| Offshore Foolishness |
CategoryIrish CruiseThe Irish AdventureWell that's it Temptress is safely delivered to a new berth in Dingle. What a lovely spot almost completely landlocked, surrounded by green hills and a short walk from the town centre itself.On Saturday when we left the Solent pausing only for a boat scrub at Hasler, there were moments when we doubted we'd make it. On board we were three - Kevin, Paul and myself, Susie; three skippers... The wind was blowing hard from the south west and with an ebbing spring tide conditions were too rough for the Needles Channel so we motor sailed out via North Head with 2 reefs in the main and the tiniest scrap of the gennie out. After an hour or two of beating southwards the crew unanimously agreed that a pint in the Royal Dorset Weymouth seemed more attractive than a night at sea so we continued south until we could tack and lay Weymouth Bay avoiding the overfalls off Anvil Point. Big green waves continued to roll down the deck and find their way round the sprayhood until we were close into the Dorset coast. Looking at the chart the minds eye conjoured pictures of the wonderful scenery but that was all we saw of it until around a mile off the Nothe! It was a grey miserable day horizontally though looking up revealed patches of blue. Sunday morning dawned bright and Temptress quickly reeled off the miles westwards but during the night the weather forecast told of strong northwesterlies arriving around the time we'd round the Lizard to head that way. The harbour staff at Penzance were a little surprised to find they had a request for berthing as they opened the lock gate shortly after 5am on Bank Holiday Monday! We spent a pleasant but windy day exploring Mount St Michael by bus, filling our faces with pasties and deciding where to eat supper. The Bakehouse is highly recommended. Early on Tuesday we filled up with diesel and headed for Ireland well reefed. The wind was north-easterly despite the forecast of north backing west. Through the day and into the night we mostly motored as the wind died away. We saw little in the way of shipping and no other yachts. Soon after dawn on Wednesday the wind was a little fresher and freed off a little so we shook out the precautionary reefs in the main and broke out some jib. As we were doing so we passed a very large pot bouy complete with radar reflector just yards from the boat. About half an hour later the radio sprang to life with a french accent and after their thrid call we realised it was us that was being hailed as we were the only yacht any where near the position being given; "we 'ave a net". When the Skipper called them back they gave us the co-ordinates of each end of the net but without indentifying themselves. Plotting the positions on the chart revealed just how close we come to an unwelcome encounter! Land Ho! The mountains of Southern Ireland appeared on the horizon, the sun came out and soon we were motoring past the Fastnet Rock. What a glorious day, so unlike the last time we sailed past this coast during the gales of the 2004 Round Ireland Race. This coast is wonderful - we soon had the chart on deck indentifying every headland, rock and inlet. The birdlife was amazing - fulmars, puffins and many more we coudln't identify. We sailed inside Puffin Island and headed into Dingle Bay soon after supper and were tied up enjoying DIngles famous hospitality - great stout and good music. A great end to a wonderful trip. 7:52 PM - Jun. 5, 2006 - post comment
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Description When you reach a certain age and have done more than a few offshore races the time comes to look for a little more comfort.  Home User Profile Archives Recent Entries - Happy New Year - End of the Line - The project becomes a Project! - eBay: Not Exactly Where You'd Look for a Classic Boat... - Its been a while |