Inishbeg > Baltimore

Sandy Island from The Sound

We depart late morning near high water Baltimore. We run down the river under staysail only, running and reaching, gybing downwind. Conditions start out relatively calm, and of course things are always calmer with the wind from astern. As we approach Quarantine Island we spot a seal who thinks he is a dolphin. At this point I have to admit that I have no idea what that means, but it’s what I wrote down in my log so I’ll have to go with it. The wind is rising.

We round Quarantine Island with Sandy Island to starboard. The wind is now funnelling through The Sound towards us. I want to put up some main sail, but Laura doesn’t want me to hoist the main. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to beat to windward under staysail only, and in the end that turns out the be the case. We advance at a reasonable pace for a while, but at one point we are heading towards the rocky shore of Spanish Island and we need to tack, but the bow will not come through the wind. We put the engine in gear and Laura steers towards the centre of the channel as I go forward to take down the staysail. We motor back across the harbour to the mooring. 

As we approach the mooring we notice that both the Sherkin and Cape ferries are in the inner harbour and both look like they are about to leave. Hmm… what should we do now? The wind is very blustery now and we decide to go for it. Laura is at the helm with me at the bow with a boathook. I miss the buoy on the first attempt but we spin around and I catch it on the second try.

We tie up and do some basic tidying and then load up the dinghy and head in. The conditions are quite choppy in the harbour, with a strong gusting wind against the falling tide. After a while I’m getting tired of rowing and ask if there might be any volunteers to take over. Laura is game and rows us the rest of the way back to the pontoon while I rest my weary arms. I have to admit she surprises me. She is getting very good at helming and handled the boat very well today in difficult conditions. She can be grumpy and unwilling sometimes but when the going gets rough she comes through in the end.

We take up our usual table at the Jolie Brise and order pizzas followed by apple tart with ice cream. As we are enjoying our meal, the wind dies down and the sun breaks through the clouds. We made it back in one piece. It feels good to be alive!

Tuesday, 18/07/2017

Inishbeg to Baltimore

R, E, & L

Baro 1015 falling slowly

Mostly cloudy

Wind E to ESE, F4 gusting to F6