Storm bound in Crosshaven...

Well since last we left you a lot has happened but to that in all good time…

The wind has been quite blustery of late and autumn is upon us it would seem with the apple harvest starting two weeks early. Apparently this is the worst summer they have had here in fifty years; aren’t we lucky!!
We spend several more days in Sneem (its like the Bemuda triangle; you get sucked in and can never leave or now I think about it perhaps its more like Hotel California!)
Sneem proves lucky for us though as the toilet pump gives up the ghost and the handle comes off in Murrays hand - Sneem is an easy place to get parts sent to.
The UK is in disarray due to the riots and the Irish see an opening as professional mob trainers as they have reviewed the tapes and note that the average English yob is too thick to light the wheelie bin before pushing it towards the police. With all the rioting in the world they could claw themselves out of debt by the end of next week with this new scheme…
On other news America lost its triple A rating and France may follow… we feel sorry for them so contribute to the economy by buying three albums from I-Tunes.
Anyway we finally escaped the clutches of the Kenmare Bay (via Ardgroom again when the fog gets so thick we can’t see the coastline… see told you very BT) and continued up the west coast (nothing goes to windward like a diesel!) through large lumpy seas and get a couple of greenies over the top now and then. CC does well though and there is no way we bother putting the pram hood down while sailing in Ireland!
Valentia Island is our next port of call and although they have started their marina there seems to be no intention of finishing it. We find out the hard way this is because it is in the wrong place and over the course of the next few days we experiment with every side as the wind whistles and waves crash over the pontoons… the locals have never seen it so bad… yeah right!!? Still its free which leaves us money to spend at the bar which is just as well as we get sucked into the late night drinking frenzy that is an Irish pub on a Friday and meet Niles, Sandra and Robyn who lead us a merry dance through many pints of guiness and topics of conversation… at 4am we are pleading for mercy but have to go home with them for more drinks before staggering back to the boat… needless to say the next day proves very quiet and although we finally make it out of bed and off for a walk the heads are so heavy that I resorted to taking the water at the holy well… don’t know if it was just that the water was so cold that it threatened the fillings in your teeth or that the addition of a few mossie larvae provide the essential proteins that you need in this situation but sure enough I was right as rain for about an hour… and even better after I had had another sleep! If this is Irish craic they can keep it…

After a particularly rough night on the outside wall where we hear the Rambler 100 has capsized in the Fastnet race (5 persons in the water ad drifting – a sailors worst nightmare!) we are awaked by the coastguard bright and early (Well 10am – the Irish like a good sleep in).
Lovely lady very jolly and not at all interested in looking round the boat just wants to see the boat papers and have a chat. All crew members of the Rambler have been recovered safe and well (the five were in the water for two hours or more… bruuurrrr I can barely manage once round the boat) – awesome result for the life boat guys and the dive boat Wave Chieften – and the yacht has been towed to Baltimore. Would be worth seeing that - Not every day you see a $60 million yacht upside down. (Turns out we hear a dispute some days later on over the VHF that the Rambler is being spirited out of Baltimore to Portsmouth so we never did see her… the salvage company did not sound amused and the coastguard was very put out but the boat is due to race in the Sydney to Hobart Race and has to be airlifted from the UK to NZ for repairs before hand so I suppose money talked in the end.)

We are off to Dingle today and for once have a lovely sail in sunny conditions.
We look for Fungi the dolphin at the entrance but didn’t get a glimpse of him through the half hundred trip boats that bowl out hell for leather carrying a motley load of tourist aimed with telephoto lens ohh and ahhing at every ripple… you no see, you no pay… how are they going to manage when the poor thing finally pops his clogs??!
Dingle has changed so much I don’t recognise a thing. Honestly Penelope did we go to Dick Macks when we were here?
Anyway it is enjoyable enough and seems very busy after the solitude of the Ring of Kerry but we do the tourist things and have a beer at Foxy Johns and Dick Macks… the great thing about these old pubs is if you sit there long enough you are bound to ssee something that you want to buy… Foxy’s was the worst with its studded nose clamp for preventing cows suckling each other, torches, coloured twine and various bits of electrical paraphernalia… Speaking of paraphernalia Dingle appears to be the home of leprechaunicalia as well – yep I couldn’t resist and Murray is now the proud owner of a mooning leprechaun key ring declaring that the craic if mighty in Ireland! Some tat just crys out to be brought!
If you are ever in Dingle don’t forget to visit the new boutique brewery (a rarity in the land of Guiness and Coors light). The Dingle brewery had just opened and the Tom Crean’s proves and tasty brew.

