Ardglass to Howth (Nr Dublin)

Friday - 2nd May 2014

Another early start to travel the 56 miles from Ardglass to Howth, which is 10 miles north of Dublin.

We set off from Ardglass at 06.45am, at low water and had to reverse out of the marina, as there was no room to turn and arrived at Howth at 17.00.  We were some way behind the other boat who had taken the inside track nearer to shore.

We performed an impromptu ‘Man over Board’ drill as due to the heavy swell and my poor knot tying we lost the ball fender from the front of the boat.  I turned the boat around and Michael managed to scoop up the fender with the boat hook on the first pass.  He now feels slightly more confident that I could rescue him. 

The sea was very bouncy after the previous days heavy wind and rain and the journey was cold and uncomfortable.  I steered for the first 2 and a half hours to prevent myself being sick.  This works well as the concentration overtakes the seasickness.  Fortunately we had prepared sandwiches and a flask prior to setting off so neither of us had to spend too much time below.

The weather improved in the afternoon and we had a great sail in bright sunshine.

 

We saw 5 dolphins and 2 seals today.

Howth is a real sailors destination, like Cowes with Guinness. 

The marina run by Howth Yacht Club is a hive of activity, with excellent food and drink facilities.  There is a vast array of foodie venues in town which we are looking forward to trying over the next week as we make this our base whilst visiting Michael’s daughter Laura and her boyfriend Damian.

Fish and Chips first night and went Fish shopping on the 3rd (Sat)