West Cork

Yesterday afternoon, we said goodbye to John who was a big help during his two weeks aboard Windleblo. An extremely able seaman, John helped us move the boat more than 350 miles from Ardfern in Scotland to Cork in southern Ireland. Along the way, we had great times together exploring Dublin, touring distilleries and breweries, and searching for the perfect pint. It was a lot of fun. Thanks, John. You’re the best.

We’ve now gotten our first impression of Crosshaven, our new “home away from home” port where we will leave Windleblo for the winter. Matt Foley, the Crosshaven Boatyard manager, graciously allowed more than an hour to welcome me to the Yard, showing me around and answering all my questions. He even printed out a map for me showing the way to Cork’s only propane refill station. Both Matt and his staff, Judy and Ray, were quite friendly and helpful, and the Yard looks more than adequate to keep Windleblo safe over the winter.

To close on our propane struggles, you’ll no doubt recall our reports on past difficulties accessing propane to fuel our galley stove. Two seasons ago we were told we would not be able to get our Swedish propane bottle filled in Norway. It was indeed difficult, but eventually we proved them wrong, finding two places, one in Alesund and one near Bergen where we could get the bottle refilled. Again this year, we were told it would be impossible to get the Swedish bottles refilled in the UK or Ireland, and for a long while in Scotland it seemed they might be right. But based on Matt Foley’s advice, yesterday morning John and I pedaled 10 miles to the Cork Gas Centre near the Cork airport. There, we were successful getting on of our Swedish propane bottles refilled, once again proving “them” wrong. Just shows to go you the value of tenacity and perseverance. No more hot tea rationing now. Hooray!

After seeing John off, we sailed two hours south to Oyster Haven, a pleasant anchorage only 10 miles west of Cork. We slept well and awoke to clear skies. We had arranged through email for Sharon Yablon’s friend, Eileen, who lives in the area, to come aboard for a day sail. We set off after picking her up in the dinghy and enjoyed a glorious sail with 15 to 20 knot winds over our stern quarter. Five hours later, we took a visitor mooring ball in Glandore, a pretty village about 40 miles west of Cork. We dinghied ashore to resume our search for the perfect pint. This one was a strong four.

More from the miscellaneous notes file. When we arrived in Ireland, we bought a new Internet dongle to replace the one we bought in the UK. Even though both are for accessing the Vodafone system, one if for Vodafone UK and one is for Vodafone Ireland, and never the twain shall meet. So we had to shell out another 25 Euro for the new dongle. (A bargain, actually, considering what they cost just a couple of years ago.) These devices, called dongles here but we know them as USB modems in the U.S., are crucial for accessing the weather information we need to make decisions about when to move or when to sit. In Scotland, we were somewhat frustrated, as the Vodafone UK coverage was not very good in some of the Western Isles, and where there was coverage, it was often slow. Granted, we were in some pretty remote places, so to get any coverage was a miracle, and we were able to access weather information often enough to stay safe, augmenting the dongle data with Wi-Fi when possible. Up until recently, the Vodafone Ireland coverage has been universal and lightning fast. But just the last two days we have had trouble finding a signal as we work our way to West Cork and more remote areas. We’ll see how it goes from here.

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Editor's Note: Slow Internet continues to dog us the further west we get. So no photos this post. Stay tuned....