Three Men in a Boat

The weather was closing in again so we were uncertain about when we might get away. A call from the Harbour Master, suggesting we may have to move to anchor because of the volume of fishing boats in for the festival, reinforced it was high time we moved on...but the weather wasn't in our favour.   The HM, Cormac Mc Ginley (a fine Donegal name...but its owner sang out in a lilting Cork accent) decided instead to move us to another berth along the pontoon. When asked what dues we owed he declared it 'force majeure'....a big fat zero! His generosity was duly rewarded with a bottle of Bushmills and after hearing his plans for restoring a fine sailing vessel to visit distant shores on his retirement we bade him adieu and headed back to Goose.  The night was a blustery one with the wind howling in our rigging, but it dawned fair. With the heat of the sun on our backs we found our spirits  and confidence lifted and decided to make a dash for Dingle (well, a twelve hour dash...

We sometimes ponder as we put up these posts on the blog as to whether anyone (other than the 3 of us on this Ship of Fools) actually reads these ramblings. So, in the interest of scientific survey number 2 (more on the primary survey later), could we request that the odd person might leave a comment on the blog, just to slightly dissipate that feeling that we may be broadcasting to an unlistening world. No matter the content of the comments, it would surely lighten the hearts of these 3 lonely yet intrepid explorers. In an attempt to bring a bit of colour to our witterings, Diarmuid requested that I might upload a few "snaps" (a task which appears to be beyond the capabilities of his antique and barely func tioning iPhone - said device requiring hourly recharges and utilising 90% of the actual power reserves on the boat). Approaching Fastnet And there she is Around Mizen - as far from home as we will be - hopefully! A woeful skipper - the crew daren'...

Castletownbere has been good to us...as have its nautical natives. The morning after our 'evening of shame' saw all and sundry leap to our attention. Mide and Adam had been on the blower early and their friend Fiona (RNLI Organiser for County Cork) had emailed the Castletown station to ensure we were 'looked after' while another friend , Ian, who hails from these parts was assisting (from a tanker in the Caribbean) in our finding a quality diesel engineer to make good our fuel system. Ian's mammy even arrived on the Quay to ensure we had all we needed for our stay and to advise us of the best bars for the 'craic'! A short sojourn to the Harbour Master's office was an equally pleasant encounter with reassurance of our secure berth at a rate that 'wouldn't break the bank', good news indeed for our quartermaster whose hold on the purse strings has brought on early rheumatic symptoms! A wander around the town and a few phone calls later saw ...

Baltimore has been a combination of pleasure and frustration. Our stay with Maireita and Mark was a treat, though the fine food and soft beds were difficult to leave. The continued bad weather and difficulty in finding replacement fuel filters did irritate somewhat. Still, we were able to leave that pleasant port at 8.30 am on Sunday with fresh fuel filters and the addition of a bug eating chemical to our fuel tank.  Once out of Baltimore we put a reef in the main and motor sailed through a considerable swell towards the Fastnet. It was a bumpy and challenging run out but the reward of seeing this iconic obolisk bathed in sunlight while all about it raged was a treat indeed. As our course swung towards Mizen head we hoped to manage a better sail but the wind swung on our nose and we continued to drive into increasing swell. Goose proved her worth as a seaworthy vessel managing well and leaving its crew feeling safe and reassured.  On we drove towards the Bull, heifer and ...