Day 87

Another early start at 04:50am to catch the tide through Hurst.  14 miles.  Arrived 08:40am.  

The IOW ferries decided to pass each other at the narrowest part of the Lymington entrance which made it a bit tight.  10+ knots through Hurst.  Wind was W then N then E then S,

Safely moored up on our home pontoon M30 after 87 days away (3 months).

Full travel statistics will be available when the skipper has had a sleep and shower!

Day 86

Day 86 Dartmouth to Studland

An early start, leaving Dartmouth at 5:05. Navigated using the leading lights out past the castle and then past the cardinals marking the Mew Stone and Shag Rock.

77 miles to cover which took 14 hrs.  We arrived with the tide and a brisk NW wind.  We had the Cruising Shute up for the first half of the journey, then a down wind stretch before a final blast along Swanage bay.  Anchored in Studland.  A quiet night after a long hot and sunny day.

Sunrise over the Mew Stone leaving Dartmouth

Paul on the helm

Passing Yacht

Day 85

Day 85 Day off in Dartmouth

Called the water taxi to take us ashore from Deep Water Pontoon 3 to the Double Steps on the town quay.  

Walked to Dartmouth Castle and along the SW coast path.  Took a pleasure boat up to Greenbank opposite Dittisham.  Showers courtesy of the Dartmouth sailing club £2 for 5 mins.  Paul found one for 20p behind the public conveniences.  He explored Kingwear, Dittisham and back to Dartmouth.

All restaurants closed on Mondays!

The chain ferry by our Pontoon

Tenacious leaving Dartmouth 

View of the entrance to Dartmouth with the Day Shape on the hill and the Mew Stone

Day 83 - 84

Day 83 

Was spent exploring Plymouth.  Paul ran of the South West Coast path from the yacht haven on Mont Batten to the River Yealm.  Chris and Nick caught the ferry and crossed to Cornwall and explored the Mount Edgcumbe estate gardens.  Cornish pasties were sampled.  The ferry called in at King William Yard and Drake island.

Day 84 Plymouth to Dartmouth, Sunday 24 July

A late start leaving Plymouth at 08:50 after a leisurely breakfast and shower.  The predicted SW wind turned out to be a Southerly so we had to tack out of Plymouth Sound, passing the Mew stone safely.  No pictures as the waves were high with breaking tops.

Ended up with a S backing SW F4 - 5.  Average speed over 42 miles was 5.9 knots through the water.  A lively sail taking 7 hours.  We did the last two hours with just the jib, arriving in Dartmouth at 4pm.  

Tenacious a 3 masted barque, used as a training ship, followed us in and a pod of dolphins escorted us.

The marina was full so we were fortunate to see someone about to leave one of the 3 mid river pontoons near the chain ferry.  We nipped in as they left.  No facilities but we are safely tied up.

Drakes Island Plymouth from the Mount Edgcumbe Estate Cornish side of the bay

King William Yard Plymouth

Plymouth Hoe from the ferry

Day 80 - 82

Day 81

Rest day.

Day 82

A sunny day, no wind at first so left Falmouth at 7:40 from a tight berth.  Passed traditional sailing boats and many moored boats on the way out.  Wind NNW F3 to 4.  Sailed a straight course on a beam reach.  Passed St Anthony’s Head and Dodmen Head.  Saw the Eddystone lighthouse as a tower out to sea.  41 nm with average speed of 5.7 knots.  Arrived 14.55 at Plymouth
as the PO ferry was heading out.  A large number of other sailing boats were out and about as well as the usual fishing boats.  A glorious day of sailing. 

Day 77 - 78 - 79

We departed Dublin at 5.50 am and set off for Falmouth.  Our navigation suggested the trip to be around 250 miles, taking 2 and a half days arriving around midday on day 3.  

Day 77. We travelled in good sailing winds down the East Coast of Ireland.  Unfortunately the wind direction was not too helpful, meaning we had to tack and motor a bit.  This adds to the mileage and time.

Day 78.  We crossed into the middle of St George’s channel and made good time with winds largely helpful and at some times exceeding 8 knots for sustained time.  Ended the day at the top of the Bristol Channel.

Day 79.  A good run across the Bristol Channel positioned us well in the early hours to get round Lands End.  Weather mixed with a strong wind warning of F6 Cyclonic (means it spins round quickly in an anti clockwise direction).  By the morning conditions had been tricky through the night and got worse as we approached The Lizard.  We witnessed the power of a Thunderstorm at sea with forked and sheet lightning and very loud thunder as it was directly overhead.  Wind got to gusting F8.  

We arrived in Falmouth at 1.00 pm having travelled 273 miles, pretty close to our original estimate.

The Scotsman left the boat to be replaced again by Chris to complete the cruise back to Lymington.

Leaving Dublin

Nick checks out the sunset over Southern Ireland

Arriving Falmouth

Day 76

Our last day in Dublin before a long two day sail to Falmouth.  So shopping, cleaning and washing clothes and the boat were the order of the day.  Andy also departed the boat to Dublin Airport to fly back to Stanstead.

