Sunshine in Ireland




 From Kilmore Quay we set sail at 5.45 am to catch the tide for Arklow, our next stop on the Irish coast. The harbour master advised that if we sailed near the shore we would catch favourable eddies and gain three hours more of favorable tide.  He was right.  We nearly made Arklow on one tide, which for a 52 nautical mile journey was great. 

Arklow wasn’t our favourite mooring.  It has a very big problem with sewage pollution and they have a project to rectify this which is in progress.  However it won’t be finished until 2025. We were also a long way from the showers etc, which all felt like too much effort as we were all tired. So we went to an Aldi which was only ten minutes away and bought some beer and papadums to be consumed with instant rice and cans of M and S hot chicken curry. It was surprisingly good! 

This morning we had a more civilised start time and left just after 8.00 a.m.  Our destination today was Greystones Marina - about a 25 mile trip.  We really enjoyed it, favourable winds and at times and we roared along (well for us anyway!) with a Force 5 wind and a favourable tide.  The engine was off for a while! We arrived at 2.00 p.m.  The journey was not without incident - in particular Roger lost his sun hat.  The crew think this is not all bad news, as his new sun hat is rather snazzy. 

Later on this afternoon we saw the gaff ketch ‘Klevia’ come into the marina.  The crew were really impressive and manoeuvred her beautifully.  

Tomorrow our destination is Dublin which is a party port! 

Photos of sunset at Arklow (thanks Alan), Gaff Ketch Klevia and the new sun hat. 

P.S An update - I now have the picture of Roger retrieving the furling line from the propellor!



Kilmore Quay to Arklow        52.8 nms
Arklow to Greystones             28.1 nms

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