Around midday today with the sun beating down, and the Owenboy River like a millpond we decided to have a lazy day going down to Kinsale.

Here is photograph of us leaving Royal Cork Yacht Club and heading down the Owenboy River – it kind of reminded me a bit of Dartmouth/Fowey.

However, as has happened already this trip, as soon as we exited the estuary we had winds of up to 25-30kts. When I went to put a reef in the mainsail, the reefing line came right out in my hands! I’ve never really liked the rope the sailmakers used when they set the sails up, so it’s now consigned to the bin and a new one that can be trusted will be fitted. The rope they used is – and this is the real technical bit – made of a kind of slippy material!

Once I had the main sorted out we were out far enough to have the wind at our back again, and we had a lovely trip down the coast and into Kinsale. We were hoping to get a berth at Kinsale Yacht Club where I had been before with Marcus on Csardas, but I don’t know whats happening this week, because it was chock a block with boats rafted out three deep on the visitors berths. That being the case we went over to Castlepark Marina where there was plenty of space, albeit it is across the water from Kinsale and looks like a 1/2hr walk around by road or I will need to blow up the dingy…………..seems like a 1/2hr walk to me 🙂

We are both really pleased to have reached our jumping off point for the Scilly Isles and have been lucky in that the whilst the weather has been varied, it has allowed us to keep going and as such we have arrived here a lot sooner than expected. We will probably spend a bit of time in and around Kinsale, and wait for an appropriate weather window. Current weather forecast precludes us heading off for at least the next few days.

For those that don’t know where Kinsale is we are here…………….

Well this morning was lovely as you can see from the photo of the sunrise we took from our anchorage.

The effect of the tide/river was running strongly as we went to raise the anchor. All was going well until the chain jammed in the locker and stacked up at the navel pipe, (pipe which goes through the deck and guides the chain into the chain locker) which meant going down inside the boat to the underside of the bow and kicking the chain out of the way to allow more to drop into the locker. By this time we had done this the current had ran us over the chain and the chain scratched the port side of the boat…….bugger bugger bugger.

Once cleared however the remaining chain came up fine, and the good news is the new Rocna Anchor came up and settled reasonably well onto the bow roller – so that was good – in time we should consider having another bow roller manufactured to suit the Rocna, but it’s fine for the time being. Our plan today was to go down the coast and stop for lunch at Ballycotton which had been suggested by friends Ange and Marcus.

The exit we were taking would take us over the west bar, which with our draft wouldn’t be a problem, but when we exited past the lighthouse the whole scene changed as the seas were more than a little lumpy and were on our beam creating a real rolly polly situation for a time, as I couldn’t change course until over the bar and clear of the real shallow bits. Once clear I headed across the waves to settle the motion and kept going away from our course until I had enough clearance off the headlands to enable me to turn to starboard and thus have the waves behind us all the way to Cork Harbour. Ballycotton would need to be visited another time.

This leg was pretty much a straightforward trip down the coast dodging lobster pots etc until we cleared the headland and sailed into Cork Harbour, and then into the Owenboy River. We took a berth at Royal Cork Yacht Club, and enjoyed a lovely hot shower with plenty of hot running water. Looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight

Following on from yesterdays blog Sara and I searched the internet to identify the shark we saw yesterday, and just about fell out our seats when we saw the exact match was a Great White shark. My immediate reaction was that we must be wrong, so checked further on the internet and found that Great Whites are not uncommon off the Irish Coast – now THAT was news to me!!

The one we saw must have been a juvenile, and perhaps the “big splash” we saw might have been mummy or daddy taking a seal? In some ways I’m glad they were off chasing seals leaving their offspring to have a wee nosey at Sun Dog.

Makes yesterday all the more special…………………

Left Kilmore Quay behind this morning, and we have both voted it the best place we have visited thus far in Ireland.

On the way down the coast the weather was fabulous, and it’s fair to say that the trip had more than a few highlights. We had the absolute joy of Dolphin riding along with us and we left the boat on autopilot for a spell to sit up the bow and enjoy the experience………simply lovely. They are so hard to catch on camera, but we did manage this one – not great but good enough.

With the strong tides down the coast there have been times when I thought I had spotted a “fin” but they have turned out to be black 25 ltr containers (used as marker buoys by lobster fisherman) being pulled halfway under the water by the tide so that they looked like a triangular black fin…………………….I have had to take a bit of a ribbing from Sara !!

