WELCOME TO IRELAND, NORTH AND SOUTH

Having left Islay we made it to Bangor, tucked up in the marina and waited out the next bad weather which went on for the next 4 days. It was a lovely marina and a nice little town so all was very cosy and we were able to sort out a few little niggles that had showed themselves. Harriet especially got lots of attention, and now sports not only a new hat (new vane) but new string and adjustment of her steering leg so she is now a streamlined young lady. I even managed to get some more of the cockpit oiled, and Dave was able to get the echo sounder working again – he found it was full of condensation and a day in front of the heater sorted that out. I am having more and more finds on the HF radio fax system, and thankfully it also picks up radio 4. We have fallen into a routine of doing the guardian crossword and Sudoko while listening to PM and missed it when we got out of range of the FM radio.We must be getting on a bit, becoming creatures of habit. Dave was going to watch the rugby on iplayer but someone told him the score so that spoilt that a bit for him, but he is all ready for next time.
Thursday came and the wind was OK so off we sailed for Ardglass, about 40 miles away. A super sailing day, very brisk, bumpy at times but not too bad except past Strangford Lough which is renowned for hideous waves. (Locals told us there are 2,000 yachts in Strangord Lough, but only about 20 ever get to see outside the Lough. The tides in the entrance are very strong, about 7 kts , and evidently you can get out at times but back in again). Made the entrance to Ardglass, then crossed fingers on the approach which is a bit on the not so apparent side. It is very small, and not very deep so we needed to be in the centre of things. At this time of year there are hardly any boats out at all, so once we spied the pontoons of the little marina we were able to make a dash for the nearest and parked up OK. We were greeted soon after by the marina chappy and Ben the Springer Spaniel and fell downstairs to a well earned dinner.
I can assure you that all the cosseting of Harriet paid off and she behaved like the true lady she is and was able to let us have a bit of a breather from the hand steering. The new hat suits her very well, and she appreciated the care and attention.
Next morning it was off to Howth, just north of Dublin. A longer day, but fine and breezy at first. We were sailing along when Dave said ‘Have we crossed the border yet?’. ‘Don’t know Dave, no border lines in the water’. Need not have worried as then both mobile phones went off with messages from Vodaphone to say we were in a foreign country and now on their extortionate roaming charges. Looked at the chart, and worked out they would not have missed a second of ‘overseas’ time. the wind died and the rest of the afternoon was motoring. So we are now in Howth, Southern Ireland. It is a lovely village, loads of parks and lovely old houses and loads of people who smile at you. We made it to Mass on Sunday – an interesting experience to say the least. Best described by overload of hand made posters in the church and unique liturgy. And now we look to be here a few days more as the tides mean really silly - o'clock starts (2am) and wind from where we want to go. Not to say we haven't tried.....
We decided to give it a go to leave on Monday, but once out of the harbour we realised the wind was really getting up instead of going down, so decided to turn back in. At that time the foresail decided to unfurl itself and set in a tangle. The wind was now very strong. 45 – 50 kts (gale 8/9) was reported on the the wind instrument and all we could do was to head down wind which was fortunately out to sea. A couple of hours was spent trying to sort the sail problem out, and eventually we were able to get most of it back in, but could not furl the last bit. Not a problem at sea, but we knew it would be one later. So we started to motor back – wind had dropped a bit to 35 – 40 kts, waves were lumpy and progress slow. Then the worst sound of all – no sound. The engine died. Deep doodle. So around again down wind and pull the engine covers off, no mean feat when bouncing around, but managed and Dave changed the filter which looked clogged, and we proceeded to try and re-start. We had taken the precaution of letting Dublin coastguard know what was occurring as we were not all that far away from them and if the engine did not start we would need a tow in. So fiddle and try again etc and finally there it was, a cough of life, and we were back to motoring in again. Such slow progress, 3 knts max! Big sigh of relief, and then, bang, the foresail sheet parted and Dave was up the front again tying more knots. The echo sounder then died. We were running out of things to go wrong by now, so kept on going in and called up the marina folk to get someone to come down and take our lines as we realised the boat would not want to stop with the little bit of sail out in the wind that was blowing. It was a bit less by now, 25 – 30 kts. At least we knew where we were going. So into the harbour and down to the marina. I had no engine on at all and we were sailing at a good clip so it was into full reverse, Dave threw the chap a line for the back end and leapt ashore to put on another to stop us as even with full reverse she was determined to keep going. Given the circumstances it was a surprisingly OK coming alongside. We were very pleased to let the coast guard we were in safe and sound and did not need the indignity of a tow. At last peace and quiet. We were left trying to stop the wretched sail flogging in the still brisk breeze which we did by tying to the pontoon and it was not till evening we were able to sort it out. Despite flogging itself to bits all day it was undamaged. The sheet (rope attached to bottom to haul it in) had chafed on a piece of string attached to the stay and broken. Otherwise no harm done, and we now know we can still cope with problems, so a good day in a funny sort of way. Did miss out on lunch though, but had cups of coffee and bikkies to make up for it.

It was also our wedding anniversary . I hear some people go out to dinner instead of going sailing!

So here we are back at Howth, fixing things and waiting out the weather yet again. We amanged to get all systems back to up and running again by evening, and have arranged that this constellation of disasters does not happen again. I suppose we will find a few more somewhere, but as Dave says, at least we know we can fix things out at sea. Spirit has always coped with what has been asked of her. Still happy – we will never be bored I feel. Almost forgot, Dave provided a super anniversary dinner last nght - fish and chips from the local establishment, and very nice it was too.