Aleria's Adventures

Just as we thought it would be safer out there with AIS, picking up ships long before they were a threat on the high seas, a new type of go-fast boat has come on the scene. Dubbed narco-submarines, they are being used for drug smuggling from Colombia, Guatemala and Panama to Mexico. One was recently intercepted off the coast of Galicia, Spain - not sure where they came from. The trouble with these boats is that they are not visible on AIS or radar, hard to spot with the naked eye, and even resistant to detection by infrared. That's a problem for people transiting the same waters in sailboats. Granted there aren't that many of them out there, but...

It has been blowing and very gusty since yesterday evening. At times, the house shudders and the chimney howls. The pressure has been dropping all day and has now hit about 982 hPa. Looking out the window when the tide is higher than normal, with white seahorses of water charging across our inlet, thunder, hailstones and the occasional downpour make me fill with wonder - are these storms getting more violent and more frequent?  It certainly seems that way. Yet, the occasional burst of sunshine through it all makes it feel hopeful.  Once again, people north of us in Donegal and south of us in Kerry have no electricity, and we remain lucky. As the first named storm of the season sweeps in, the forecasters warned of severe weather with gusts over 130km/h expected to hit Kerry. We just have to spare a thought for those at sea and those exposed to the elements going out on rescue missions. Let's hope they are weathering it safely. 

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) has just announced grants for sailing clubs to institute programs that help young sailors transition from youth dinghy programs to adult racing. The scheme aimed at under-25s is intended to bridge the gap between junior programmes, which have good participation, and adult participation which is suffering from a serious fall off in numbers. An initial capital grant is intended to help clubs commit to purchase of a boat, followed by coaching, mentoring and other supports. It's based on a program underway at Howth Yacht Club which is reported to be getting good retention. I'd like to know more about that.

Messing about in boats Today's Scuttlebutt sailing newsletter has a Guest Commentary that rings true to me. For decades, I've been writing about this idea that we teach sailing the wrong way. Our sailing programs teach racing not sailing. We need a 'messing about in boats' program for all the kids who just want to have fun. I last wrote about it for Yachting World  in 2015 and it was picked up by  Scuttlebutt  in the US, Scuttlebutt Europe  and by the far-away  Phuket Race Week . I had started writing about it in the early 2000s on our website  and as editorials in local sailing publications. Participation in sailing was declining at multiple levels, but at the level of junior sailing, it was particularly noticeable and so very sad. It's nice to know that I wasn't off the mark and that others are now jumping on the bandwagon. Sorry for the jargon. Scuttlebutt has recently been encouraging readers to write in on the subject and they have been. Even US Sai

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

We were back to Kinsale for the second weekend in a row, this time for the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) Irish Dinner. It coincided with the Cork/Kinsale Jazz Festival, so we made a long weekend of it. Nearly 70 members and guests arrived from all corners of Ireland, including as far off as Norway, France, England, Panama, and the US. Just about everyone had another reason for the visit and used it as an excuse to come to the dinner. The weather had been awful during the week, with torrential rainfall on some of the days. But it was promised to clear up for the weekend and, by golly, it did as told. We arrived in Kinsale and checked into our Airbnb at about 7 pm having been delayed by bank holiday traffic. The Trident was booked out early; it was fine, as we had stayed there the weekend before. Our Airbnb was right behind the yacht club so we couldn't be better located. I had reserved dinner at Cru which turned out to be as good as the Black Pig. We had two starters and split one