Carlingford to Howth


Days 26 & 27.


Day 26 We left Carlingford at 0850 on 26th June to catch the tide which runs at about 5 knots, so it gave us a helping hand out of the Lough. That was fine but then it was very uncomfortable and lumpy outside, where the tide from the Lough meets the Irish Sea. Josh was his usual encouraging self, “It will be alright once we clear these overfalls at the entrance, it’s just choppy here.” Famous last words because it remained very uncomfortable and as usual the wind was a bit more than the predicted 15 knots. It was supposed to die down but didn’t so for the whole 7 ½ hours we had a horrible sea and the boat was rocking violently from side to side like a manic metronome. Josh was OK with it but even he admitted it was not very nice. I stayed below the whole trip except for the first and last half an hour. I couldn’t put the kettle on at all …a tragedy as far as I am concerned because I can face anything with a cup of tea in my hand…. everything was rocking from side to side, the only thing I was grateful for was that I don’t get seasick. I was worried about the champagne on board …would it pop it’s cork with the 8 hours of being shaken about?  Death by drowning or by champagne corks, that seemed to be the choice that day. Josh managed to make me a mug of tea at 1400 which cheered me up. At least the sun was out. Here is a picture of me with my life jacket on and my high viz hat so that I can be spotted at sea and quickly rescued. When we got in at 16.20, I wrote in the log “I am never doing a trip like that again.” 
Howth marina the next day, with Lunar Sea's dark blue aft sticking out by red buoy!
Day 27
Howth, where we are now and where we will be staying until Wednesday, is lovely. There is obviously a lot of money here and I suspect it is” Dublin on Sea” as there are beaches here as well as the marina and fishing port. They even have Morelli’s ice cream (those of you who know Broadstairs will understand.) We visited the Yacht Club last night and it is a lovely modern purpose-built clubhouse with a restaurant and bar. It reminded me of a circus top with its blue and white striped roof. Unusually the marina is also run by the Yacht Club.

Howth Yacht Club's blue and white roof overlooking the marina.

Today (June 27) we walked around the town and had lunch in the House that Captain Bligh lived in before he went off on the Bounty and the infamous mutiny (his mother was Irish.) There are two Martello Towers here which I thought were only built in England but in fact about 30 were built around the Irish coast due to a fear that Ireland would be invaded by Napoleon!

There is a thriving fishing dock lined with the most amazing fish shops and fish restaurants, selling and serving locally smoked fish, oysters, mussels and chowder and of course the famous Dublin Bay Prawns. It reminded me very much of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. I am going to love our stay here. The weather is glorious, and Dublin is 20 minutes away on the Dart train so what’s not to like?
 
I saw a very interesting way of encouraging people to put litter in the bin; a fish that eats plastic and litter. I have seen this on the internet before but never seen one in real life. Hooray for Howth for leading the way.



I will leave you with this lovely saying above the entrance to the marina.



Comments

  1. SueZan29 June 2019 at 06:51

    So glad you reached Howth safely. Enjoy the warm weather. Xxx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day one and two of the Caledonian Canal - the adventure continues

Image
The Lunatic crew for the Caledonian Canal   We entered the  Clachnaharry sea lock at Inverness for the 1.30 lock and were met by a very helpful, calm lock keeper who talked us through. There was a large sign saying Ireland this way! Clachnaharry Sea Lock, the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, The Great Glen, Loch Ness and Ireland! The lock was timed so that you could then sail through the railway swing bridge, then on to the Muirhead flight of four locks. We had relaxed once we got on to the canal, thinking things could only get better and there is much less to worry about in a canal as opposed to being out at sea, no tides to think about for example. How wrong we were, we were forgetting this is the Lunacy cruise. At the second lock Mick fell in! We heard a plop and a splash and Mick had fallen into the lock between the lock wall and the boat. Josh's quick thinking saved the day as he put the long swim ladder over the edge and Mick managed to climb up before he
Read more

Day 48 and the return to our home port of Ramsgate.

Image
Lunar Sea and her crew back in Ramsgate  Dear Readers, we finally arrived back in Ramsgate five years after setting off on 1 May 2017. The weather then had been atrocious, but it couldn't have been more different for our return. It was promised to be the hottest day of the year, so we had plenty of sunshine and not very much wind. lt did pick up to about 12 knots as we approached Ramsgate, so we managed to get the sails up and the flags flying for our entrance to Ramsgate.  Leaving Dover, heading for the Eastern entrance,  on our way home now. It had been an uneventful 4 hour trip from Dover to Ramsgate, but for some reason the unusually hot weather had created an optical illusion and we had a really clear view of France as we passed Deal. Perhaps it is the high pressure, not sure why?  France, shall we go there instead? We had Josh's daughter Jo on board and Owen and Jordan, two of Josh's grandchildren, joined us in Dover for the day sail. When we got to the approach to Ra
Read more

Day 47 Eastbourne Sovereign Harbour to Dover

Image
  Passing Dungeness Dear Readers, a brief blog today as we are in Dover and just about to leave for our final leg to Ramsgate, which will be day 48 of this leg of the trip. We had a pleasant and uneventful motor sail to Dover, but it was a long trip of 9 hours. The time does go quickly when you are at sea, so it didn't seem so long. We had a couple of visits from porpoises, but they don't come and play around the boat like dolphins do.  Yacht trying to fill it's spinnaker, Eastbourne We had an exciting lock out of Sovereign harbour because it was very busy, so we had boats of all shapes and sizes jostling for position. We passed the remains of a wreck just outside the harbour, only the boilers remain and the birds seem to like it as a perch! Dungeness nuclear power stations. We passed Dungeness which is always interesting, as you get a good view from the sea of the two nuclear power stations, and the two light houses. There aren't many fishing vessels left on the beach,
Read more