Boy has it been a while since we’ve been in touch. We have had a crazy fun time though. So, we left Dingle and had a brisk sail to Carrigaholt and anchored in the lee of yet another tower house (castle). Carrigaholt town is just a quiet little fishing village with a nice pub and calm anchorage that protected us from the 30 kt winds we had overnight. Then it was a super sail all the way to Inis Mor in the Aran Islands.

What a time for the weather to finally cooperate! We had a fast blast right into the harbor and settled down for a wonderful week. The sun, which had been eluding us since we arrived in Ireland finally came out to stay. The wind disappeared and we had a lovely time. For starters Nancy talked me into going for a SCUBA dive! Well, the water temperature is around 60 degrees for starters so our little 3mm suits were not going to cut it. We decided to go with the local dive company and they set us up with full 7mm suits with another 7mm shortie on top. Plus hoods and gloves! We looked like black Staypuffed Marshmallow men. The dive itself was pleasant enough once you got over the ice water down your back. We saw lobster and crabs and lots of kelp-like sea weed. Definitely not a typical Caribbean experience, but worth the effort.

The following day we hired a tandem bicycle to tour the island. This place is full of ruins, dating from the 6th century onwards. We rode to a half-ringed fortress that backed up to the cliff some 120 meters above the sea, straight down! We also looked at a fantastic 10th century round fortress near a Middle Ages castle. The engineering of these structures is amazing! The rest of the week we walked around and relaxed. It is reminiscent of Block Island without all the cars, casual, touristy, but surprisingly fun.

We stayed in Inis Mor until the weather brought some welcome North wind to help push us back toward Baltimore, where we planned to haul Zephyr for the winter. We left with 15-20 kts aft of the beam and raced down to Ventry, but since we were making ten knots we went straight on to Knights Town on Valentina Island where we had spent an enjoyable time on the trip North. We said hello to friends there and relaxed for another couple days then on to Derrynane.

Now, Derrynane is like no other harbor we’ve been in. The sail around the Ring of Kerry is truly one of the magnificent views of the world. The sun was shining on the ragged cliffs, illuminating the ruins of towers and castles, while the surf rolled in hundreds of feet below. All the while we were enjoying the ride at 8-10 kts with the seas less than 4’ on a broad reach with full sail. Oh, yeah, Derrynane. Well you come around a wall of broken cliffs and through a narrow inlet that is about three boat widths wide marked by stone pillars as coarse as the cliffs themselves. The harbor itself dries out at the small pier at low tide with an anchorage depth of 7 feet at low. Fortunately we only draw 6’! Oh yeah, the anchorage will only hold about three boats, and a smaller boat had arrived ahead of us and parked in the middle. No worries, but that meant we couldn’t put out as much anchor chain as we’d like or we’d run into the rocks. No worries, as long as the wind didn’t come up too much in the night. Oh yeah, the wind gusted to 40 kts that night. No worries, the harbor is so small that no waves could build to lift us off the anchor. But, because our scope was so short, even with a long snubber the boat swung and jerked and groaned all night. Anyway Nancy slept while I fretted, even though I knew we had nothing to worry about. In the morning the wind, of course, died and we marveled at how dramatically beautiful the area really is. The colors and textures of the gorse, grass, and stones are indescribable.

From Derrynane we enjoyed another broad-reach sail to Crookhaven. We had sweet 15 kt breezes right up to the harbor entrance where the wind from that quarter funnels through so it was a drizzly windy anchorage by the time we got the hook down. We warmed our bones on board that night with the heater and some good cooking. In the morning, alas, the heater refused to start. Another joy of boating! No worries, after three more days of futzing I learned the appropriate reset function and we’ve been warm ever since. We spent a couple more days in Crookhaven enjoying the tales of the old locals. There are the remains of an old granite quarry which provided the stone to build the new (1897) Fastnet Lighthouse, as well as the barracks and engineering offices of the workers.

Finally, we returned to Baltimore to a tumultuous greeting. At least the gang at the Algiers was happy to see us. The final stage of this season’s sailing was about to come to an end. On the 16th of September we took on a pilot to guide us up the Ilen River to Donal O’Donovan’s boatyard. The pilot, Dominick Casey, happens to be the coach of the Irish Olympic rowing team, which trains on the Ilen. The men’s pair, who come from Skibbereen, right near the boatyard, won gold this year, yay Skib! The area around the yard is a marvel of activity. This yard isn’t your normal “yacht” center. He hauls and repairs large fishing trawlers and other commercial boats. Across the creek is Hegerty’s, the last active wooden-boat yard in Ireland. You are stepping back in time when you walk in there. Anyway, we had to arrive at high tide as the creek dries out at low. They put us in the slings and the next day we put Zephyr to bed. Sad.

So now we are at the mercy of public transportation which is easy to use and generally comfortable and convenient. We took the bus/train to Belfast for a week. We walked around the shipyard where the Titanic was built and took a tour of the “Troubles” neighborhoods. We walked all over town to museums and pubs and parks. We went to the opera to see “Eugene Onegin”. The opera house is beautifully appointed in that Victorian era opulence! But best of all was Bert’s Jazz Bar! Great cocktails and superb jazz every night of the week! Heaven!

From Belfast we took the bus ride down to Dublin. We stayed at a wonderful house in the center of town, so we walked or took the tram everywhere. The Irish Museum, Dublin Castle, Trinity College, the Botanic Garden, even Temple Bar neighborhood. We also wandered over to the canal docks to look at some live aboard canal boats. That may be our next move after the sailing is over. A canal boat to travel through England and France and Belgium, oh my! We ate well and found a wonderful cocktail bar called 9 Below that made us want to stay. We enjoyed wandering through St. Steven’s Green which was adjacent to our lodging.

The weather is getting cooler, and the rains are intermittent so we rode the train down to Wexford where we are staying at a manor attached to an ancient tower house. It’s called the Killiane Castle and is surrounded by cattle grazing in the pastures, lovely trees, gardens, and it is five miles from town so we have been just relaxing and wandering the grounds with Daisy the Lab. Right now the wind is howling through the trees and the rain is beginning to fall. But, I don’t care because I have no anchor to check or rigging to secure! Tomorrow we are off to Cherbourg, France! The ferry trip will be our last water ride until spring, when we return to Zephyr. Stay tuned for further adventures on the Continent.

Don’t forget to drop us a line and come join us for a sailing adventure. Cheers!