Introduction / False Start

The winter had a strange effect on many sailors.

It is often too windy, cold and wet to think about going sailing and for others like myself who have out boats out of the water it’s just not possible anyway.
So instead we sit at home reading sailing magazines, looking at cruising guides and any of the hardships of last season are quickly forgotten as we instead dream of idyllic voyages to magical islands as we wonder where we’ll go next summer.
It is always doing to be better next year!

During the winter of 2020 I had the ‘luck’ of sitting for too long in Jim O’Meara’s company and chatting about ‘next year’.
Before I knew it, I had agreed to accompany Jim’s boat ‘Second Chance’ around Ireland.
I’m still scratching my head wondering how it happened as there wasn’t even a drink to give me an excuse.

Once I got home, I got out the books, the charts and the dividers and began putting some flesh onto what Jim had been talking about.
I soon had put together a plan which I hoped coincided with what Jim was thinking.
Mainly it was to day sail around Ireland while visiting as many of the islands as possible keeping in mind that Jim’s wife Angela doesn’t like to be out late.

Due to Covid we didn’t get to meet too often so the plan remained fairly loose and it was only when we got going that things firmed up.

Jim picked Monday the 24th of May for a start as the days would be at their longest as we went around.
I couldn’t argue with his reasoning but I had to get my finger out as I had been thinking of at least a month later and also I needed crew.

I put out some feelers and I almost immediately a friend of mine phoned and said that he was onboard for the first thirty days.
Brian has been a friend of mine since we began secondary school and it was he who had first taken me sailing.
His family had a Vagabond dinghy in Monkstown which he took me out one day and such was his confidence in me that time that I was told not to touch anything on the dinghy!
I was hooked and my sailing abilities I hope have much improved since.

Well things were looking up, I was sure to get another couple of volunteers to crew……wasn’t I?
Yeh! Dream on Fleming.

Monday the 24th of May arrived but the forecast wasn’t great with WNW Force 4 to 6 winds so we delayed 24 hours.
Brian and I continued with last minute jobs as ‘Eureka’ heeled over in the gusts at East Ferry marina. Right decision to stay put!
It’s great to have a deadline to make you do things that had been put off again and again but also to have an extra day at the end to get them finished.
With a boat you’re never finished………!

That evening found Jim & Angela aboard ‘Second Chance’ and Brian & I on ‘Eureka’ as it turned out that both crews were planning on sleeping aboard due to the early start tomorrow.
An invitation was issued and Brian and I joined the O’Meara’s for a glass of wine.
A pleasant hour or two passed with Brian getting to meet and know Jim and Angela and visa versa and we even put a plan together for where we were sailing to tomorrow.Read more