Days 34 & 35 Dun Laoghaire

Wonderful Ireland.
We had the nicest trip ever from Howth to Dun Laoghaire and were surprised to see how big the marina here is, and once again, so friendly and welcoming.
There are four yacht clubs here so the next morning, the 4th July,  (we didn't quite make it the evening we arrived) we visited the very plush Royal Irish Yacht Club. As we are all members of the Royal Temple Yacht Club we could get in with impunity. It was very impressive, just how I imagine a top class gentleman's club in London would be. On the past commodores board we saw an HRH! The billiard room was beautiful.

Carved cupboard with RIYC insignia and shamrocks

The whole place was very impressive. We had only gone in for a coffee but decided to stay for a light lunch because the food looked lovely and it was reasonably priced.

We spent a very interesting afternoon at the Maritime Museum which is housed in the Seaman's Church and we had a very knowledgeable old gentleman who spent over an hour with us, giving us a guided tour with lots of personal memories thrown in.  A "Teddy's ice cream", apparently home of the Mr Whippy, completed the day.

Roy, me and Mary eating "Teddy's" famous ice cream
We had planned to continue our trip to Greystones today (5 July), but after the overnight high winds and the forecast of a Southerly (which would be on the nose) we decided to postpone until tomorrow. We will then move on to Arklow which is to be our hopping off point. We are on track to make our crossing Monday night/Tuesday morning, all being well, and we will then be back in England.

Roy and Mary caught the Dart train to Dublin this morning to go exploring and I went up to the town to get a new phone, having inadvertently dropped mine very briefly into the marina. Even though it was in a coat pocket and I got it out quickly, I had ruined it!


The marina is alive with children having a great introduction to the sea, which is so good to see.

Comments

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 befor...
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 approac...
Read more
Image
  Hello again from Lunar Sea in Portishead. The boat has been here for two years now and we are continuing our adventure from tomorrow, the 31st May, by locking out of Portishead Marina (near Bristol in case you wondered) and we will be heading for Penarth Marina (near Cardiff) for our first stop. Then on to Padstow via Watchet for a night's stay and then probably an anchorage for one night off Clovelly, to break up the 18 hour trip from Watchet to Padstow.  We have been so lucky to have found this charming marina which has been Lunar Sea's home for two years, we will be sad to leave, but excited to be on the homeward stretch of our marathon around the UK sailing trip. It was supposed to take 2 years, but due to bad weather in year 1 and a mutinous crew, plus the pandemic in the third and fourth year, it will have taken 5 years (assuming we get back to Ramsgate this year, watch this space!) Wish us luck, calm seas and a good wind. I will try and do a daily blog, sailing condit...
Read more