Sunday 6th July, more on Crosshaven

Well we’re working our way through the to do list. We got the laundry, been to the farmers market, found a tap – and fitted it (or rather them), filled up with diesel so that just leaves the dinghy and the engine service for tomorrow.

 

The weather is still at the top of the list of discussion points. Not so much the wind over the weekend but the rain. One minute it is sunny and the next hour it is a deluge and so the cycle goes on. We got soaked in Cork looking around the shops and again today over in Kinsale. The photo above is one of the few minutes when the sun was out - the Crosshaven boat yard marina is just up from where we are. It's certainly not summer.

The buses aren't bad over here so we've done the touristy bit. Not sure though about some of the direction signs. Have a look at the one below in Cork bus station showing the gates where the buses go from. Ok as long as yours isn't going from gate 10. Ours was! Which way? We asked one of the workers (?) and he responded "bejesus", I've not noticed that before"! A truely Irish sign. 

 

The further west we go the more foreign sounding voices we hear – or indeed strange accents. Must be into tourist zone. Lot's sound eastern European but there are a fair smattering of Aussie and New Zealand accents. Stats show that New Zealanders are the most travelled nation on the planet, as no one else is that bothered to go 13,000 miles for a bar job. We'll let you know if gate 10 turns up. 

The food is getting better (but not cheaper). Pam has at last found restaurants serving oysters.

 

We can certainly recommend Cronin’s in the square in Crosshaven and Fishy Fishy Café in Kinsale. My biggest concern now is what we are going to do when we leave Ireland and head south. No Guinness. I don't think I have had a bad pint in the 3 weeks we have been here. The Guinness in Scotland is not a patch on what you get here.  

Tomorrow then is a day of boat fixing and a bar lunch here at the Royal Cork and then await the arrival of Rob and Tom. Looks like we will sail round to Kinsale on Tuesday morning to try a few more of the restaurants over there and look for the weather window to go across Biscay. It doesn’t look promising until at least the end of the week with two depressions bringing southerly winds. More Guinness is the upside.

Comments

[Ken Brown]

Andy I've sent you a couple of photos from Erin on your impact labs E- mail

hope the effects of the oysters wear off before the crew arrive!!

cheers

Ken

[Richard]

Andy - best of luck with the next leg. Apparently the appalling weather is due to the jet stream - once again this year it has shifted further South than normal, causing all the foul weather. Same issue caused the bad summers of 2004 and 2007.

Not much sign of it moving North either due to El Nina (a cousin of el Ninio one persumes) - metcheck shows the stream swirling around the SW of Ireland then into Biscay - I'd lay off the the oysters and Guiness if I were you, there'll be more than enough wind to follow you on the next leg!

RL

[Andy]

Ken, thanks for the photos. Well done in Norway.

Richard, looks like there is a window to leave on Friday so that means only 3 more nights to drink the Guinness. Must drink a bit more. With a bit of luck I will get the next post up tomorrow morning.

Andy