I spent some time trying to work out what formalities were needed to taking ourselves and a boat from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland. Ireland is of course in the EU, but not in Schengen. It is also in the Common Travel area so the authorities definitely don't need information about people. I asked on the CA forums, thinking there would be an obvious answer, but I don't think there is. In the end I filled in an sPCR form online for the boat and for me (but not Erika), just to be sure.
The lightest winds and best tides for heading south from Ardglass were not until the afternoon, so we had a morning of loitering about and not achieving very much. I tried a run, hoping to get to the other side of the little bay, but came up against a track which was ankle-deep in mud, so turned back. Erika walked the same route a little later and managed to bypass the mud, only to find there was no way to get down to the shore anyway. By lunchtime we were almost alone on the visitor pontoon and I was starting to feel guilty about staying so long, although no-one else was coming in. So we headed off around 1400 towards Dublin.
For about 50M south from Ardglass there is an area with no tidal current – the tides go up and down but there is no current along the coast. But once you get to Dublin Bay you do need the tide with you to get into the bay, hence the timing. I had been in touch with Dun Laoghaire marina, explaining that we would arrive in the small hours of the morning, and they had actually allocated us a berth, with the option of a hammerhead if we couldn't get into the berth in the middle of the night.
The southwest wind was due to go more westerly (better for sailing south) around mid-afternoon but it look its time, so initially we were motorsailing rather slowly, trying to find the best course so that the mainsail would give us a bit of help. We would do ok for 20 minutes or so, then the mainsail started banging around and we "motor-tacked" through about 40 degrees to get it to fill again. I really wasn't keen on heading further out into the Irish Sea where the waves were bigger and the wind might be less helpful, so we ended up somewhat west of our course heading into the huge bay off Carlingford Lough. Finally about 1730, with a little bit more west in the wind, we were able to set the correct course over a smoother sea, and everything felt more hopeful. By around 1900 we could confidently pronounce that we were in the Republic of Ireland and were dodging a substantial fleet of fishing boats – fortunately all broadcasting on AIS, which is by no means always the case. We had a generous bowlful of Crossing Stew® which made us feel better.
For a wonderful period of about half an hour we were actually sailing, with the motor off. Sadly it didn't last as the wind dropped and came further south, and our boat speed dropped to about 2.5kt. Still, motorsailing felt comfortable and there was a misty red moon. We were in about 30-50 metres depth and we did see a few pot markers, mostly after we had passed them. Thank goodness we didn't have any close encounters. There was plenty to entertain us on the VHF, as we were picking up broadcasts from Belfast, Dublin and Holyhead Coastguards and at one point a yacht had broadcast a Mayday (twice, by voice) and then nothing more was heard. We took two-hour watches until we passed Baily lighthouse about 0120, and finally picked our way across Dublin Bay, into the outer harbour walls, and finally into the marina. Fortunately I had found a detailed marina map online and we found our berth quite easily; the main issue was a very annoying spotlight which was straight into my eyes as we came in.
64 Miles run.
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