Hello Scillies!

August 25
We debated if the small weather window presenting itself was a go or not. If not, we would likely be in Crosshaven for a week waiting for another opportunity. So, when Dick and Ginger on Alchemy (friends of Maxie Glenn) sent an email late Friday night saying they had also decided to head for the Scillies in the morning, we took one more look at the weather charts and decided if the charts looked the same in the a.m. it would be a go. We topped off the fuel with Irish green diesel and pulled away from Crosshaven Yacht Club at 10:30 in a soft drizzle. Expecting strong winds we added a reef in the main and proceeded out the cut wing on wing, with a heading of 147 degrees across the Irish Sea to the Scillies our first landing in Great Britain. By 1:00 p.m. the winds had dropped below 8 K so we turned on the port engine but that wasn't to last long. The winds returned and remained 15 to 20 the rest of the night. The seas were some of the biggest we have seen to date. And yes, I was sea sick. Just before sunset we added another reef to the main. We missed you Ed! Where we're those forecasted light winds? The lighthouse on one of the outer islands came into view just before sunrise. At 12 noon we were tied up to a mooring ball in New Grimsley Sound on the North coast right next to Alchemy. Both boats are ready for some much needed sleep so in depth visiting will be delayed until tomorrow.

With Alchemy at anchor in the Scillies

View of entrance to Scillies from anchorage

Arriving at the Scillies from Ireland

View from our first nights anchorage in Scillies

Remains of forts on Scillies

Goodbye beautiful Ireland

8/23

Atlantic Crossing Crew signs off

We are preparing to leave Cork this morning for an anchorage a bit closer to the mouth of the bay entrance in preparation for an overnight jump to the Isles of Scilly.  Low pressure systems currently surround us so anticipate we may be waiting for a bit.

The last few days have been busy. Jerry, our friend we met in Baltimore, took us on a grand tour of Cork. Including a very odd museum on the Cork College campus (the best part was the comment board at the end) and an opportunity to play the bells in an old Episcopal church. A rocking "When the Saints Go Marching In"..I think....and helped us get our American propane tank filled. No easy order. We saw Ed off yesterday morning and did last minute shopping in the English Market and provisioning.

8/25
A small window is available this morning so we are off for the Scillies. A quick 24 hr jump and we will be in Great Britain .....but my heart will still be in Ireland.

Saying goodbye to Ed at Cork

Off to the bus station

English Market in Cork



Coming up the river to Cork



LEFT!! LEFT!

August 12
We sailed the 29 miles to Kinsale today in 10 K winds on our beam. The sun actually came out for awhile and with all of the canvas up it acted like a green house so we got nice and toasty. The coast line has begun to change from the ragged cliffs to high rolling hills. We tied Ostinato up to the Kinsale Yacht Club, a very nice club with about 100 slips. The facilities include a large bar and restaurant, visitors showers and most important, a place to dispose of our garbage which is currently sitting patiently in our dinghy. Garbage disposal is right up there in priority with WiFi. It blew like stink last night. Force 8. We were glad we were tucked in.

Aug 14
Arrived in Crooshaven this afternoon. Tied up at the Royal Cork Yacht Club. They claim to be the oldest yacht club in the world, established in 1720. Like all of the other clubs across Southern Ireland, this group has a large sailing school made up of Optis. And they sail regardless of the weather.

I have to shift with
 my left hand?

King decided this was the spot to leave Ostinato and explore other parts of Ireland by car.  What were we thinking?  It was one of those Ross 3 days 5 cities tours. Ed wisely decided to skip the drive in favor of a bus ride up to Blarney Castle. Driving on the left is exciting enough but the tiny, narrow roads added considerably to the thrill. It's a toss up which is worse, driving or being a passenger. The passenger had several duties. First was to scream "LEFT!" When the driver forgot he was driving in Ireland and moved into the right hand lane. The second was to scream "your too far over" when the car started trimming hedges on the passenger side. Driving of course was no picnic. After a go at it the passenger had to assist prying the drivers fingers off the steering wheel. Oh, did I mention it had a standard transmission? Credit cards will not cover insurance in Ireland and now we understand why. After the trip the car looked like we had participated in a demolition derby. We lost a hub cap with a second spinning off just as we rounded our 999th roundabout just before the Hertz office. We also bent the rim on one tire, and at some point created a big scrape down the passenger side of the car. Neither of us will take credit for it. The 2nd wayward hub cap we were able to retrieve so it arrived back at Hertz sitting in the back seat. I'm was embarrassed to return the car so I did what any good wife would do and busied myself inside the restroom leaving King to deal with it. We did take out the extra coverage.....which does not cover tires, rims and hub caps of course..the coverage cost more than the rental but thank God we got it or we could be new car owners in Ireland. To our surprise .....and relief, the rental company staff just passed it off like we had arrived without a spot. "oh, we can fix that right up. Not to worry". The trip was fun, we drove the Dingle Peninsula which was breath taking( in multiple ways) then over to the Ring of Kerry to see Ross Castle (of course) then up to the Clffs of Moher (looking for Puffins) and then across the country (3hrs) to Donore to see the Newgrange mound (older than the pyramids), ending the whirlwind in Dublin at the National Museum. I'm am so ready to get back to riding buses! 

