Lunar Sea

Arklow to Milford Haven - 8th/9th July, 2019      The original plan was to cross the Irish Sea from Wexford.  I had read and been told that there wasn't much water at the entrance with shifting sandbanks and not very good facilities.  The charts confirmed all this so it meant a long passage of 87 miles and about 17 hours from Arklow.  I had contemplated going on past Wexford and Rosslare to Kilmore a further 15 miles on but thought the extra mileage wasn't any use especially considering that we had an excellent weather window for the overnight crossing to Milford.      To ensure a favourable tidal race off South Bishop rock some 60 miles away it meant leaving just after high water from Arklow.  So that meant a 17:30 departure.  With a course of 157 degrees we would have a Southerly tide for the first 3-4 hours, turning against us for the next 5 hours and then pick it up again once off Bishops Rock and for the entrance to Milford...

Ardglass to Carlingford - 24th June, 2019      It was important to arrive at Carlingford Lough on the flood to make use of the tidal flow and also I didn't want to leave Ardglass near Low Water as there was some shallow depths around.  The 30 mile trip should take about 4 hours so if we left about half ebb tide from Ardglass we should arrive about half the flood tide.  Unfortunately, this called for an early start and we left at 07:20.     We had some heavy swell as we left the calm of Ardglass, causing a lot of rocking and rolling.  The wind was from the North at 10 knots and the increase to 12 knots coincided with an easing of the swell.  The passage from number one Buoy at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, to berthing at Carlingford Marina took just over an hour and unfortunately because of the 'Irish Mist' this time we could only just make out the Mountains of Mourne as we passed.  A shame really as the scenery around the Lough ...