Nice visit to Kinsale with the ICC

- October 22, 2019

We've been to Kinsale in County Cork several times by boat and we love it there. This time we went by land, driving there via Kilrush in County Clare where our boat is on the hard. It was an Irish Cruising Club (ICC) Committee meeting and Alex is a member. I'm a member of ICC but not on the Committee so I get to tag along without having to work.

Aleria with Lilly our new VW Passat Estate (2017)

Aleria was just fine in Kilrush, propped up nicely and firmly against the shed. Alex hooked up electrics while I scraped the few barnacles off the prop and bottom. They came off so easily. We shortly continued on to Cork and got stuck in abominable traffic trying to get through the middle of the city. I was driving our new used car - an amazing VW Passat Estate. It was the first time I've driven in city traffic in many years. We checked into the Trident Hotel just in time for Alex to make his meeting.

Dinner with Maeve and Adrian Bell was a joyous occasion at the Black Pig wine and tapas bar. The food is very good and the wine menu is astonishing. And it was a good opportunity to get to know these two lovely people from the North.

The next morning, I walked the town and sadly learned that the Time Traveller's bookshop was gone. It had been my favourite shop in Kinsale, full of precious treasures. I was on a mission to find a Joseph Conrad first edition. Oh well. Not that day. I'll have to contact them online.

That afternoon after the ICC Committee meeting, we watched the All Blacks destroy Ireland in the 6 Nations Rugby quarter-final. It was humiliating but at least Ireland managed to squeak in some scoring. Then we met the group for a walking tour of the town. It was OK. A lot of talking and a little walking. But the weather held out until the end of the walk.

Then we noticed the classic boat tied alongside the pontoons at the Trident Hotel which looked like the Ilen, and the Irish naval vessel LE Ciara was also in town giving tours. So we went aboard the Ciara to take pictures of the Ilen and noticed a bunch of people on her deck. They were ICC, so we walked over and got the tour ourselves. It was very interesting to see this boat built by Conor O'Brien who sailed his Saoirse around the world, the first to fly the flag of the Irish free state. The Ilen spent 70 years delivering cargo among the Falkland Islands. She was lovingly restored as Ireland's last remaining wooden cargo vessel. This summer, she made an educational voyage to Greenland in the salmon's wake and has now found a permanent home in Kinsale.

Dinner at the Trident was very nice with good conversation. One couple has children all over the world. The ones in Chicago work during the week and the kids are in school, so when they visit, they take the week to go see a different place each time. They've visited 46 states so far. Cool. The Lovegroves were very nice and great company as well.

We were so tired, we went to bed early enough. We drove home in record time - just 4 hours. It was good to be home.

Next weekend, we do it again, this time for three nights with the Ocean Cruising Club -- lots of activities and jazz weekend. We need better planning.