Up to Dublin

Having spent two nights in Howth it was time to go.
Nice place but the marina fees were a bit high for my taste.
I could feel a little bit of a change in the weather. It was a bit cooler and there was a good stiff easterly breeze as we were leaving with a big lumpy sea outside.
Jim was nearly rammed by an out of control dinghy outside the harbour.
It might have been wind against tide or some other local conditions between the harbour and Irelands Eye that caused the high seas outside the marina as the seas eased as I turned south.
As we weren’t going too far, we only unfurled the gennys and sailed much of the way into Dublin port and up to Poolbeg.

The port authorities ‘barked’ instructions at us. Much different to the welcome we got from Belfast.
We soon reached Poolbeg marina and with a bit of help from club members we tied up on the outside leg.

The members of Poolbeg were pure Dubs, salt of the earth types who spoke a version of English that was just about understandable.
One character in his 80’s told us, “If they’re not insulting you, they’re ignoring you, which is much worse”.

As I walked up the marina I saw a Westerly Konsort 'Ajay'.
This was the second Garda sailing Club yacht and the first to be based in Cork.
As the treasurer of the club, I had travelled to England with two other members to look at a couple of yachts with a view to purchasing.
Ajay was the one we purchased and I later was one of the crew who sailed her back from Weymouth in 1995 or 96. It was nice to see her again.

We went for a walk to the Spire but the city centre was too busy and we meandered back to the marina where we had a few pints and pizza in the clubhouse.Read more