Well, I didn't get to Arklow on the Saturday, when the wind was at the extremely top end of what was forecast. But it did look as though I could finally get there on Thursday 29th, with the opportunity to sail south in settled more weather the next day. So I arranged with Alice, my next crew, to fly out to Dublin on the Wednesday. That all went without a problem and we enjoyed a takeaway fish supper sitting on the eastern harbour wall and watching all the activity going on - dinghy races and practice, boats coming and going, loads of people out for an evening stroll, run or amble. I'd never seen it so busy!
Taking a fair tide to Arklow meant a moderately early departure but I did want to get to the fuel berth before I left. After no response to a couple of VHF calls I phoned instead. They said I should have been using channel 37-14. I have no idea what that is, my VHF says channel 37-10 which is perhaps different. Anyway we proceeded over to the fuel dock, only to encounter the foamiest diesel I have ever come across. Eventually it transpired that the only way to fill up was to hold the nozzle an inch above the fuel filler and trickle it in really slowly. Despite much care we must have spilled quite a bit of diesel into the marina. In the end I wasn't confident that the tank was full but we really had to get going, and we finally exited the harbour about 0930 with one reef in the mainsail as we really weren't sure what to expect.
With a late change of plan we cut inside Dalkey Island which seemed completely safe, and with the tide in the narrow channel we hit up to 8 knots. The wind was initially 15-20 knots from the west and we were able to sail for about an hour and a half until we were level with Greystones. Then the wind died away and came back more from the south, so it was on with the engine again.
Off Wicklow Head we started to lose the very helpful tide which had been sweeping us along, and out of the lee of Wicklow Head the sea was choppier. But we pressed on, entered Arklow with no problem at all, and found a good space on the long visitor pontoon. I topped up around nine litres from one of our cans, so in fact I think the tank must have been nearly full at Dun Laoghaire, but it was as well to be sure. I spilled some more diesel, red this time, just to make sure the smell would linger longer. The helpful harbourmaster charged us €40 for a night's stay and took our can to the filling station - another €18 for nine litres. But it was a pleasant and sheltered spot with a very convenient Aldi.
Distance run: 36 miles.
 |
| Sandycove on the edge of Dublin Bay |
 |
| Dalkey Island |
 |
| Visitor's pontoon at Arklow |
 |
| The tiny marina made Whitehills inner harbour seem spacious by comparison |
No comments:
Post a Comment