Going home ....slowly

Castletownbere was a true find. We moved from the mooring buoy about 10am, after a couple of hours sleep, into the harbour itself. We rafted against a small 2 fishing boats. Fantastic, we had a good ladder that we could use. The harbour is claimed to be the second deepest protected deep water harbour in the world, second only to Sydney, Australia. We were moored right in the middle of the small town. Within the town we found a laundry service and a great supermarket. We wandered around in t-shirts and shorts in the sunshine wondering how we had got so lucky as to still have glorious weather.

Castletownbere harbour

We spent 2 nights in Castletownbere, not doing a great deal. Steve did a full engine service, I did washing and shopping and we just generally recovered from the passage. We had a couple of nice walks and went out for dinner. The boat needed diesel, and fortunately the tanker seemed to live permanently on the quayside so that was easy. 

We looked at how we were going to proceed home and we decided to just take it slowly and explore the places almost on our doorstep much as we had done further afield. A chat with the harbour master in Castletownbere  gave us our next anchorage, which was south harbour on Clear Island. This turned out to be a little gem of a spot. There ended up 5 boats in the anchorage including a French boat and a Dutch boat.

Clear Island anchorage

The bay was hot and sunny and there was even shoreside entertainment laid on in the form of a large school party of teenagers staying at what we presumed to be a youth hostel. Their antics and screams of hilarity as they swam and jumped in the water from the old pier entertained us for most of the afternoon. It was great seeing them having a good time without spending loads of cash

At 04:00 the next morning, Wednesday 10^th July, we were up and away to catch the tide to Crosshaven. There was some daylight just appearing in the sky and we benefitted from the shoreside lights as we raised the anchor and slipped quietly away.

As has been the norm since arriving in Ireland, we hoisted the main fully and motor sailed in a NE 1/2. The temperatures were cooler and stayed at around 17⁰C as we motored gently along the coast to our berth for the night in Crosshaven boatyard marina. Around 07:00 Steve saw several Minke whales. I was below catching up on a few hours sleep. An hour later we were just finishing breakfast and had the misfortune to catch a pot float around the propeller. We saw it pop out from under the back of the boat and Steve was quick thinking enough to throw the engine into reverse which appeared to cut the lines and save the propeller. As he said later, thank goodness the propeller was sharp. We appeared to suffer no after effects.

At 16:00 in glorious sunshine and 26.9⁰C we berthed alongside the hammerhead in the marina. We were asked to raft against another Moody which was out on a daysail. We saw them coming towards the berth and started to release our lines. Unfortunately for them they went up river to give us a bit of time and space and went aground on a sand bank. The wind and tide were pushing them further on the bank so Steve reversed Chewsy gently towards them staying in the deeper waters. We then threw a line to them and pulled them off using a rope fastened around our port stern cleat.

After again rafting up and securing lines we went into town to look out Jolene, who works at Cronins pub, the first pub as you walk down from the marina. We had last seen Jolene aboard SY Indulgence on Union Island in the Caribbean on New Years Eve. Fortunately she was able to join us for a drink and a quick catch up. Indulgence, we saw, was again out of commission, this time with a crack in the rudder. It was Cronins for dinner, and use of their excellent wifi to catch up with home and emails.

Waterford City berthing

On Thursday we caught the early evening tide to Dunmore East, at the entrance to the river Suir, and Waterford harbour. We motor sailed, sometimes in the company of Bottlenose dolphins, and enjoyed a beautiful evening. We made better time than expected and arrived at the mooring buoys at 03:15. We then got our heads down for a few hours ready to make our way up the river in daylight. It took just over 2 ½  hours to meander up the river, admiring the real estate along the shorelines as we went. The colour of the water left a lot to be desired and there would not be even a big toe testing the water temperature here! The Almanac informed us that there were 4 pontoons, 3 of which were for visiting yachts and were well marked. We found no spaces anywhere and were once again rafted up, this time against a sad looking Bavaria 50.

