Bryan and Mark re-joined the boat on 30th July
and as it was still fairly early in the day, we took the opportunity of a short
sail across Dublin Dun Laoghaire. This
is a really massive harbour with a half empty marina. It is extremely popular with dinghy sailing
schools and hordes of Optimists buzzed across our path as we found our way in
and out.
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| Howth Harbour |
The next day we were properly back in harness as we headed further
down the coast to the town of Arklow.
The day started with a pleasant sail, but soon did its usual trick of
coming from ahead and so we motored into a building sea for much of the 40
miles. Not that much fun really, but it
was soon over and we arrived in good time.
Arklow looks uninspiring from seaward with a number of derelict
factories in evidence. We didn’t expect
much, but actually it turned out to be a pleasant little small town with many small
shops, pubs and restaurants. There is also a smart new shopping mall built, apparently, on the site of a large explosives factory but no explanation as to what happened to
that enterprise.
Saturday saw a 4 am start for the ‘big push’ across the
Irish Sea to Wales. This trip looked like
it was going to follow the usual pattern of a short sail followed by a long
motor; this time because there was not enough wind to keep up a decent
speed. Happily though, the Clerk of the
Weather divvied up an excellent breeze and bright sunshine for the last few
hours and our arrival in Wales.
The
coastline here is magnificent with many small islands, glorious green-topped
cliffs and a multitude of sea-birds to keep us company. Soon we rounded Vomit Point (really!) and entered
Milford Haven. This is a truly massive
natural harbour which has the prime function of receiving most of Britain’s oil
and gas imports. Somehow all the
industry seems to blend reasonably well with the natural surroundings and it is
a surprisingly pleasant place. The
marina itself has newly built quayside shops, cafes and other businesses, and
we look forward to exploring a little further afield.
We are here for a couple of days while Mark travels home to
attend a funeral. Our next leg is the
longest of the whole trip, around Land’s End to Cornwall.
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