Dun Laoghaire - 08/09/10 June 2006 (day 19/20/21)

Yacht Gothik

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Marina

Dun Laoghaire

County Dublin

Eire

09 June 2006

Click here to see a map.

Logged distance: 105M

Chart distance: 107M

Time under way: 18h 35m

Thursday 08 June 2006

At some point today we were going to leave Skomer for the Republic of Ireland. Early in the morning I made a couple of passage plans and we discussed these over breakfast. It was quite simple really - we would leave this evening and make our way direct to Dun Laoghaire, a few miles south of Dublin. This missed out our originally intended port of call which was Arklow. There were a few reasons for missing out Arklow; it looked a bit industrial, ideally it would have meant leaving right away plus we felt like a night/day sail, it was also another fine day and we fancied a bit of a walk around Skomer.

While preparing the dingy and filling the outboard engine with petrol I managed to lose the petrol cap overboard. I watched it sinking slowly in the clear water until it finally disappeared from view. The water here was around 8m deep so diving for it was just possible. I thought it was worth a try, at least until getting in the water. It was absolutely freezing. There was no way I was going to brave it. I climbed out again without so much as getting my head wet. Losing the petrol cap irked me enormously, it was a brand new engine and the petrol cap was attached to it with a chain - somehow the chain had worked loose. Instead we improvised with cling film which seemed to work.

Shortly after 10 o'clock (and the first ferry load of sightseers) we headed for shore in the dingy and tied up close to the landing stage. We were greeted by a warden who promptly took £6 from each of us and who gave us a firm (but polite) lecture about what to do and what not to do, plus an indication of what we could expect to see. We then set off in a direction that appeared the least busy.

Skomer is pretty flat on top and covered with heathland type foliage. As walks go though it was very pleasant - hot sunshine and blue skies. There were plenty of birds as one would expect but they were mostly gulls and we began to reflect on our excursion in the dingy yesterday evening and how much more interesting it was. It wasn't until we were close to the cliff edges and away from everyone that we began to see a little more variety.

After a while we were back amongst other people and got chatting to an elderly couple who had sat down for lunch. Like most people on the island they were here for the birds and were able to answer all our questions and put some names to the things we had seen. "If you are really lucky" the elderly gentleman said, "you may see a Chough" (pronounced chuff). "They look like a small Crow but with bright red feet and beak". We must have been really really lucky - we had seen four or five in a group - here's a photo of one of them:

By six o'clock in the evening we were underway with full sail in a calm sea and a gentle breeze from the north east. Delightful. Even more delightful was Ben beginning to cook dinner. This was a novelty; up until now I had prepared all the meals and was really looking forward to someone else's food. By the time we had reached South Bishop lighthouse off St David's Head (8 miles) we were digging into Mediterranean vegetables on a bed of couscous with a fresh green salad and an obligatory glass of wine. Smashing.

A remarkable sight before dinner was the island of Grassholm, 5 miles to the west of Skomer. This tiny island is only a quarter of a mile across and is another sanctuary for birds. What was remarkable this evening however, was the way the atmospheric conditions were causing it to appear (see picture - taken through binoculars). Two distinct layers of air of different density (a temperature inversion) had produced some interesting visual effects. The top of Grassholm could be seen poking through into the top layer of air while the cliff edges appeared distorted in the bottom layer. Not exactly sure what was going on here - I will have to find out more - but it was interesting none the less.

Friday 09 June 2006

Shortly before midnight and after occasional visits by dolphins, the wind dropped to nothing. The engine was started and remained on all the way to Dun Laoghaire. The lack of wind was not forecast - in fact the Irish coast guard were issuing small craft 'strong wind' warnings (Beaufort force 6 or greater). We did not see any of it. Beside the large volume of traffic in St George's Channel we had a relatively peaceful night. It was very cold though. By daybreak, the dew on the sails and rigging was so heavy that the drips from the boom had almost merged into a continuous stream. Although there was no cloud cover it was not until well after sunrise, perhaps eleven o'clock, did we begin to feel warmer.

We pulled into Dun Laoghaire Harbour Marina shortly before lunch - just as the wind begun to pick up! It felt as though the force 6 had arrived. Gusty conditions made berthing in close quarters a little tricky but we were in and ready for a nap.

After Skomer, town based activities did not really appeal - except for perhaps Ben, the young thing he is - instead we took just the briefest of wanders to the nearest shops to buy some fillet steak and a few other provisions. Keith soon had the barbeque fired up, I cooked the beef and made a sauce of red wine, butter and crème fraîche, while Ben concocted a fine salad with the best dressing I've ever tasted. Of course; the meal was worthy enough for one of our finer bottles of wine... which we dutifully opened.

After dinner we sat and watched the sun set, happy and content.

Saturday 10 June 2006

We had two tasks today, both of which would involve a train ride; the first was to find a new petrol tank cap for the outboard motor, the second was to find a proper wine shop. It did not take too much investigation to find the first a few miles away in the town of Dalkey. Unfortunately the petrol cap cost 49 Euros - you can buy a lot of cling film for 49 Euros - I'm just glad it was me that lost it. The good wine shop was to be had in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. It was surprising really to find such a nice shop here - the place was full of hen parties, stag parties and cheering football crowds watching England play... play... play some other country in a World Cup match. No one in this area seemed remotely interested in wine.

Half an hour or so of chatting with the knowledgeable staff in Vaughan Johnson's Wine Shop saw us with a case of delights. Much of which was South African since this was their specialty. On the way back to the railway station from the shop the case got quite heavy - fortunately there were plenty of resting places in which to indulge ourselves with a real Irish pint of Guinness.