Well today I saw another “fin” and then lost it in the waves, next thing it was coming towards us, and my immediate thoughts were “oh bugger I’ve picked up a pot marker” as it kept getting closer and closer. So I put the engine into neutral and prayed silently, but this was no pot marker it was – well in truth I was not sure exactly what it was but I knew it was not a rope around the propeller (prayers answered) As it came closer we saw that it was a shark about 10ft long and it had a distinctive white underbelly. I am not exagerating when I say it’s snout was two inches off the boat. Sara made a dive for the camera but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. We must look up picture of sharks to see if we can identify what it was, this should be easy as it did have such a distinctive look, and not like any other sharks I have seen around the coast over the years.

Sometime later we saw an almighty splash from something that must have been pretty big and we can only assume that this was caused by a Whale or something pretty big breaching……………..what a super day, and one we will remember for a long time.

We arrived at the entrance to Yougal where it is pretty shallow all around with a couple of routes in being clarified by the sector lights on the lighthouse, and as we reached the Lighthouse the tidal effect on the surface was amazing to witness, and our speed suddenly leapt. The pilot books advise against anchoring at the town quay and suggest a point just at the spit of land on the opposite side which is where we decided to drop the hook. The current was flowing strongly and I wondered how the new anchor would set, there was no need for concern as it bit first time, and left us facing the tide, at anchor with the boat speed showing 2.75 kts.

A local chap was out in his canoe and came over for a chat, and I asked him about an area I could see further in behind the spit that looked like it was out of the main tidal effect. His view was to stay put as he reckoned it was both a bit shallow and there was a serious risk of fouling something with the anchor. He did suggest that we might want to be awake each time the tide turned, and you know what it’s like at times like this, one part of your mind is happy that the anchor is totally secure while another part has a tape recorder playing a loop of what he had said.

That being the case I decided to sleep in the wheelhouse, and when the ebb started I was awake for a bit, but there was no excessive tidal effect even though we were on spring tides. Aha said I, he must have meant when the flood started, as when we had arrived we were two hours before high water, and perhaps the tidal effects were stronger when the flood tide started. Once again yours truly was awake, and the real peculiar thing is that there was no strong tidal effect, all the way through to our departure time of 30mins before high water.

Now I am no expert, but perhaps someone can explain how the flood tide one day can be flowing strongly and the next day not especially when the wind has been constantly from the same direction……………answers on a postcard please to……

After a good sleep last night we felt fully refreshed and ready to go out and explore the area, and have to say that it is simply lovely with many of the houses in the town having thatched roofs. Below are a few examples of these lovely properties.

We also learned not to give way – but rather to Yield !!

Our plan was to eat in the Silver Fox this evening, but couldn’t wait that long and instead we went in for the Sunday lunch menu. The venue was spotlessly clean and the food stunningly good, and it’s little wonder it is so highly rated. We read that the head chef of the Silver Fox was previously head chef on the QE2 for 12 years, therefore attention to detail will be second nature.

With the tide being out I also tried to capture the leading lights and the bar that runs out into the beach, but I couldn’t capture the scene in one shot. You can see in this photo that you wouldn’t want to be following the leading lights too far in a nightime approach!!

When looking out to sea we could see the safe water mark but not the green and red markers to aid crossing St Patricks Bridge. It turns out that these are only laid around this time of year, and today we saw them being prepared to be taken out. This made me doubly glad that I did not run through the inside gap yesterday, as I would have arrived with no markers to aid the crossing the bar shown in the photo!!

The following is a shot of the marina, which was again today really busy with about 12 boats taking out anglers. When they came back in I went round to speak to one of the skippers to find out why this area was so popular with sea anglers. Turns out that because of all the rocks around this area the fishing trawlers avoid an area of some five miles out to sea and fifteen miles parallel to the coast, therefore there are plenty of fish to be caught on rod and line. There is definitely a lesson to be learned if this is what can happen when trawlers don’t hoover up the sea bed.

We needed another early start this morning to catch the tide down to and around Carsnore Point, which is the most south eastern part of Ireland. Between it and Tuskar Rock the tides run strongly with some dire warnings in the pilot book should the weather be poor, and also when in a wind against tide situation.

