Well, this is the leg that says “yes, the sailing holiday is drawing to a close”. Scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, and then away with the ebb tide down the Suir and Barrow to the estuary. Clocked 9 knots over ground at one point.
We stopped for lunch off of Dollar Bay – gnocchi and something resembling a bolognese, and then sailed for Hook Head. All sails up, and gently going along on the SE wind. We figured it worth a try for mackerel, and tossed the line over the side to see if anything would bite. Nothing did.
Picking up the ebb 
Decent ebb; low revs and yet we’re doing 6 knots over ground 
Dollar Bay, our lunch spot. We dragged, but very, very slowly (and the engine was ticking over)
Out to sea a bit, and then a tack for the long leg to Kilmore Quay. Doing about 3.5 – 4 through the water, and a bit less over ground, and as the ETA rose to 8 pm, we decided the steel donkey made good sense, and soon the ETA was closer to 1800.
No dolphins sighted either today, most disappointing.
Entry to Kilmore was easier the second time around, and I was more willing to cut the corner past Forlorn Rock now that I’d been through the area before. Fenders on both sides, as the office told us that it’d be rafting up. Found a boat we’d talked to in Dunmore East (Mary Kate), and they took our lines.
Passing Hook Head 
Leaving Hook Head behind 
Mary Kate; a steel-hulled boat
Post-dinner, a Degerö 28 showed up, and rafted on the outside of us. Had to help with lines, as the crew member was clueless, and the skipper is nearly deaf as a post. Turns out the boat had been in Malahide getting a bow thruster fitted, and I’m pretty sure I’d seen her on shore getting the work done. Crewman is Welsh, and does not know how to tread quietly, nor talk with a voice that is suitable for a conversation between two boats tied to each other!
So now we’re in Kilmore Quay for at least two nights, looking for the right tide to get to Arklow or Dun Laoghaire, though the wind forecast is crap. North easterly, and I need to go NE first to get past Carnsore, Rosslare, and Wexford. Feels about right for this holiday though.
Average speed: 4.68 knots
Total time: 06:44:27