We are now in Cork where we will stay a few days. Ed will be departing from here on Wed morning (22nd) to return home.....not sure who will take care of SPOT without him! What great crew he has been. He will be greatly missed.

Will probably jump over to Great Britain in the next week to start our cruise towards London......there's a boat show the end of Sept in Southampton!

Cliffs of Mohre - truly stunning!



On the way to Dingle



Ross Castle  Who knew!

 

 

New Grange on Ireland's East coast

 

Breath taking Cliffs of Mohre

You Are Here

Aug 9
Ostinato was released from O'Donavan's boat yard in time to catch the rising tide early Thursday morning. I waved a fond fair well to the happy Irish cows and down the river we motored. Deciding that Baltimore was not the healthiest place for Ostinato, we chose to move east to Castle Haven, a
quick 3 hr hop. We arrived just in time to grab fish & chips for dinner and attend a cello and piano concert performed in a 200 year old church. The music was beautiful and King nodded off within minutes. The saving grace was he didn't snore. The next morning we pulled anchor and moved to Glandore, a whopping 4 miles east. Glandore is a summer tourist spot with a big sailing community and, as was the case in Baltimore, races went on rain or shine.

Aug 11
Today King and I decided to go off in search of the Dromberg Stone circle. The "you are here" map located on the side of the road left something to be desired in the way of explicit directions but feeling a bit adventurous we did not let the lack of not having a clue where we were going hold us back. After 1 1/2 hours of dodging cars on narrow winding roads that were all straight up hill, there was still no sign of the stones. We finally passed a house that was named Drombeg House. I took that to be a good sign that we were at least in the right County. Finally we came upon a nice lady walking up the rode. When we told her what we were looking for she responded with an "oh my". Hmmm "Just how lost are we", I asked. At first she was just going to take us back to the top of the hill that we had just come down to point the way. However, once there she decided she needed to take us a bit further until somehow we ended up following her through a cow pasture, jumping electric fences and climbing a gate to reach our destination. We seem to have this cow thing going on. Anyway, about halfway across she tells us we need to keep a good lookout for bulls. The video of Running With The Bulls fast forwarded into my brain. Oh hell. "Oh and by the way watch out for that fence it may live. Let's give a quick touch. Oh good, it's not on." There was of course no graceful exit of the pasture. The 5 ft tall gate was locked and an audience had gathered just in time. The standing stone circle was pretty cool.

We leave tomorrow morning for Kinsale which is about 30 miles east. The wind has been blowing from the SE for the last two days. Hoping for some SW winds in the morning.




Southern coast of Ireland around Glandore



Enjoying a bit of sun in Glandore

Castle Haven Harbour

Glandore Anchorage



Southern coast of Ireland



Dromberg Stone Circle in Glandore Ireland

Southern coast of Ireland

Cows Make Nice Neighbors

Mr. O'Donavan takes the helm

We left Baltimore Harbor on Friday August 3 to go up the river to O'Donavan's boat yard for Ostinato's repairs. Mr O'Donavan rode with us to make sure we found our way without going aground. No doubt in my mind, the man has kissed the Blarney Stone on multiple occasions. It was a beautiful cruise up the river and we are now very protected from the wind. While we will miss the interaction at the dock in Baltimore, being tied up next to a cow pasture is another new experience to say the least.

We have met such nice people since we arrived. Stayed up until 1 am listening to music and singing a few nights ago. Yes, they even let me sing. Tonight we enjoyed music at Casey's a hotel, restaurant and pub. When the owner found out we had taken a taxi to get there she arranged for one of the bar tenders to give us a ride back to the boat. Ireland gets the nice award!

King and Ed are back to boat chores during our four day farm experience. We hope to have diesel heat hooked up before we leave here on Weds. I on the other hand am giving a try at making pretzels. I'm having much more fun but I don't think Utz's pretzel company has anything to worry about.





Lots of music on this boat!

Ostinato at O'Donavon's Boatyard awaiting repairs

V



The dock at Baltimore Harbour