When planning this leg there were various options, one was to go right outside Tuskar Rock and miss the worst effect of the tide. Another was to go the inside route sticking close to Carsnore Point. I finally settled on a compromise, in that I would go between the point and Tuskar Rock, assess the effect of the tide, and if all was OK at the Barrels cardinal marker I would then cut inshore and go over between the marker buoys at St Patricks Bridge (gravel bank with 2 metres depth at lowest tide) and into Kilmore Quay.

Consideration had also to be given to the fact that we are moving onto Spring Tides which means stronger curents, and the charts were showing some tidal rips in certain areas. The final part of the equation was that as we cleared the point we would have the full effect of any wind from the south creating a wind against tide situation.

We set off early in a light F1/2 southerly wind and when the sun came up it was a lovely sunny day and we spotted a few Porpoise on the way down which will always brightens up the day. Everything was going to plan as we approached the gap between Tuskar Rock Lighthouse and the Carsnore Point, and as you can see from this photo the seas were calm.

Just after I took this photo the full effects of the tide kicked in, and the sea state changed. The wind was now only F3 (as we had cleared the shelter of the point) but the effect was dramatic, we were whoosing through at 10.5kts over the ground, and into some sizeable waves. It was perfectly safe in Sun Dog, but I could visualise just how hellish this would be in strong winds, especially bearing in mind how light the winds were today, and the sea state created!

Approaching Barrel buoy I had the binoculars out to look inshore, and all I could see was white water everywhere, therefore with no local knowledge I applied my mate John’s philosophy…….”if in doubt, bottle out” . Therefore our course was now to go the long way, and loop around the Saltee Islands and into Kilmore Quay. This would add a few hours to the day, but it was without doubt the safest option.

Rounding the Great Saltee Island we passed a load of boats out with Sea Anglers and began our approach. There are a few unmarked rocks to be avoided in the approach, and the leading lights are noted on the chart at a very precise 7.8 degrees true! To be fair once the safe water mark is reached the leading marks are clearly visable and the only thing that required care was the force of the tide, as we had arrived after the turn of the tide. We were running/crabbing down the leading marks with the bow some 30 degress to starboard of the marks. The turn into the harbour is sharply to port with dire consequences if you overshoot as there are nice jaggy rocks and shallows all waiting to spoil your day 🙂

This harbour is my kind of place, as it has a good atmosphere. It is busy with small commercial fishing boats, and it also has a sizeable number of boats taking out sea anglers.

As we were pretty tired we took a cursory look around the town and found a Seafood Restaurant called Silver Fox which has a number of awards including one saying it is Irelands Best Seafood Restaurant…………..guess where we will be eating tomorrow night?

We left Dun Loaghaire around 0800 and once again the prevailing winds were on the nose. We timed our departure to catch the tide at Muglins and sail down the coast passing Wicklow Head which according to the pilot books has the strongest tides on the east coast of Ireland, and we certainly did get a lift of about 3kts for a time. We then passed Mizen Head and duly arrived at Arklow early in the afternoon.

We decided not to go into the actual marina, but instead took a berth on the long pontoon on the Avoca River. This pontoon is just past the entrance to the small marina, and as we passed we noticed a boom across the entrance. We have no idea why this was there, as there were plenty of boats berthed in the marina, so it wasn’t closed for maintenance.

We were puzzled so decided to go round and check out the facilities, and at the same time find out the reason for the boom. But these were locked with no explanation as to where we could get a key, nor indeed where visitors should pay!

Later in the day a grumpy individual came down to the boat and we paid our just and lawful dues – it can fairly be stated that this guy does not have a career ahead of him with either the Irish Tourist Board or the Diplomatic Corp!

One of the boats in the marina was a Hans Christian (which I think are lovely boats) and it was being worked on by the owner who it transpires had recently bought her in Southampton. We were having a good chat and he invited us down to view her, but as we still had to go and get some bits and pieces before the shops closed, we politely declined and said we might come down later.

The sun was so lovely and warm and it was good to stretch the legs and enjoy the rest of the day ashore. We found an American Diner type restuarant called Eddies Rocket which is part of the new Dunnes shopping centre and just up from the marina. I have to say that it was a really neat place with excellent food and service with reasonable prices considering the quality. On the tables and adding to the experience there were mini juke boxes where you could choose and play a track for 20 cents – a fun place to eat.

In the evening a chap we had met earlier in the day came down to the pontoon to have a look at Sun Dog and chatted away for an hour or so, and he proved to be really good company with some interesting tales to tell.

