Aleria's Adventures

  After meandering around the Atlantic for ages, Don has finally become the first hurricane of the season in the Atlantic. And, it is projected by Carlow Weather to head towards Ireland. Although it is expected to weaken on its approach, it may still dump a good deal of rain on us this week. And, if my hunch is right, because of the extremely warm waters off the west coast this year, it might actually strengthen as it approaches -- they've never seen these conditions before and likely no models would take them into account.  It will be the third hurricane to come to Ireland, Hurricane Ophelia (cat 3) in 2017, Hurricane Lorenzo (cat 5 at one stage but not when it made landfall) in 2019, and now Don, briefly a hurricane but now back to TS. Watch and wait.  Meanwhile, there was carnage in the 50th Fastnet Race with many yachts retiring out of a fleet of 450. Several yachts were dismasted including Tapio Lehtinen's Swan which is scheduled to compete soon in the Global Ocean Challe

  After a month's delay due to Alex's experience of anaphylaxis due to bee stings, we finally got back down to Kilrush to hank on the sails and retrieve the stuck halyards. Alex climbed the mast using the climbing gear and it took a long time, not having done it in so long. But we were successful in retrieving and freeing two halyards that had crossed at the top. Phew! Then we managed to get the yankee up but Alex had forgotten to tie on both sheets, so back down it came only to go back up again. That was a lot of cranking.  Next, we did the easy sail -- the mizzen -- in case we didn't get to the main. So at least we'd be able to sail her home jib and jigger.  But we prevailed and stuck it out to hoist the main. What a beast! Getting it up was okay, getting it flaked and put away was another story in passing squalls.  We shared the drive home, both of us utterly exhausted, and Alex summarily shattered. We are most certainly feeling our age.  The next day, I had to drive

We finally got Aleria into the water in Kilrush. Quite late but at least she's there. We have loads of work to do before we can bring her home. Run halyards that are stuck, hank on the sails, provision, etc. We brought a lot of stuff down, but not everything we need for the delivery.  We can't do it this week as the folks buying Ross House are here and we need to work with them on stuff. The weather has been ridiculously hot, dry and calm for at least a month. Today is the first rain we've had in ages. They say we are developing a Mediterranean climate. And it's happening fast.  We have interest in her from the broker so hopefully that will come through. She's a bit much for us to handle these days. I'm feeling my birth years and so is Alex.  We got home at 10:30 pm and it was still light. Gotta love this place. 

Jack Sparrow summarized the romance of sailing nicely: "Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs. But what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom." Except when she's still on the hard.  

In one week, I was contacted by Derrick Thorrington and Barry Kennedy, both Ocean Cruising Club members. Barry was in Galway and wanted to take a bus to Westport to meet up with us, but in the end that fell through. Derrick and Ali had been trying to get to Scotland but strong headwinds - yep NE-lies - caused them to tuck into Clew Bay. The weather was otherwise settled, sunny, and hot which made their visit quite pleasant.  They took a mooring at the sailing club. Then they rode their bikes over to Port Aleria and we showed them around, including a visit to the vineyard and a meeting of the donkeys. We picked some elderflowers so Ali could make her cordial. They kayaked around the islands one day, and then I took them into town to reprovision and take on fuel. It was very nice seeing them again after meeting first in Poole at the OCC AGM.  They finally got a break and headed north, getting a chance to anchor in Keem Bay, lucky them. We've never managed that. They are now in Scotla

We took the sails and ropes down to Aleria in Kilrush today. Alex got most of the ropes rigged but two halyards refused to go over the sheaves. We got the sails onboard with effort. They get heavier every year.  It was a beautiful day and we were surprised how many boats were still on the hard. For once I took pictures of Steve's boat not ours. A beauty.  We both struggled with age. Knees, sciatica, numb limbs. Just can't do this well anymore. 

  A transition from El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-neutral is expected in the next couple of months, with a greater than 90% chance of El Niño persisting into the Northern Hemisphere winter. El Niño is likely to form during the May-July season and persist into the winter. The combination of a forecasted third westerly wind event in mid-late May, and high levels of above-average oceanic heat content, means that a potentially significant El Niño is on the horizon. While at least a weak El Niño is likely, the range of possibilities at the end of the year (November-January) includes an 80% chance of at least a moderate El Niño to a ~55% chance of a strong El Niño. It is still possible the tropical atmosphere does not couple with the ocean, and El Niño fails to materialize (5-10% chance). In summary, a transition from ENSO-neutral is expected in the next couple of months, with a greater than 90% chance of El Niño persisting into the Northern Hemisphere winter. This discussion is a cons