We are determined to make it to Derrynane today as it has the trickiest entrance yet and look like the best bay ever and it is. If there is one place you should go in Ireland it’s the Ring of Kerry and Derrynane is fabulous. We weave in and out of the rocks and beacons and find one visitors mooring. This is the business. Beautiful beach, the Ring of Kerry walkway goes right past the bay and Derrynane house and gardens a short stroll away… we stay 4 days and pass the time walking, swimming and lounging in the sun (yep the sun came out would you believe!) One day it is so windy outside the bay we end up surrounded by icebergs of foam as we drift serenely about. Murray tries his hand at fishing and catches Pollock by the bucket load but after the first one we adopt a catch and release programme as they aren’t that tasty.

Today’s paper tells us that all the genetic information needed to re seed the earth would fit in an egg – how apt.

Another telling comment is that the Irish need to stop viewing their houses as ATM machines… a bit to late now I would say.

And did you know that in the last 15 years Britain has lost around 50% of a lot of its small bird species like chaffinches…

Well we are definitely on the downhill run back to the UK now and we bid a found farewell to Derrynane and slip our mooring and weave our way to Crookhaven and a very windy Baltimore before relaxing for a couple of days in Union Hall, Glandore and Broadbay Courtmacsherry.
The hedgerows are heavily laden with blackberries now instead of wildflowers and the trees are flushing with colour. Even the fushia’s are sensing a change in the weather and losing their pretty red flowers. Each morning and evening we graze our way around the lanes and even Bramble has taken to picking the blackberries instead of just peeing on them. There is a nip in the air and the nights are drawing in and thoughts are turning to over wintering destinations and the UK beckons more strongly. I hope the heater still works!

More factoids for you…
Did you know you can buy jellyfish repellent sunscreen?? Interesting… do they know that jellyfish don’t really have much motor control??

More importantly 70,000 mortgages are in arrears here – talk of bailing out struggling mortgages holders continues – a moral dilemma to say the least.

And that 1850’s farmhouse we saw on the Ring of Beara has dropped its asking price by 50,000 euro in one month!

And now the news of the week… poor Bramble had a very close call this week when she plummeted off a cliff, bounced on some rocks and nearly drowned. They don’t come much luckier than our wee dog I can tell you. Thank goodness the tide was in or she would have been a goner and as it was when I jumped in and pulled her out it was a close run thing with vomiting and water on the lungs. Luckily another boat saw her fall and I was able to get to her before she went under for the last time. We were able to get her to Kinsale for expert vet care within an hour and she spent the night on a drip in “the best dog hospital in the EU” before being returned to us with only a dislocated hip and a bucket on her head to worry about. Now it didn’t knock any snese into her and she is still as mad as a hatter for playing toy after tea. So for the last 7 days we have met all the vets of Kinsale/Bandon/Carrigaline (Thanks Fiona, Gavin and Ger!!) and spent all day, everyday watching over a very sorry for itself dog with her leg in a sling. We did release her from the “bucket” you will be pleased to know!
Oh and it was my birthday somewhere in there!!
Hopefully when the sling comes off in the next few days the leg will stay in and all will be right in the world again.
Thanks for all the messages of support; Bramble appreciates she was a plonker and no she won’t be entering any Acapulco diving competitions again soon.

So you are all up to date and as I write this we are currently holed up in Crosshaven while the tail of hurricane Irene batters the coast with gale force winds. Charming! Still haven’t got my head round how that works… East coast America/hurricane… Irish coast/gales… I know my geography can be poor but really how does that happen??