Aleria's Adventures

I've been following Randall Reeves'  Figure 8 Voyage . He is currently en route from Greenland to the NW Passage. It's a bit late in the season to be attempting the transit but his goal is to complete a circumnavigation of the Americas and Antarctica in one season. He and Moli are pushing to complete their amazing journey. It prompted me to have a look at what he might be facing and who else might be up there. What I found was at first not encouraging. The July news was that the sea ice had started melting almost a month earlier than it should have. But by August, the Passage was still closed. When Randall discovered an oil leak in his drivetrain, he contacted Viktor Wejer, "I wrote to Victor, lamenting how far behind my original schedule I had fallen and asked for an ice update. 'There is no need to rush, Randall,' he responded. 'Environment Canada isn’t reporting on the central parts of the Arctic yet. Solid ice. You have at least ten days.'"...

Anchored off Inishturkbeg Our mooring was inspected and reinstalled on Friday and we got up early Saturday to bring her in from the anchorage at Inishturkbeg on the morning Spring high tide. It was cloudy and grey, threatening rain, but held off. It was an easy ride in and easy mooring pick-up despite not having done it for several years. Our friends, the Meakins, had arrived in Clew Bay last night and anchored off Inishturkbeg as well. They followed us in and tied up alongside Aleria . Now the unloading will continue in zest. But not before we enjoy the company of our friends who we first met on our Atlantic journey 10 years ago. Heading in at high tide On her mooring with Festina Lente on the hip

I took a look at WindGuru yesterday to see if we needed to worry about Aleria being anchored near Inishturkbeg. I was astonished by what I saw. No wind for the foreseeable future. How is that even possible in the west of Ireland?  I'm glad we sailed here when we did, even if we did get beat up a couple of days.

07-07 - 12-07  A Coruna, Spain to Crosshaven, Cork, 632 NM, 6d 2h 20m, no engine 12-07 - 18-07  Tied up in marina at Crosshaven Boat Yard while flexible coupling replaced 19-07  Crosshaven to Kinsale 18 NM, SCW SW 6+, lumpy seas, anchored 20-07  Kinsale to Crookhaven 65 NM, S < 10 KT, motor-sailed ahead of gale and SCW, anchored 21-07  Lay day sitting out a gale in Crookhaven at anchor. SW F6-7. Rain. 22-07  Crookhaven to Bere Island 61 NM, SCW SW 5-6-7 --> SE, lumpy seas, anchored 23-07  Bere Island to Valentia 56 NM, SCW SW 5-7, lumpy seas, tied up at the pontoon 24-07 Valentia to Inishmore 99 NM, calm seas, motor-sailed, moderate winds, light rain showers, did 9-10 knots much of the way for 12.5h, SCW SE F 6-7 and bouncy overnight at anchor with heavy rain 25-07 Lay day at anchor, Inishmore, SCW SE F6 or higher on the west coast, scattered showers 26-07  Inishmore to Inishbofin, 41 NM, very large swell, very lumpy seas, ...

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....

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 ...