5th May 2019
To Crookhaven.
The plan was to get as far as possible around Ireland whilst
regaining our health and pulmonary function.
As Ship’s Doctor I was especially concerned to note that,
presumably as a result of The Virus, none of the ship’s company had retained
any interest in drinking wine. Even The
Captain (me) couldn’t countenance the smallest glass of the stuff.
We had, for the first time since “A” Levels
become involuntarily Tea Total.
Crookhaven is a safe and easy place to anchor.
We found a
spot just off Granny Island, which did at least sound comforting.
6th May
To Dingle. 58NM
We had a comparatively easy voyage.
Doris helmed.
I slept.
Everyone coughed.
Dingle is a little gem.
We were welcomed (of course) by Fungie, the resident Bottlenose
dolphin.
Fungie has for many years been
the backbone of the Dingle economy.
Fungie-watching apparently attracts
tourists from as far south as Baltimore and as far north as Craggy Island.
Unfortunately Fungie is actually Fungie The
Third.
(Fungie 1 got entangled in
fishing nets and Fungie 2 was shot by some delinquent youths, but Fungie 3 is
doing fine).
We like Dingle Marina and her Harbour Master.
We refuelled with particularly fine green diesel
(which for some reason was only available for cash) and settled down to convalesce
in this beautiful town.
Dingle has a
Lidl (in fact there are now 150 Lidls in Ireland but only 149 Tescos) and you
can buy fish and chips, postcards and stamps for England elsewhere in the town.
My only slight criticism, perhaps, is that the marina’s
lovely modern shower block doesn’t have any heating and on one occasion the lovely
modern shower didn’t have any water.
We understand that the Irish are much tougher than we English.
We went on a minibus tour of the local views and archaeology
and learnt all about the making of Ryan’s Daughter and Star Wars XII (or so).
Bus tour from Dingle
Beach near Dingle
1
To Fenit.
To get to Fenit we
needed to transit Blasket Sound.
Reader(s)
will of course remember that Santa Maria de La
Rosa foundered in Blasket Sound on her way back home after the
Armada in 1588. Apparently this disaster
resulted from a navigational error rather than a miscalculation of the prevailing
tidal streams but, none the less, I was determined that we should get our “tidal
calcs” right on this occasion.
Martin,
worked them out, Jean checked them (and
I asked the Harbour Master). All agreed.
We survived.
Fenit is another lovely town.
The harbour and marina is built on a rock
which is attached to the mainland by a long causeway. Many years ago there was
a cunning plan to turn Fenit into an important west coast port (because it is
on the west coast of Ireland and therefore significantly nearer America where
most Irish people now live). Unfortunately the plan never really took off and
Fenit remains a nice little place.
Fenit Top tip 1:
Communicating with the Harbour Master.
The Harbour Master is very nice and helpful. Communication
is best achieved by the full use of all available prostheses.
1. Put on your glasses (so you can see what
he’s saying)
2. Put in your hearing aid,
if you have one (so that you can hear what he’s saying)
3. Arrange any dialogue to happen just before
or after meal times (so that the Harbour Master has his teeth in).
The main thing about Fenit is the famous statue of the “Mermaid
with the Big Boobies”.
The Mermaid
12 May
To Kilrush
An easy trip (by sea … in a boat).
Kilrush marina is cleverly hidden up a dredged channel
behind an island (called “Scattery Island”) in a creek (called “Kilrush Creek”), a little way up the mighty River Shannon (which is full of dolphins).
This is a pukka marina with mechanically
operated lock gates.
To get in:
1. Call the
marina on Ch 80. The outer gates will
open.
2. Motor confidently into the
lock.
3. Read and follow the lock gate
operating instructions (nothing will happen).
4. Await arrival of Simon (who is very nice and who is also in charge). Simon will make you very welcome and will
also press some different (concealed) buttons and the gate will open.
5. Find your allocated berth and park with
bows facing to the west.
lift to Shannon Airport (for a quick trip home to Blighty).
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