Three Men in a Boat

Five long nights in Arklow town Much longer than we ought'er Five long nights just messin' around Bunkin' down, on the water Some say a sign of madness is when one starts thinking in rhymes. Enough said. We planned to set sail from lovely Arklow slighly before the crack of dawn tomorrow at 4am, availing of both tide and wind. However, due to a couple of unforseen circumstances, the collective decision was taken to "abandon ship" here and head for drier climes until the great journey can be resumed post the big wedding in Dingle next week. Whilst somewhat disappointing, this has the added benefit of allowing us the opportunity to revisit Arklow much earlier than we could have hoped for, even in our wildest dreams! The launderette quarter, barber town - in every second doorway a dodgy hirsute old man wielding a cut-throat, atmospheric market places with exotic names - Aldi, Dunnes. Who could resist another sojourn here. And so soon! So - for the moment, we...

Fair winds & a following Sea-Bon Voyage! Contessa 32 "goose" Docked at Arklow,  submerging keels in salty water depths waiting hours, running into days rising like eternity. Her flag lightly flutters under ceiling of stars, she's poised to leave in rhythm with ebb & flow of tides, rocking steadily  side to side for everything to pull together, holding moments for the off when the water builds up  & catches the fore of her broadside so she can fly full sheets & a rolling Sea! By Susan O'Toole. 

So, I should point out to all that the recent blog posts, of a more nautical bent than my initial ramblings, were penned by our illustrious skipper, a certain Diarmuid Kearney. When it comes to the more technical elements of the trip, I fell it will be he (or at worst Mark, relatively competent at sea), rather than myself, who shall be keeping you informed. However, should the need arise for a post concerning the number of days one can squeeze out of a single pair of boxer shorts without submitting to scurvy  (touch and go) or how best to cause strife and tension in a small group, then I'm your man! To date it has been hard to find time to get these posts up. The days sort of run away with you and come the evening we're all somewhat bushed. The vision our audience has of our time is I fear somewhat rosy-cheeked. This is no pleasure cruise! And you all know that I am not one to complain! However, we have some time today as after an initial wee sojourn out from Arklow yesterd...

So our Sunday in Ardglass seemed to sail by if you'll pardon the expression. Mark and I kind of pottered until Kevin Og picked us up and took us on the scenic route via Downpatrick to Strangford for Sunday dinner. We managed to pick up a few bits and pieces enroute  and after dining in style were delivered safely back to the trusty Goose laden with goodies from the best shop on Strangford Square (Kevin Og's)This was just In time for our third core crew member Neil. Unfortunately the hangdog look Neil greeted us with heralded a tale of revelry followed by ambulances, hospitals and sleepless nights...must have been something he ate?  Anyway Joanna and Miriam who delivered him to us gave no quarter and were clearly delighted to see him pressganged for his minor yet dramatic transgression. They wished us a fond farewell and headed for home leaving us to get on with things.  So Goose, with her core compliment of crew departed Ardglass at ten to nine that evening ....our nex...

Day one complete though not without its trials. Copeland sound was a pussycat , thankfully nothing to compare with the last time. Mark did however try his best to put us in the rocks but his fellow crew were too sharp for that. We had a fairly steady force four from the west which made for great sailing conditions and with the tide under us we were making a good 7 knots over ground for the first few hours. Eventually the growing swell afforded mal de mare a fingerhold reducing our compliment to two. Shortly after that the skipper had a pretty nasty nose bleed not as a consequence of any mutinous altercation but entirely unsolicited. For safety we dropped the sail and motored the last hour or two to Ardglass in case the skipper bled to death and required burial at sea! The marina was pretty busy but we squeezed in and had some grub and set about some cleaning and maintenance. After dinner I wish I could report a trail of broken hearts in the fleshpots of this coastal playground! ...

So I thought it might be appropriate to introduce the boat and the intention. Our trusty vessel is a classic ...a Contessa 32 'Goose' (formerly Aislin). She was built in Toronto by the first owner Declan Mackle the Belfast born round the world yachtsman when he worked in Contessa manufacture there. She is a fine bespoke vessel and after sailing her back to Ireland 10 years ago Declan sold her and she was based on the island of Skye until I bought her last year. So off we go. Our first leg takes us from Carrickfergus out Belfast Lough and, weather permitting, through Copeland sound (the scene of my knuckle whitening ride through the race last week!) The Copeland Islands are known as the one time residence of a primitive and extinct people, the Arleni. They were heavy set with a low centre of gravity, built for traction rather than elegance. Their feet, arms and hands were extraordinarily large to give purchase against the prevailing northerly winds and leading to the ende...

So, the day is coming close (Saturday 24th June) when "The Goose" shall set sail from Carrickfergus with a view to travelling right around the coast of Ireland over the following number of weeks. Three of us will be aboard for the whole journey - Cap'n Diarmuid, 1st Mate Mark and lowly me (Neil). It is my hope that all three shall turn their hand to penning the odd post here - albeit, given my minimal experience of this boating lark, such non-nautical tasks (cooking, swabbing the decks, cleaning the toilets and including blogging) may initially fall to me.  On top of this we will be hosting a few stowaways as we progress – the first being Diarmuid’s brother Kevin who shall hop aboard as we set off and attempt to remain on board all the way down to Dun Laoghaire. More of all this anon, as this post is really just to get things up and running (floating?) – suffice to say for the moment that en route we are raising money for Friends of the Cancer Centre -anyone feeling ...