Glandore to Glandore

So we made it to Glandore (24^th May)

We like Glandore (BSA level 5)

We anchored. Was this a mistake?

Read on Dear Reader (both of you).

25^th May

We flubbered ashore, walked to the ancient Standing Stones (Drombeg Stone Circle). Ireland’s second most visited Iron Age Set of Standing Stones. 

I told an American lady that Stonehenge was even older. I think she was (slightly) impressed (briefly).

Lovely. 

Great position.

Would make perfect Iron Age Barbeque site (perhaps that is what they were for?)

  Jean at Drombeg Stone Circle

Anyway, nice walk back to Glandore and the pub (The Glandore Inn).

Nice lunch, very nice half of Murphys.

Flubbered back to boat. 

Siesta.

Windy afternoon.

Windy wobbly night.

Adjusted anchor and bridle etc. four times.

Slept occasionally.

26^th May

Windy.

You get used to thinking that the anchor is going to pull out and drag and the boat will be wrecked. 

You get used to the anchor bridle groaning and straining and threatening to snap.

Too windy to go ashore.

I was up on deck, worrying about what to worry about next, when the flubber blew over in a gust and capsized, complete with outboard.  Eventually we righted flubber and salvaged the outboard, which was full of water and certainly not going to run.

Now totally stuck on board. Far to windy to row ashore.

Anyway, the forecast said that the wind should ease this afternoon.

After much discussion decided to “go for it” at 1700.

1700 hours.

Up anchor

We set off across the smooth harbour waters and out to sea.

F7 on the nose. Waves as big as … whatever ... very big things.

After 2 miles, we turned around, back to Glandore.

We decided to splash out and use a “visitor’s mooring”.

It was a little windy as we tried to pick one up. 

I lost the first boathook overboard, but we eventually retrieved it.

Next off we picked up another mooring and (Jean) lost the other boathook.

This mooring was so near to the next one, that having attached ourselves to it, we banged into its neighbour.

Anyway, having picked up all our boathooks and grabbed another mooring we went to bed (without even a glass of wine) and didn’t sleep a lot.

Midnight, a French boat arrived and attached itself to the mooring (7 metres away from us) that we had rejected 4 hours previously.  After a brief explanation of why this was a bad place to park, it departed in surprisingly good spirits.

27^th May 0400

Yes, 4 in the bl**dy morning.

We got up and set off.

The wind had dropped.

Foggy but flat.

We motored towards Cork.

We saw the land occasionally.

I learned how to work the radar.

We saw a huge mega cruiser “Air”.

  Yacht  "Air"

We saw a Sunfish

 (Nice picture of someone else’s sunfish, thanks)

We saw some dolphins or  maybe porpoises, just outside Cork Harbour.

Now here’s a thing ..

As we motored past the first dolphin (or very large porpoise), it dived. 

Then we saw two porpoises (or very small dolphins) and they both dived. 

Then something hit our rudder, really hard 4 times in a row (hard enough to turn the wheel in my hands). Dolphins aren’t stupid, I don’t think it can have hit us repeatedly by mistake…. was it attacking us?

We saw the (biggest) dolphin once more after that, swimming away behind us.

Anyway, we motored on to Crosshaven and Salve Marina.

We like Salve Marina.

As the man who helped us tie up said that it is , “ the most relaxed marina in the world”.   

I think he’s right.