Sailing along the Irish East Coast

24th August - 7th September 2002

The crew for the 3rd week on Fizzgig came to South Godstone. John and Janny had not met Teresa and Martin before. Pam and David and then John A arrived. A coffee and a chat to help to get to know each other and off to Milford Haven. The traffic was very light and we made good progress. So good that we were suddenly in -----Rickmansworth. Don't ask why. We arrived at Neyland Marina at about 12.15. Time for a drink!

Fizzgig looked very inviting in her berth. The weather was very pleasant too and we thought we had a very good start to our holiday. Jean & Ian and Lindsey & Brian loaded the cars with their belongings. They looked very relaxed and we said 'bye bye, see you soon'.

We walked to the Spar to get our shopping. Only 10 minutes from the Marina. And there were 6 of us, so many hands to carry everything back on board. By the time we had sorted food and luggage out we were ready for a drink and evening meal. Lovely. John A wondered if we would be happy to anti-foul Fizzgig. 'No problem' we said. We motored to the piles John had chosen to tie on to. But we had to get Fizzgig on a concrete slab and the tide just did not get high enough. Or were we just 10 minutes too late?

We motored back and headed out into the Bay to have a look around and to find our sea legs. It was still early and there was not a lot of wind. I think we all thought about crossing. But it would have to be motoring. The sea changed from calm to rough and we turned back to Milford Haven. Janny definitely had not found her sea legs!

Next morning we slipped at 07.15 hours. And we were so lucky. We sailed all the way across to Kilmore, a small marina inside the fishing port. It had been a long day and we were too late for showers, shops etc. No problem. As we had to get up early again the next morning we spent another very pleasant evening on board. We all had settled in well. Teresa asked us all about ourselves and told us about herself. Martin said 'I am a quiet person' but soon changed that. Janny never stops. And that knocks everybody else out.

The weather stayed sunny and dry. Some clouds appeared whilst we were approaching Arklow. Some of us walked towards the town to stretch our legs and see if there was anything of interest. Others stayed on board to prepare the meal. We had our meal on board and went out for drinks.

Wednesday we motored most of the way to Dun Laoghaire (Dunlairy??). Pam helped Janny to plan the passage from Kilmore. The sun was shining and we still had not run out of topics to talk about. The coast is very beautiful. When we approached the Port we watched the J24 fleet come in from their race venue. A very nice Marina it is. And just 10 minutes walk from a large shopping/restaurant area. We were going to eat out that night. We stocked up on supplies and when walking back to Fizzgig it started to rain. John A rigged a tarpaulin over the cockpit. Just in time. The heavens opened. We decided to stay on board for our meal as we would have to store the wet clothes when we got back.

Dublin was now within a day's sail! Guinness here we come! We did not leave till 10.00 hours as it is only 8miles to Malahide Marina. The J24 fleet left before us. And did we find out! When we came out of the marine we immediately set course for Clayman Island and that meant --- straight through the middle of the racing fleet. Sorry. We did not pay any attention. They had just started and were not too happy. Some of them made that verbally very clear. After that we had to dodge a lot of fishing nets too. The wind had picked up and Pam suggested that we should stay out at sea to enjoy it. Fizzgig got up to 6.9 knots and we got some tacks in too. A lovely sail. I think the Malahide Marina is very similar to Eastbourne Marina also with a lot of apartment buildings. We did manage to get to a restaurant this time and had a very enjoyable meal and evening.

We caught the train to Dublin. First visit had to be Guinness Store House. It was a long walk but we got there in the end. And we were thirsty. So, against the suggestion of seeing the museum first, we headed for the 'Gravity Bar'. Its on the 7th floor and has windows all round which gives you a 360 view across Dublin. Janny had tried Guinness before and had not taken to it, but this pint went down a treat. Definitely not the last one! It was packed and we left to follow the museum trail. We started at the end, from the top. Irish? Common sense? In the lift there is this note: 'max 13 persons'. And the sign for the toilets: 'on the 6th floor, between the 7th and 5th floor'.

When we left the museum we were ready for a meal. We found a pub but the meal was not very good at all. Shame. We had a quick look round the area and then got on the tourist bus for the last couple of stops. That took us to Phoenix Park and close to the station. Lucky us. We saw a 'Boutique Brewery' and of course had to find out what was on offer. Back to the station and Fizzgig. I was very happy to be back on board.

Saturday. Time has flown. Sadly we have to say bye bye to Teresa. She is such good company and she almost managed to make us follow her good routine of an early morning jog/walk.

Eamon arrived very soon after Teresa left. He flew in on the plane Teresa was getting on for her flight to Gatwick. That was very well organised by the Skipper.

John and Janny Taylor