The irish East coast has a string of sand banks running parallel to the rocky shoreline. This is KTL so it was a no brainer to sneak along the coast between thehard rocks and the hard sand. The wind blew from abaft the beam all day so we had a boisterous rollicking good sail up the coast. We hand steered all day to keep the boat going through the following seas as the old Centaur surged her way inexorably northwards. Easily the best run of the trip so far - exhilarating, fast, efficient and the engine was running for no more than ten minutes through the whole day.
We left Arklow and headed out into a smooth blue sea
Arklow Harbour -well worth a visit and I entend to return there when I turn my attention to the Irish Sea - in six years time
Arklow is in a period of transition
we left to face a perfectly calm sea witth just the odd zephyr
there are some fine beaches along this coast
But within an hour or so the wind freshened, the skies became dramatic and the coast or Ireland with its incredible clouds and emerald green pastures slipped effotlessly past.
the sky and the seea turned grey as the strong southerlies set in
The Irish coast looks as though iit will offer plenty to entertain the travelling sailor
The wind swung to the south and with a force four, a long fetch there were some big waves coming up our chuff. Centaurs need a lot of steering when going downwind under boisterous conditions
Dunes mean fine sand mean lovely beaches and small inlets
there are also plenty of cliffs to add drama to the vistas
the seas started to break a little - but nothingĀ seemed to worry the boatĀ - we lost her once but she just rounded up and asked us to have a another go. When things get nasty the hull and keels force the boat to come safely into the wind.
pretty soon we were attempting to elongate the surf by bearing off along the wave fronts - great fun to steer that day
Centaurs are well balanced when heading downwind
The Jeckells genoa doings its stuff - it needs more tension in the suff so it could do with a slightly higher foot attachment point
It was an excellent sail - look - just jeans - that means it is warm.... ish ... as long as you sit out of the wind
Ireland from the sea - the skies were always entertaining
Occasionall patched of sunlight penetrated the clouds - you can't buy light like this
the navigating was challenging but enjoyable
one of life's great pleasures as a shallow sailor is squeezing through narrow gaps
Ian had Navionics on his Ipad - it did a brilliant job of saying where the bottom is - it has brilliantĀ underwatere profiles
Possibly the cutest harbour in the world
Locvely from every angle
Our first Irish Flag
It is a really impressive harbour
That evening I took the camera for a walk around town.
the architecture is a fine combination of old and new -
the harbour is separated from the town by the urban transport system - the trains sound like london tubes
spme=one has paid good money to have lighting like this
The marina in Dublin bat is a bit unsettling. Brilliantly appointed, 1000 pontoons but only half full with 7 year old forty footers. You can see that seven years ago the place was really booming but now you can see the recession writ large in the pontoons.
The showers are in a barge whish shortens the walk to the loo across the thousand berth facility
Great fun Dylan, we were quite amused by the MARIna Lou when we were there in 2013. Fairly sneaky to call it Dublin Bay – it took us ages to realise that Dun Laoghaire was pronounced Dun Leary. Looking forward to reading the rest of your missives tonight.
Cheers
Rob
Southerly 110 ‘Norman James’
I sail a Centaur up and down this coast and my fellow Englishmen’s comments are cringeworthy and do not go without challenge by my good Irish sailing friends. Dun
Laoghaire…or Dun Leary for Anglo Saxon simpeltons…is part of what is part of the geographical location known as Dublin (Blackpool for fellow sassenachs) Bay. At least try to leave your ignorance at home when cruising.
The light in Ireland is amazing, a photographers delight.
It gets even better on the West coast.
And berth space is never a problem.
And as an Englishman who has lived in West Cork for more than ten years now – well – lets just say you do slide into a different ‘mind set’, as I believe the modern term is.
When I go back to England (Cornwall) to visit the family, I think they are all mad.
Though Cornwall isn’t as mad as the rest of England.