We left Malahide and went round to Dun Loaghaire passing Ireland’s Eye on our way around. We assume at some point in the past there was a full arch and thus the name?

There is an unusual access system in the marina as they scan your fingerprints when you are “booking in” and when you wish to gain access back into the marina from the town you put your finger on a scanner which then states your name and let’s you through the gate. Once we had been duly booked in and fingerprinted, we went around to pick up the anchor, and thankfully Ian at Viking Marine had been true to his word and kept it aside. This was all the more honourable as the prices had gone up and he could have sold this for a greater profit, so hats off to Viking Marine. The anchor fits reasonably well in the stemhead but will need tweaking or a new fitting sometime in the future – but it’s OK for now.

The refuelling pontoon is well away from all the berths and you have to liase with the office who then send a chap along in a boat. He has to carry a case with all the gubbins up the steel ladder and then lowers the fuel hose down to the pontoon. However, for some reason he has to keep his finger on the control all the way through the refuelling process. He was bit quick off the mark when I went to put fuel in the other tank, and this meant he had to stop one transaction and start another thus preparing two bills for the fuel. I can see this being a popular process in the height of the season in a marina with some 800 boats.

We were chatting to the office staff asking if they had full occupancy this year, and they explained that two years ago there was long waiting list for berths, but given the economic situation in Ireland, they have as they put it, ” a fair few berths available”.

Anyhow tomorrow we move on towards Arklow, and it has been suggested that we might not want to go into the actual marina, but rather consider taking a berth on the pontoons in the river. We will check this out when we arrive.

Given the conditions we decided to stay another day and went for look around the town, which I have to say is lovely as it has all individual shops and has not as yet been overtaken by the big multi nationals or supermarkets. We also bought an internet dongle so that we could get online and catch up on all our e-mails etc.

Tomorrow will be a short day as we are simply going around to Dun Laoghaire (dun leery) to pick up the new Rocna anchor, which has been set aside for me by Viking Marine.

In the morning we sorted out the pass key etc with the harbour authorities, called them for clearance to leave, and set off at around 0900 heading for Malahide Marina. The forecast was for F4/5 occassionally F6 later with the wind from the West and then going round to the North West, so it all seemed to be stacking up well. We exited Carlingford Lough and had a lovely but slow sail to begin with, but with the distance to go and the required arrival time to enter the shallow and narrow entry to Malahide Marina meant that we had to eventually get a bit of a move on so once again it was back to motorsailing.

After an hour or so, the winds started building up to around F4 as forecast but didn’t stop at F4, the wind kept building F5,F6,F7 until we were getting squalls with the winds hitting 39kts true. I thought we would get a bit of shelter and things would settle down when we reached the Skerries, but wholly shamolly the seas just kept getting bigger and bigger, and in the time I’ve owned Sun Dog, its the first time she has been out surfing – exciting would be one word to use!! There must be some kind of “local effect” in this area created by the islands of Rockabill and Lambay.

Given the conditions and size of the waves, I thought it would be prudent to radio Malahide Marina for some local knowledge, but they simply reiterated what was in the pilot book. This stated that whatever the depth was at the safe water marker, one subtracted two metres from this depth and this would give the depth over the bar in the entrance.

We circled around thinking we had missed the safe water marker in the waves and poor visibilty, but I was wanting in and as I had calculated the tidal heights in the traditional manner and was therefore confident there would be enough water under our keel. Going up the narrow channel which is clearly marked, I became aware of just how narrow this was and couldn’t help but hold my breath going over the bar (and re doing some mental arithmetic) – but all was well. We had been allocated a berth number when we called the marina earlier, and it was a nice touch when someone came down to take our lines. I mentioned to this particular staff member that we hadn’t been able to find the safe water marker, and he smiled and said that came as no surprise to him as he pointed to it up on the hard standing. It is apparently due to be positioned within the next few weeks !

The coffee Sara made once the boat was tied up tasted like nectar, as we hadn’t really had anything since breakfast and the conditions had not been conducive to boiling water/preparing food in the galley. It was a real shame, that on her birthday, the weather Gods couldn’t have been just a wee bit kinder -but if nothing else Sara now knows that Sun Dog can indeed take a sea.

This photo was taken the next day at around mid tide and looking out to sea.

This was (in our ownership) the first time we had to raise a courtesy flag on Sun Dog – so that was a really neat moment.