Once again our internet access was nonexistent and we relied on pub wifi. We planned to stay over the weekend and do some sightseeing. It was here that we learned that we had just become first time grandparents. A celebratory drink in the pub meant we could get access to baby pictures.

Waterford was a beautiful city and we had some lovely walks. We also did a bit of shopping, visited the cathedral and spent some time at the vintage motorbike festival taking place in the city centre on Saturday. I’ve never really been interested in motorbikes, but these were really cool.

Leaving Waterford, we managed a sail in a SSE3 wind and went through St. Patrick’s bridge a shallow piece of buoyed water with a depth of 4m when we went through. We anchored for the night off a sandy beach in 5 metres of water off Tachumsin lough. The beach was crowded with people enjoying the good weather, swimming, lighting barbeques, and generally having a good time well into the late evening. I have to say though that we were not the least bit tempted to go for a swim.

The passage to Holyhead on Saturday started at a civilised 08:00, the distance being about 100 miles. After 2 hours of motoring and after passing Tuscar rock, we were able to put up full sails for a whole hour and twenty minutes. From there on in the wind died and we motor sailed until by 19:00 both sails were down and we were motoring yet again. Our average speed increased as we were motoring which meant that we entered Holyhead harbour early, in the dark, at 03:00. We picked up a mooring buoy, and fell into bed. The sail cover could wait until morning!

Holyhead sailing club moorings

After breakfast we inflated the dinghy and went ashore. Leaving the dinghy tied to a pontoon in the marina we were horrified to be told that this was classed as a ‘short stay’ and would cost us £7.00. At our protest that we were visitors and merely wanted to get to a supermarket, the lady in the marina office grudgingly agreed not to charge us. We found out that the sailing club, whose mooring buoy we had picked up ran a courtesy launch. 

Ha! We could have saved ourselves the dinghy ride. After our long walk to town and quick visit to the grocers, we returned and removed the offensive presence of our dinghy from the marina premises. Going ashore after lunch we used the sailing club launch. We stayed just one night here and after a walk along the coastal path returned to the boat to plan the passage to Laxey on the Isle of Man. Another civilised start to the day. The tides are so big up this west coast of the UK that it really is important that you get the tides with you wherever possible. Otherwise you end up going nowhere for a long time. Very frustrating.

The decision to stop at the Isle of Man was made when I quite innocently said that I had never heard of the famous Laxey Wheel. That was it. Apparently I needed educating! So off to Laxey it was. We motor sailed the 54 miles and anchored at 19:30 hours in 9 metres of water about ½ mile from Laxey harbour entrance. Oops, we were right in the way of the jet skis blasting from one end of the bay to the other. The bay was big enough for everyone and they just changed direction.

The next morning we launched the dinghy and went into the harbour. The wind was kicking up a bit of a sea and it was waterproof trousers on to save the clothes. Once in the harbour the tide was out. As it was a drying harbour we needed to carry the dinghy, complete with engine for the last 100 yards. It’s quite heavy over that sort of distance.

Once the dinghy was tied up by the slipway, we found the village map and headed off towards the Wheel and mining exhibitions. We got distracted along the way and stopped for a coffee and a piece of cake at a café in an ex mine cottage.

The wheel and mining exhibits were well worth going to see and great examples of our industrial heritage. We took the walk around the whole area of the mines that is now in the care of the Manx government. A hard had was required to go into a small portion of restored mine.

After walking the whole of the mine trail and admiring the view from the top of the wheel, we made our way back to the harbour thinking the tide would be on the turn and we could return to the boat. Wrong. Think again. The whole of the harbour, right to the entrance was now dry. We were not going anywhere for a long time. Undaunted we turned around, walked up to the tram station and got aboard the next tram to Douglas. 

Once there we wandered along the promenade in the sunshine, had a fish and chip supper in a café and got the bus back to Laxey in the early evening. Arriving at the harbour our dinghy was now afloat, and waiting to take us back to Chewsy. Perfect.

