Go Well.
Harry Reid.Thanks very much for all the info Harry, much appreciated, fingers crossed for
fine weather and calm waters :)Another word of warning that most PI’ers last year didn’t take heed of – wear sun block. You can come back looking like a victim of nuclear fallout if not. Many members will testify to that from last year where they discovered blisters can ruin several nights sleep.
Enjoy.
Alan
irishwonkafan wrote:
Another word of warning that most PI’ers last year didn’t take heed of – wear sun block. You can come back looking like a victim of nuclear fallout if not. Many members will testify to that from last year where they discovered blisters can ruin several nights sleep.
Enjoy.
Alan
I like your positive thinking Alan, hope it will be a sunny weekend.
Thanks Alan, can I ask what lenses you used there? I dont want to
bring anything that is not going to be needed and I am terrible for
putting everything in the bag “just in case” and then cursing myself
having to carry it all. I have 70-200 2.8 and 50-500 4-6.3 and I
will probably bring 18-200 3.5 with me as it goes everywhere and is
small.I’d advise packing as lightly as possible… if it gets hot out there, which it does, then the walk can become very uncomfortable.
Last time I went out I brought one body, one long lens and one wide angle. This was more than enough.
I’d only bring a tripod if it’s not too heavy or the quality of the light is poor.
J
The two long lenses are fine but as Alan said bring a wide angle
lens as its great at the gannet colony to capture the whole area.
Waterford Camera Club were there 2 weeks ago and nobody
used there tripods…mind you it was a great day weatherwise and
high shutter speeds were easy to achieve…bringing a lot of gear
is very tiring and really you wont use half of it.Noel Browne.
The 50-500 should cover every eventuality for you regarding the birds. You’ll be able to get within 10-15 feet of the Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills no bother. As for the gannets, you can get to 1 or 2 feet if you want!!
The 18-200 will be perfect for landscapes and such. I’d bring a monopod also for the 50-500 as it will get very heavy after a while. I was using a 120-300mm yesterday and used a monopod at the Puffins etc. as they didn’t move much and you could sit down on the cliff edge. I didn’t bother with the monopod at the gannet colony as they move around a little more and the place is covered in birdshit so I couldn’t sit down!! My arm was ready to fall off by the time I was leaving!!I wouldn’t bother with the 70-200 as you have this range more than covered and in bright daylight you should be able to get a shutter speed plenty fast to get inflight shots with the other lenses.
The terrain is fairly steep in places on the island and you really don’t want to be lugging around too much gear. Ideally all you will need is a wide angle lens and a tele zoom. I suppose you might as well bring a camera as well!!
I’d agree with John. The 50-500 will get you almost anything you want to see. And the wide angle (18-200 might be wide enough) will cover the landscape element.
My first trip last year I brought all of the above…and then some. It was not a happy trip On the second one I brought the Sigma 10-20 and the 50-500mm with a monopod. The 50-500 does get heavy on the ‘oul arms after a couple of hours.
Alan.
[EDIT] like what Ballyman said while I was typing.
[EDIT #2] like Noel said while I was typing edit #1
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
