Aleria is ready to come home

We launched Aleria a week ago and could only clean her up a bit. She was filthy and took a lot of scrubbing. I got the cockpit cleaned up and below decks as well. Didn't have time to get to the decks. Meanwhile, it took Alex a while to secure the docklines and take care of a few issues that needed immediate attention. 

We were to return Monday, put up the sails and bring her home starting Tuesday. But the forecast changed dramatically with a gale packing up to 50-knot gusts by Thursday and in the upper 30s by Wednesday. We couldn't take that chance. 

I suggested we return on Tuesday afternoon when winds were forecast to be about 10 knots gusting 15 from the North, stay overnight as there would be no wind in the morning and we could finish up what we didn't get to on Tuesday. We had to put up the sails, climb the mizzen to run a halyard we had lost last year, inflate the dinghy, fill the water tanks, check the gas and other systems.

Clouds in light Northerlies Tuesday

Sunset 

Morning light Southwesterlies

And that's exactly what we did. We drove down in our new BYD Seal, code name Selkie. I thought about the Ukrainian name for seal but I didn't think Foka would be well accepted. Phoca is the genus of seals that encompasses common and spotted seals. I also thought about Byddie (for BYD) but she doesn't seem like a Biddie to me. Biddie is a diminutive form of Bridget in Irish but a biddy is a woman (usually an elderly one) who is regarded as nosey, annoying or interfering. No, that name didn't fit. 

I also considered some Chinese names, such a Jackie (for Jackie Chan), Mai, Kai, and Tai. I've always named my cars with names of their country of origin and they were always male. Sammy (for Samurai the Nissan), Maxi (for Maximillian the Mercedes), Mickey (the Mini), and Finn (the Ford Focus) etc. But her voice is female and she is our car not mine. As Alex's cars have always been Lilly, we needed a new moniker, but I digress. 

So we are trying out Selkie. Selkies are mythological creatures that can shapeshift between seal and human forms by removing or putting on their seal skin. They feature prominently in Celtic and Norse traditions. The term “selkie” derives from the Scots word for “seal”, and is also spelled as silkie, sylkie, or selchie. Selkies are said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land. It seems to fit the BYD Seal and her voice. 

It was a pleasant drive down and we got to work straight away. Alex prepared the monster Yankee while I stowed stuff below. We got the Yankee up without hassle in light, gusting northerlies as forecast. It took a lot of energy. Then Alex winched me up the mizzen mast and we successfully redeployed the mizzen halyard. It was a bit terrifying at first -- I am going to be 70 this week -- but made it up and down without incident and with full success. By then we were exhausted and it was 6 pm, the church bells were chiming the Angelus announcing 'drinks time'. 

We had left the car to charge on the new esb fast charger just outside the marina gate. It took some figuring out how to use the esb app. As it turned out, the new chargers were so new, they weren't yet activated. We called the service number and they got us online. It took an hour and cost €43. But it got us to 100% capacity and we were happy to know we could get all the way back home again. 

We had dinner in the only place in Kilrush that we found open on Tuesday night  - burgers and beer. We checked the forecast and decided to get up early to put up the main and mizzen sails. By 7 am we were off to the showers and hard at work by 7:30. We had picked up breakfast to make onboard but we couldn't get the gas burners to work. Faulty solenoid. So we got coffee and tea at the marina office (the machines require a PhD to operate). The marina popup cafe also had trouble with their gas and couldn't prepare breakfast. We raised the mainsail with some effort, then squeezed in the mizzen before heading off for a proper breakfast.

Breakfast was at a new and highly recommended diner-like place called Bowman's Lane Restaurant we spotted on the main drag near the Post Office. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was packed and very pleasant. 

After sustenance renewed our spirit, we made our way back to the boat for the next few chores: the dodger (not a big job) and the new inflatable dinghy (very big job -- no manual, some assembly required). After frustrating attempts at assembling the rigid floor, inflating and deflating, I finally Googled 'how to assemble a Yamaha rigid inflatable dinghy aluminium floor.' Lo and behold, the trick was to make a tent with two sections then step on it to flatten it out. We would have never figured that out on our own. It's a rather nice dinghy now. We've had it for several years but it has never been in the water for various reasons you can surmise from past posts. 

We lifted and secured the dinghy on deck with the engine, set more docklines for the gale, cleaned up stray tools, vacuumed the floors when we could finally see them, packed up and were on our way home at 1:45 just as the wind was picking up. We were totally spent. But we got it done and she is ready to go. 

The solenoid is on order, new shore power cord as well, we can use the electric hot plate for the trip home we hope, and in two weeks' time, the tides will be right on the mighty Shannon River to try again. Let's hope the weather cooperates. 

The approaching gale over Westport