A Night Crossing of the Irish Sea
Days 38/39 Overnight
We left Arklow at 5.30 p.m. in exuberant mood, looking forward to a good night sail. Night sailing can be fun and quite magical, which is what we were all hoping for. We weren't disappointed. It turned out to be a lovely calm evening and it stayed light until gone 10.00 p.m. The wind steering behaved itself and we had a helping hand from the tide so we made good speed for first three hours doing 6-7 knots. The speed eased to 4 knots by about 8 p. m. as the tide had changed by then.
Josh managed a couple of hours sleep once the boat had settled down and then came up about 10.00pm and stayed awake for the rest of the trip. The rest of us had naps when we could, doing several hours at a stretch. Mary and I became the "Night Knitters" as we knitted on deck until it got too dark to see. It was a cloudy night but we could see a bright half moon and some stars. Out of sight of land there are dark skies so it was a pity we didn't have a totally clear sky, but nevertheless still magical to be at sea at night. You can feel quite alone and at peace at sea at night. We couldn't see land for most of the journey but there are always lights around at night. Some lighthouses can be seen 20 miles or more and distances are deceptive at night. At 22.25 (in the log) we saw the first one, marking the Tuskar Rock, the extreme south east point of Ireland. We saw several other lighthouses winking away during the trip and I find it very reassuring to know we are not alone. Of course we had Mike, as our ground control back in Broadstairs, tracking us on the AIS system. We were out of telephone and internet range for most of the journey but we found out later that he had been tracking us off and on all night. We also saw several ships, fishing boats and a ferry all brightly lit up, one fishing boat passing a bit too close! We think he had been asleep and only just saw us in time to change direction.
At 2 a.m. I decided to try and get some sleep below but was woken at 5.00 a.m, just as dawn was breaking. Josh and Mary were on deck and had seen dolphins and I rushed up on deck to see. There they were playing around the boat and having fun, then they disappeared as quickly as they came. At the same time the line for the wind steering snapped, it is often the way that everything happens at once after hours of nothing much happening. Josh fixed it and we carried on. I decided to try and get some more sleep and Roy came up on deck so I disappeared below. It was about 7 a.m. when I woke up and went on deck to a lovely morning. Dolphins appeared again about an hour later. We could see them dead ahead and some way off rushing towards the boat. There were at least ten of them and one junior. It was pure magic to see them playing around the boat and diving underneath. They were coming right out of the water and seemed happy to see us. They cavorted around the boat for some 5 minutes and then swam off and we could see their arching bodies as they went off to the sea. Josh managed to get an amazing video of them but unfortunately the blog site can't upload videos.
We had gone around Bishop's Rock by the time the dolphins paid us a visit and were heading around St Ann's Head up to Milford Haven. It was very calm with hardly any wind, so we motored up the channel past the refinery and through the lock into the marina. We had tied up and switched off the engine at 10.20, so a 17 hour trip. Josh crashed out below and we all had a rest that day and the next day. It had been a good trip and full marks to Skipper Josh for a safe passage.
I did take some photos as we were reaching Milford Haven and I have put some captions on them, but just a joke as of course we knew where we were at all times.
We are currently weather bound in Milford Haven, so not a lot to report on at the moment, I will resume the blog before we leave which could be Sunday (today is Friday, we got here on Tuesday.)
We left Arklow at 5.30 p.m. in exuberant mood, looking forward to a good night sail. Night sailing can be fun and quite magical, which is what we were all hoping for. We weren't disappointed. It turned out to be a lovely calm evening and it stayed light until gone 10.00 p.m. The wind steering behaved itself and we had a helping hand from the tide so we made good speed for first three hours doing 6-7 knots. The speed eased to 4 knots by about 8 p. m. as the tide had changed by then.
Josh managed a couple of hours sleep once the boat had settled down and then came up about 10.00pm and stayed awake for the rest of the trip. The rest of us had naps when we could, doing several hours at a stretch. Mary and I became the "Night Knitters" as we knitted on deck until it got too dark to see. It was a cloudy night but we could see a bright half moon and some stars. Out of sight of land there are dark skies so it was a pity we didn't have a totally clear sky, but nevertheless still magical to be at sea at night. You can feel quite alone and at peace at sea at night. We couldn't see land for most of the journey but there are always lights around at night. Some lighthouses can be seen 20 miles or more and distances are deceptive at night. At 22.25 (in the log) we saw the first one, marking the Tuskar Rock, the extreme south east point of Ireland. We saw several other lighthouses winking away during the trip and I find it very reassuring to know we are not alone. Of course we had Mike, as our ground control back in Broadstairs, tracking us on the AIS system. We were out of telephone and internet range for most of the journey but we found out later that he had been tracking us off and on all night. We also saw several ships, fishing boats and a ferry all brightly lit up, one fishing boat passing a bit too close! We think he had been asleep and only just saw us in time to change direction.
At 2 a.m. I decided to try and get some sleep below but was woken at 5.00 a.m, just as dawn was breaking. Josh and Mary were on deck and had seen dolphins and I rushed up on deck to see. There they were playing around the boat and having fun, then they disappeared as quickly as they came. At the same time the line for the wind steering snapped, it is often the way that everything happens at once after hours of nothing much happening. Josh fixed it and we carried on. I decided to try and get some more sleep and Roy came up on deck so I disappeared below. It was about 7 a.m. when I woke up and went on deck to a lovely morning. Dolphins appeared again about an hour later. We could see them dead ahead and some way off rushing towards the boat. There were at least ten of them and one junior. It was pure magic to see them playing around the boat and diving underneath. They were coming right out of the water and seemed happy to see us. They cavorted around the boat for some 5 minutes and then swam off and we could see their arching bodies as they went off to the sea. Josh managed to get an amazing video of them but unfortunately the blog site can't upload videos.
We had gone around Bishop's Rock by the time the dolphins paid us a visit and were heading around St Ann's Head up to Milford Haven. It was very calm with hardly any wind, so we motored up the channel past the refinery and through the lock into the marina. We had tied up and switched off the engine at 10.20, so a 17 hour trip. Josh crashed out below and we all had a rest that day and the next day. It had been a good trip and full marks to Skipper Josh for a safe passage.
I did take some photos as we were reaching Milford Haven and I have put some captions on them, but just a joke as of course we knew where we were at all times.
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| Not sure what that is, anyone know where we are? |
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| Josh, I think we should have turned left back there! |
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| "I don't like the look of that " says Mary. |
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| Where did that come from?? |
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| Hold on, let me look at the chart. |
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| Julia, do you know where we are?? |
We are currently weather bound in Milford Haven, so not a lot to report on at the moment, I will resume the blog before we leave which could be Sunday (today is Friday, we got here on Tuesday.)
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