We sadly said goodbye to David in Waterford and spent another day hanging out in the city and seeing some of the historical sites. Then on Monday evening we moved a short way down river to Kings Passage, a backwater around an island, and found a very beautiful anchorage.
The next morning it was a 6am start to take the tide down the River Suir and out to sea to make passage to Dungarvan. It was a clear sunny day with a light easterly air and we soon had the spinnaker up and made Dungarvan in time to take the flood up the shallow estuary and into the largely drying harbour by 2:30pm. The local yachties were very helpful in settling us onto the one pontoon space where we could dry out at low water. Dungarvan is a pleasant if unremarkable town, with even more pharmacies than a French town of that size. In the evening we ate at the recommended restaurant, where a very good Irish folk band was singing in the bar.
The next morning it was a 5:30am start to get out on the ebb while there was sufficient water and we enjoyed more of the easterlies as we headed for Youghal [pronounced Yawl]. We made such good progress that we were killing time to wait for the flood tide to take us up the River Blackwater. We reduced sail and the hove to for over an hour while we had a fuller breakfast. We were anchored off Youghal by 11:40am to catch up on sleep before pumping up the dinghy for a trip ashore.
Youghal is an interesting and ancient town, with extensive surviving town walls. It has an college founded in 1464. We enjoyed time in the College Gardens and especially in the Collegiate Church of St Mary’s, which has a lovely feel – definitely worth a visit if you are ever that way. Youghal’s other claim to fame is that it was used as a location for the making of the film Moby Dick some years ago, and it is still dining out on that, especially in the Moby Dick bar. We noted a large plastic whale floating off the harbour. In the photo Tony is looking out over the walls to Antipole, anchored out in the estuary just left of centre.
On Friday we left Youghal for another easy sail to Cork – sunny weather with a great easterly breeze. Again we needed to lose time by reducing sail so we did not arrive until the flood tide into Cork harbour. Cork harbour is amazing, and we sailed all the twelve miles or so from the entrance right up to Cork city, passing Cobh (pronounced Cove), with its rows of coloured houses (see photo).
Cork City Marina is no more than a pontoon in a bit of the old docks, but is close to the city centre and sights. However, we learnt we could only stay until the next morning as hundreds of rowing boats will be arriving in the annual Ocean to City Regatta. So we ‘did Cork’ in an afternoon/evening by two self-guided walks. Cork is an historic city with many interesting features and lots of churches, but is a bit of a mix – a good ambiance but rather down-at-heel. It is rather a cultural shock after all the quiet and open space we have got used to. Tonight the boat is rattling to the repetitive beat from a nearby venue. The shorter-than-planned stay will help us with our dilemma about whether to spend time sight-seeing when there is such good sailing weather that is not going to last more than a few days more.
We are getting to know the ways of the Irish. They are a delightful, extremely friendly people and very helpful. They have an informality which is striking. Take as an example this bit of dialogue Tony had with the keeper of a marina after the usual pleasantries about the weather:
Keeper: “How long is your boat?”
Tony: “12 metres – 40 feet”
Keeper: “Right, so that’s 10 metres for two nights – that’s €40”
[Note the Irish metre is a somewhat variable measure that can be adjusted so all parties feel good about the outcome.]
Tony: “Do you take cards?”
Keeper: “No – just cash. I’m not from the council – I’m from the river watch – we look after the marina at weekends when the council is closed.” (Tony wondered whether the council is aware of this arrangement it has, and concluded it does.)
Tony: “I don’t have €40 cash at the moment”
Keeper: “Don’t worry – that’s no problem at all. I will probably be around tomorrow and you can pay me if you see me. And if you don’t, well – that’s how it is…. ” and he chuckled “I will just say ‘Another b***** foreigner gone off without paying!'”
More news in due course
love from us both, Tony & Ynskje