Been very impressed with the way this marina is utilised for lots of activities.  There is a day summer sailing school for various ages.  The younger ones get towed past us regularly in Oppies learning how to steer by tiller.  Presumably they will get their sails soon and be dinghy racing by the end of their holidays.

The older kids are racing small dinghies around and various others are paddle boarding.  The marina is huge with loads of sheltered open water, so very safe and little risk of collision.

The Wetherspoons Bar is also worth a mention, the outside area is outstanding and the high bar wouldn’t look out of place in the Med.

Wetherspoons

Marina enterance

Bye Andy

Day 75

We caught the Dart train into Dublin, the station is directly beside the marina and the journey into the centre is about 20 minutes.  After our obligatory pint of Guinness by the Liffey we found the Molley Malone statue and some of the other tourist sights.  Lunch in the Temple Bar area was excellent with us choosing  Lamb Shanks and Irish Stew plus of course more Guinness.

We were amused that the first menu item on the lunch menu was an Irish Breakfast.

The city is buzzing and with the glorious weather, people are out and about.  We watched some bible bashers and a sermon of the end is nigh so sinners repent.  Then a stag and hen party cycle tour peddled past, only in Dublin.

Thoroughly enjoyable day.

The Liffey

Day 74

We had a surprisingly good night at anchor with the wind settling down to give a peaceful night.  Paul and Nick got the boat ready and set off for Dublin at 3.55 am.  We made very good time and when Jim and Andy took over the watch at 7.00 am we had already travelled 14 miles.

Paul raised our Tricolour courtesy flag as we entered the South.

The wind built steadily and we continued to make great progress arriving in the Dun Laoghaire Marina at 14.00 pm much earlier than we had expected.  49 miles run.

The weather had also steadily improved and we started to get some sustained warm sunshine for the first time.

This time the Marina did have plenty of room and is very well maintained and dredged.  So depth no problem

At Anchor

Leaving our anchorage

Haulbowline lighthouse guarding Carlingford Lough

Rockabill Lighthouse

Flying a courtesy flag

Paul accepts an order in Dublin

Day 73

We left Quoile just before first light at 4.45 am.  The sunrise was spectacular as we glided down a very still Lough.  The current to the mouth was very fast, we made our exit without any issues slightly ahead of schedule and set off for a long day to Carlingford Lough.

On the way as we had some time to lose to arrive at Carlingford at the correct tide, we stopped off in Newcastle Bay, the home of our Irishman Paul.  We anchored off the town and had lunch, Paul’s family came down to wave to us from the shore.

We arrived at Carlingford Lough and navigated very carefully up the Lough towards our planned overnight stay in Carlingford Marina.  We had phoned earlier and been assured of two things.  They had plenty of room for visitors and there was enough clearance at low tide for Wind Singer’s 2 metre drought.

On arrival at approximately 7.45 pm it became clear that whoever had answered our call didn’t know what they were talking about.  It was a very tight marina with little room and no free visitors berths available and not very deep.  We tried to get to a couple of pontoons but in each case we ran aground, fortunately into very soft mud.  We had arrived on a rising tide so after about 15 minutes we floated off the mud and made our way back out into the Lough. 

There was also no room in our back up marina Warren Point, so we ended up spending the night on anchor off the main channel at 20.30 pm a very long day 58 miles run. 

We were lucky had we arrived 30 minutes later than we did, we would not have ran aground in the marina and potentially we could have had really serious problems at low tide in the middle of the night.

Paul on the helm approaching Newcastle

Day 72

Today we have explored a small bit of the beautiful Strangford Lough.  

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/strangford-lough

We left our overnight buoy this morning at 11.30 am and sailed West and then South for an hour and a quarter, only 5 miles but good fun.  There is a regatta on the Lough today and we had to weave our way through a good number of various types of sailing boats and dinghies.

We are only exploring a small part of the Lough because the Lough is huge and the further we go in the further back we have to travel.   The top of the Lough would be a full day of sailing to get up there and another one to get back.  Plus a good few hours to time our exit.

The exit is trickier than entering because the exiting tide hits an opposing tide from the Irish Sea and the boiling sea they create, effectively stops you from leaving.  So you have to wait for the tide from the Lough to be turning, 15 minutes from the slack tide to be exact to escape.  Get there too early and you hit potentially big seas or too late and the incoming tide of 6 knots takes you back in, whether you like it or not.  So timing to the mouth is key.  We will have to leave here, Quoile Yacht Club at the head of the River Quoile.  Close to where legend has it is the final resting place of St Patrick, at 4.45 am.

Out exit slot we believe is 07.15 am and we are heading to Carlingford Lough on the Southern side.

Killyleagh

Delamont House

Dodging the Regatta

Wind Singer on the pontoon at Quoile, 3rd on the right