Aleria's Adventures

Our return journey was easy. A few hours back to Bofin, then a few hours back into Clew Bay with a stopover to await the await the tide.  The sail over to Bofin was pleasant enough. We had mostly westerly winds. It was still chilly but at least not wet. We managed to avoid most of the rain showers surrounding us. Several visits by porpoises made it exciting. Sadly no basking sharks, dolphins, or whales.  I really appreciated it being uneventful.  We arrived at Bofin well before dinner time, picked up the ferry mooring which we've been offered by the ferry captain, and decided shore leave was in order, this time to Day's pub. We ordered drinks and I had pizza while Alex ordered the obligatory burger. Who walks in but our neighbour and friend Boru Dowthwaite? He was helping to bring X-rated home from WIORA in Kilrush. What a nice surprise! The music was a stage performance of  '70s country rock so that was good. The place was full on and the staff was working hard mid-...

Horrible lumpy seas passing Roundstone We'd spent a day at anchor waiting for gale-force winds which we don't think ever actually arrived. The front and low-pressure system tracked a bit farther north and got stuck about 250 miles off Erris Head. There were stronger winds to the north of us and to the south of us. We made the right decision.  Now the question was, should we move on to Inishbofin. We had little interest in going ashore at Inishmore, but I was concerned about the sea state. I thought it would be churned up and I didn't want to be banged around on our next-to-last leg of the trip. Alex thought it would not be so lumpy. The wind was supposed to be in the range of 15-20 knots from the WSW, which would be pretty good for sailing North with a bit of west. Windguru showed 2-star seas with a short period of 3 stars, so I agreed, but only under jib and jigger. We left under heavy cloud cover, drizzle, and the occasional squall buffeting us with many knots ...