A Sailing Holiday – Ardmore Bay to Dunmore East

The forecast easterly came in on schedule, but stronger than was in the forecast. Awake at 0400 from the bouncing of the bow; the kedge which had been holding us straight on to the easy swells before midnight now held us slightly sideways to the increased short swells coming in with the easterly. Went up on deck and spooled out more line on the kedge, and this helped a bit. Alas, I did not get back to sleep, as the bow scope was groaning every few seconds under the load – we had actually tailed back a bit under the force of the wind and waves (though we had not dragged).

So, up again at 0530, eggs into the water to ensure something to eat during the day, and I tried to reel in the kedge. Gave up, as there was no way I could pay out enough rope on the main anchor to enable me to crab over to the kedge. Tied a fender on, and threw the whole thing over the side; more than enough water under the keel to go fetch it after getting the main anchor up. Went to the bow, and slowly brought in the main anchor by using the foot switch for the windlass every time the bow dipped down; this brought the bow over the anchor in a few minutes, and the action of the hull broke the anchor out easily..

With the main anchor stowed, K came up and helmed while I pointed the way to the kedge anchor fender. I didn’t have the clutch handle with me, so ended up pulling the kedge up by hand – morning and evening workout done! K went back below (which turned out to not be the right choice), and I started helming us out into the easterly. My choice was to run to sea, with two reefs in the main, and a fraction of the yankee out. Unfortunately, the sea state got worse and worse as we went offshore, so I eventually tacked and headed for the coast.

While the straight line to Dunmore East would probably have been the fastest route, I had concern for K, as the lump was making her feel quite ill. Eventually got in to the shadow of the land, and the sea abated a bit, but it was still a nasty ride, and chilly to boot – air temperature was only about 14 C, and a F5 over the deck (the forecast was F2!) made for cool sailing, even with warm socks, fleece, sailing gear etcetera.

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We made progress up the coast, and at Helvick I was able to run with the waves long enough for K to get suited up, and come on deck – the fresh air helped a lot, as did a better motion. Alas, the Master Angler in Chief was unable to convince a fish or two to bite on to the lures, so no fresh fish tonight for us.

We tried a bit of sailing across the wind at or around Broadstrand, but the reefed sails meant that while we could get about 5 knots over ground, the angle to the wind was 60 degrees and we were sailing nearly due south when trying to go east. Still, a lovely sail, with the sea state well down compared to the early morning. A single dolphin showed at one point, off in the distance. Bright sunshine, cool winds – a perfect wind direction for going west, but we had to go east. We want to make it up the river to Waterford (or nearby at least) before we have to push back to Kilmore Quay and prep for the push back to Dublin on an early tide.

Fish and chips were acquired from a food van not more than 300 metres from the pontoon in Dunmore East – last week of business for them, they’ll close for winter come next weekend. Decent, better than the chipper in Dun Laoghaire, but the fish/batter in Kilmore Quay is better.

Tomorrow will be a bit of shopping before the flood tide that should carry us upstream to Little Island / Waterford.

Download file: Ardmore Bay to Dunmore East.gpx