From Holyhead to Arklow.
Sara had joined us. This was good.
We sailed most of the way which was unusual, but given a favorable breeze and the engine over-heat alarm going off randomly, it seemed a good idea.
Albatross is actually a sailing boat anyway.
I like Arklow although not everyone enjoys the long walk to the "facilities"
16th June 2015
To Kilmore Quay (KQ).
We motored all the way, apart from a brief return to Arklow when the engine over-heat alarm went off again, when we sailed a bit.
One of the many reasons for liking Arklow is because it's quite easy to sail into the harbour entrance given;
a Southerly F3,
sunshine,
favourable tides,
a fit crew,
flat water,
a sailing boat and an overheating engine.
Anyway, on the second attempt we left Arklow (nothing wrong with the engine, actually) and motored to KQ.
KQ
We like KQ, especially as we were met by a famous Irish artist who advised us to have supper in the restaurant that displays his paintings. I liked many of his paintings but unfortunately I can't remember his name, although I do believe he really is famous.
18th June.
We must have had a day off in KQ because my log empty for 17th.
Anyway, 18th June was very exciting for 3 reasons:
1. We were going to sail to the Isles of Scilly
2. Judith was going to meet us there
3. We were boarded by Irish Customs.
Irish Customs Boarding Party
Irish Customs Boarding Party Boarding
Why would The Irish Customs bother to board us when we were leaving Ireland?
What, we wondered, might we have been smuggling out of Ireland and taking to The Scillies?
Eventually we decided that, given the cooler weather in Ireland when compared with that of The Scillies, and therefore the later blooming of the Irish daffodil (when compared with that of the Scillies), it might have been profitable to export late flowering Irish daffodils (from Ireland) and to import these into The Isle of Scilly (where they would be in demand as the early Scilly daffodil crop would by then be, in a word, "all over").
The Irish Customs men duly boarded out boat, and asked whether we had and guns ("No"), narcotics ("No"), contraceptives ("not at my age"), alcohol ("yes, plenty thanks") on board. They were however, playing their cards quite close to the chest because, rather than simply adding "And would there be any of our late flowering daffodils on your ship ?" they simply went below and poked around briefly, presumably trying to sniff them out.
Irish Customs Boarding Party Leaving
So much for the very nice and courteous Irish Customs. Next we heard from Judith who was preparing an epic trip of her own. Manchester to St Mary's (a Scilly Isle), by car and ship.
KQ to The Scillies is 135 nautical miles. This is long way. Fortunately, with favourable winds and expert seamanship we arrived after only 23 hours without either being run down by a freighter (taking something from KQ to Bordeaux (empty wine bottles, we thought) or bumping into a fishing boat that appeared determined to search for fish directly in our path.
Friday 19th June.
We arrived at Hugh Town, St Mary's and attached ourselves (the boat) to a mooring buoy. We went to sleep.
Hugh Town, St Mary's
Having met up with Judith, our intrepid foursome set about exploring the various Isles of Scilly.
Making use of Sara's detailed knowledge, we safely visited The Cove (St Agnes), Porthcressa (St Mary's) and New Grimsby (on The Isle of Tescos). Tesco Isle have a famous garden centre so we went and had a look at it. It was full of plants.
Tea time at Tescos
Wednesday 24th June.
To Newlyn.
Judith saw a whale. We all saw some porpoises.
We had a nice sail and arrived in Newlyn without any further interference from the Irish Customs.
Newlyn is in England, which is part of Cornwall, which is owned by Charles, whom I've never met.