We had an early night as we were due to catch the tide at 02:00 on the next leg of our journey, this time to Whitehaven to visit relatives. We had a force 5 variable wind as we left the bay which settled into a N 3/4 as we reached open water. We sailed for 2 hours with a reef in the main and no 2 genoa. At 05:00 the genoa was rolled away and at 06:00 we dropped the main sail to stop it flogging.

Steve wrote in the log at the end of his watch:- ‘No wind for weeks and now it’s on the nose. Welcome home’ The NE wind continued to blow sometimes up to 17 knots. We were able to enter Whitehaven marina during the ‘free flow’ when the lock gates are open for a short period of time each side of high tide. We were bang on high tide going through the lock. Steve took the boat straight to the fuel dock to fill up the tanks and then we were given a berth in Queens Dock. Time to catch up with a bit of shut eye.

In the marina we managed to catch up with Mark and Karen who have a boat in the marina. They would like to do something similar to our trip and were keen to chat about it. Over a bottle or two of wine, naturally.

Steve in Caribbean mode with Kath and Simon

Whitehaven is really trying to improve its image and the town centre is a pleasant area to shop. The Millenium Promenade is spoiled by the amount of seagulls present and people who insist on feeding them. We spent the weekend in the marina and acquired 2 new crew members for the passage back to Troon. Our daughter Kath and nephew Simon both joined us on Sunday afternoon ready for us leaving on Monday morning. We planned to day sail to Troon arriving on Wednesday afternoon.  

We left Whitehaven and headed out across the Solway Firth towards the Mull of Galloway. We had a northerly 3 at first and managed an hours sail. After that the sails came down and we were motoring. There was a sloppy sea which had the boat wallowing about uncomfortably. The wind was variable, not a lot. We had an unpleasant couple of hours of wind over tide, but then the sun came out, the tide turned and we had a very pleasant motor. I think our 2 crew just came for a holiday. Chillin was the order of the day. We rounded the Mull of Galloway and dropped anchor outside Port Logan.

A forcasted thunderstorm awoke us on Tuesday morning and did not encourage action. A leisurely start to the day included pancakes for breakfast. Fortunately, because of the tides, we had planned a late start. We left at 12 o’clock and didn’t even pretend to sail. Simon, who had never been on the boat before, was at the wheel helming for 3 hours and made a very good job of it. We rounded Corsewall Lighthouse and at 16:15 anchored off Ballantrae for the night.

Chewsy anchored of Ballantrae [thanks for the photo Paul and Lindsey]

On Wednesday we were all up early and ready to leave by 08:00. We hoisted full sail and left Ballantrae on a broad reach, on startboard tack in a SSE force 4 wind. It was dull, but warm. The t-shirts and shorts were still being worn. Our mood was light and the sun came out again. Sailing up the Clyde we met a boat with a French ensign flying and one with a German flag. The Clyde appears to be getting popular with our European neighbours.

At lunchtime I enquired about preferences for food and was initially concerned when Simon said that he really didn’t feel like anything. Then I stopped and recollected what he had eaten so far that day; Cheerios for breakfast, then a chocolate mini roll, elevensies was chocolate croissants and juice, then there were the pea pods he was sharing with Kath, and finally there were the M&M’s he was tucking into when I asked about lunch. I think it’s safe to say that sailing did not affect his appetite! By the time lunch was ready, he had found room in his stomach to join us. I think it’s all that fresh air.

When, inevitably the wind dropped and it became impossible to sail, we rolled away the genoa, dropped the mainsail and then hoisted our signal flags so that we entered the harbour and then Troon Yacht Haven dressed overall. We were greeted by friends Allan and Marjorie who had seen us off 11 months and 3 days ago. Through the afternoon we had many visitors both family and friends, all happy to see us safely back and all asking the 1 million dollar question:- ‘What next?’

For now we are happy to have safely completed our planned trip. We have travelled 11,019.4 miles, met some wonderful people and seen some fabulous places. 

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In case you were reading the blog properly and noted the fact that we have become grandparents, I’ll give you a sneak preview of the latest addition to the family. Paul and Lindseys daughter Amelia Jean was born on the 13^th July 2013. Maybe she will keep us landlocked for the next wee while.