By far the hottest day of the year so far, and also our first trip of the season to the beautiful fishing port of Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford. Pulled out of Waterford City at 12.30pm and hoisted full sails even as we turned downstream alongside the marina. The winds built up as we neared Passage East and promised to facilitate a very efficient passage along the South coast to our intended destination. The trouble was however that, as we turned for each new way-point, the winds would back or veer and we would be left struggling to make headway directly into the oncoming airflow. And so a simple 4 hour sail took more than 10 hours to complete as we beat over and back across our planned track and fought to get closer to our target. We could, of course, have started our engine and motored directly to Kilmore, but the combination of sunshine and fast sailing was just too hard to resist, and we sailed over and back along the Atlantic coast, and enjoyed every minute of it. Indeed there were long periods when the winds were so steady that we were able to lock the helm and let the boat to its own devices as we prepared food and discussed our options.
But inevitably, as evening approached and we neared our destination, we talked once again of food, and the wondrously unhealthy joys of Kilmore Quay's chip shop were discussed at great length! But we had to get into the harbour first and, as ever, the waters off Kilmore were choppy and unhappy, and we were most relieved when we eventually passed through the narrow harbour entrance. And what a pleasure it was, after 10.5 hours at sea, to be greeted by Tony and Olivia Firth of S/Y "Amoret" of Harwich with mugs of hot tea right there on the deck! A great days sailing and a wonderful stopover.
Passage: Waterford City to Kilmore Quay.
Date: Friday 3rd June 2011.
Crew: Neill Mc Grory. Fia.
Duration: 10.5 Hours.
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