Aleria's Adventures

Sailing past Clare Island and into Clew Bay The last leg of our journey would take us the remaining 35 NM or so to our home inlet in Clew Bay. The question was, since we may not be coming back to Bofin for a while, should we spend an extra day and walk the island. It's been a few years and it is so beautiful. (By the way, there is now mobile and 4G signal in the harbour. No need to climb the hill any more!) But in short order, we consulted with WingGuru and noted 15 knots SW on this day and 15 knots NW the next. Better to go with the flow. Our mooring wasn't ready as our BIL wasn't able to raise the riser, but he said the mooring nearby was suitable. We knew there wasn't enough water, but Alex thought he could raise the chain with Aleria 's windlass. High tide was at about 1430, and we needed at least half tide to get over the shellfish bed on approach to our inlet. But the wind proved fickle and we had no interest in motoring as the day was just too perfect....

Croagh Patrick, the Holy mountain, flanking Clew Bay. Fall morphs into Indian Summer? Just as we were making plans for hauling out, the weather turned. Fall morphed into summer once again and this week's blue skies yielded temperatures in the 90s F in the sun and 75F in the shade. That of course makes us want to go sailing. But is the weather god simply taunting us or are we the beneficiaries of climate change for good. Who knows? Who cares?  It's glorious!!! So who wants to work?  This is the problem I've been dealing with in Ireland. I've always been a proponent that weekends should come when the weather is fine. In Ireland, the winter is dark and bone chilling, perfect weather for working day and night as you cannot tell which is which for much of it.