Aleria's Adventures

The Wests’ Awake four seasons cruise What started out as the Commodore’s bold decision to host the first western cruise in the history of the ICC, became the first cruise to suffer two years of postponement due to Covid 19. Planning cruises in the west depends on the weather cooperating, of course. Not only did the pandemic crush all plans of cruising in company, but also the changing climate has infused a measure of additional unpredictability to any planning for scheduled activities, especially in the West, as hurricanes Ophelia and Lorenzo proved in recent years.  In 2022, the brave Western contingent of the ICC took on the post-pandemic challenge of getting members out to the wild west of Mayo and Galway’s wild Atlantic way once again. The itinerary was set over a two-week period with plenty of layover days planned in to allow for weather delays. There was great enthusiasm expressed by members and up to 15 vessels and some 50 people had expressed interest in joining the two-week me

Pat Adair handing me the Wild Goose Cup As a member of the Irish Cruising Club, I am now expected to contribute to the Annual and ICC Newsletter from time to time, which I have done. My first contribution to the Annual technically did not qualify for any awards because it was about sailing over to Ireland which was too long ago to qualify. This year, I wrote about our return to Ireland from Galicia. I was totally taken aback to open the hefty tome of the Annual when it arrived and to see my article as the first in the book and labelled as having won the Wild Goose Cup. The award is not for a cruise per se but for the literary merit of the story that was written. The adjudicator thought mine was the best-written log in the book! Happy Daria! Coming from the Irish, who hold literary ability most sacred, I have never felt more honoured. The Awards were presented on Friday evening after the AGM. To hear the adjudicator's reasons for selecting my work almost brought tea

Peace Bridge over the River Foyle in Derry On Friday, the Northern contingent of the Irish Cruising Club held their Autumn lunch in Derry. I had not been to Derry and have wanted to visit for ages. This was a good excuse. We have a nice new car, the drive is only 3.5 hours, and the north beckoned before Brexit. So I booked a B&B just inside the old walled city near the Bishop's Gate. The restaurant, Brown's of Bonds Hill, was on the other side of the river. What we didn't know when we booked is that Alex was going to be in agony. His back, injured when he was a young man, took a turn for the worse while he was in Dublin for his long-range radio certification class. He couldn't walk any distance and could only be comfortable while seated. So being in the car was okay, sitting in the restaurant was okay. Walking was not. But it was all worth it. Derry was a remarkable experience for many reasons. The drive up was gorgeous - a sunny but crisp day with lots o

Alex and I drove to Sligo for the Autumn lunch of the western ICC members. It was a lovely event, with good food, good friends, and good times. The Driftwood restaurant at Rosses Point was a nice spot with beautiful views across the water. It also gave us the opportunity to see a lovely part of Sligo I hadn't seen before, and to meet some new potential members including the Harbourmaster of Sligo.

Offshore veteran Damian Foxall discusses sustainability in sailing  In the past few weeks, we've had the pleasure of attending the Irish Sailing Cruising Conference in Athlone and the Irish Cruising Club's Annual Dinner in Killarney. At the Conference, we won a night in a glamping pod at Kilrush Marina, so we made a side trip from Killarney to Kilrush to try it out. Turned out to be great fun.

View from Knockranny over Croagh Patrick, Clew Bay and Clare Island For the past two weekends, we have taken part in the annual meetings of first the Irish Cruising Club and then the Ocean Cruising Club. I am a new member of the ICC this year, which has about 650 members in Ireland. I am a flag officer of OCC, which has about 3000 members around the world.

What Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara might look like in the sun. (Wikimedia) (Cinn Mhara) During winter in Ireland we take the opportunity to explore places we might not get to otherwise by boat.  The exception is when the western contingent of Irish Cruising Club, of which Alex is a member,  hosts a Christmas luncheon in some lovely seaside location that gives us a chance to scout it out by land before coming by boat.

What a lovely time we had meeting up with now old friends from the Irish Cruising Club (ICC) in Oranmore near Galway just before Christmas.  Not only was it a nice venue for lunch, we are beginning to actually know some of the people. And one of our favourite members, Jarlath Cunnane, of Northabout fame, sat next to me at lunch and traveled home with us on the return trip.  Kay and Fergus Quinlan were at our table too so we felt right at home catching up with everyone. It's an interesting thing when you join a social club. The first year, you are feeling things out: the people, the politics, the etiquette, and the expectations. The second year, you begin to recognize people's faces and sometimes even their names. By the third year, you're a regular, contributing to the newsletter and annual, joining in on events, getting together with members informally, and so on.  At least that's how it has gone for us.