No sailing today. Exploration of Dublin. Many hours walking, investigating, eating, resting in the park, taking in the sun (weather was perfect). We were having a pint towards the end of the day when Simon ran into an acquaintance; he recommended a good place to have some dinner, and joined us. Dublin seems like one of those towns that can really use a local guide... Visited the old Jameson distillery, but somehow missed the Guiness one!!!

Tomorrow, the weather looks good for us to start heading south; I'd like to try and get us (this crew) down to Kinsale. Barbara is joining us in a couple of days; can't wait; should be a terrific week ahead, merrily sailing down the east coast!
1:11:40 AM    
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Departed Holyhead 9:20; arrived in Dun Laoghaire (Ireland!!!) at 9:30 PM. Distance: 60 NM. Conditions: very little wind for the first couple of hours; then SW wind, slowly shifting to S-SW - increasing to F4 about 2 hours before arriving in Ireland. Sun all day.

We've arrived in Ireland!!! I'm writing this update a day after the actual crossing; we've gone on some explorations today, all around Dublin, and I've made the sad discovery that I don't have a GPRS connection. GPRS is the system that allows me to update the site live, from wherever I am. It looks like in Ireland I'll only be able to to update the site every few days.... I'm going to call the phone company tomorrow and see if there is anything I can do...

The crossing was no sweat... only slight tension was that the weather services of both England and Ireland both called for Strong Gales starting the night after our arrival. I was worried the wind was going to start to pick up before we got there (which was the case, but it never got too bad - the gales really only picked up early in the morning the following day). Left Holyhead after a good breakfast, in smooth seas. We ended up motor sailing most of the crossing - the wind was not strong enough to get us there alone, but was enough to give us a little extra speed with the engine. We had sun all day; we napped; we laughed; we ate. Terrific fun!

We arrived at 9:30 in Dun Laoguaire (pronounced Dun Laory) at about 9:30, and roamed around town trying to find an open restaurant. We ended up going to one called "Mao", new asian cuisine.... felt very New York style. We had tried another restaurant before, but somehow we suspect the guys at the door clearly didn't like our sea attire... "sorry chaps, we are all booked..."

Finally, we ended the evening with a good pint of..... Guiness! Absolutely yummy...

Hoisting of the Irish flag, at mid crossing
1:07:01 AM    
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