The Ireland cruise is now getting nicely into the cruising rhythm. We left Scilly on Tuesday morning, a day or so earlier than we expected, to cross the Celtic sea ahead of promised strong/gale winds. The crossing was a delight, (especially after the long motoring slog to get to Scilly) with calm seas and gentle breeze. Most of the fleet could sail the course until at least midnight, when the wind died and engines were turned on for the rest of the 135 mile passage.

All but one of the fleet planning to do the extension from Scilly made the crossing. Sybarite led the way, with Lazy Life not far behind in spite of a scare of engine overheating during the night. Fioreun and Silver Tide came in next, then Roshanak. A Day at the Races left later than the rest and brought up the rear with Melody, the shortest boat in the fleet (and also the most adventurous – Mike Lakey’s doing some of the cruise as part of his Round Britain trip, much of it single-handed). They arrived in the middle of the day on Wednesday. We managed to stay in VHF contact with most boats by relaying messages up and down the fleet as we got strung out along the course, and several boats said they found it reassuring. Roshanak was near the middle so did a sterling job of relaying messages. Tim Ryan arrived about midnight after a boisterous passage from Kilmore Quay in a chartered Sun Odyssey 37, Yola, with his family and Chris Smart.

Arriving in Crosshaven, we were welcomed by Wietse Buwalda, the manager of Salve Marina near the Royal Cork Yacht Club, who is also HPO Crosshaven. Nothing was too much trouble, and he made us most welcome. His marina, while not outwardly the most posh, is an excellent place to moor – everything works and is clean and safe, and the very reasonable costs stand out as a beacon in an otherwise expensive Ireland experience. He has also succeeded in fixing numerous problems on our boats, some of them left behind by the workmanship in much more prestigious South Coast of England yards!

When we’d moored up, we found that Claudia III, a remarkable 52 ft motor yacht owned by Tom Wall, a recently joined member of LSC was in ahead of us. Tom’s coming as far as Kinsale, and Fioreun has already lost one crew member for the Crosshaven/Kinsale leg on loan to crew on Claudia III – he couldn’t resist the chance to find out what it feels like to drive two 850 HP M.A.N. diesels from a lofty bridge.

On Thursday we had a memorable treat – a visit to the Lisselan estate, about an hour’s coach ride from Crosshaven. It’s owned by David Blackburn, a long standing LSC member, and he and his head gardener John Bevan have done an amazing job with the gardens. They are in the “Robinsonian” style, which means they preserve a natural look and use traditional methods, and contain some remarkable and unique trees. David and John took us on a fascinating tour of the gardens stopping off at the house for champagne and a look at his beautiful paintings, his collection of Ford cars, and trophies and photographs of his horse-racing successes. After seeing some more of the gardens, the Little Ship Club took tea with scones and cakes as well as sandwiches on the terrace, a rare sight indeed! We are all extremely grateful to David Blackburn for the trouble he took to entertain us and the great day he laid on.

Friday saw a drinks party in a “beach hut” on the marina, with "a few nibbles" promised from Wietse’s daughter, which turned out to be endless supplies of canapés, sausage rolls, chicken pieces, spring rolls etc etc. The plan was to roll the drinks party over into a barbecue, and some stalwart crews did so, but several decided enough was enough for their waistlines. The drinks continued until late in the evening, enlivened by the triumph of the Dutch football team earlier in the day, (Wietse is from Holland), including a chess match on the terrace using 2 foot high chess pieces. The Irish player beat the Brit – probably a good outcome!

At the time of writing we are gathering our strength for the first cruise dinner in the Royal Cork Yacht Club this evening, and eyeing the weather forecast for tomorrow. The plan has us sailing to Kinsale in the morning, where the Clipper fleet will be in, and Sir Robin will be visiting. So what’s the forecast for our south-westerly leg to Kinsale? You guessed it, 30 knots of wind from the south west, after a night of strong winds leaving a sea state of rough or very rough. Watch this space to find out whether and when we go on.

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