Skerries Ireland

Dun Laorghaire

Monday 1 August dawned sunny and still.  The wind was forecast to fill infrom the southwest later in the day and whilst we could have stayed at Dun Laorghaire Marina, we decided to make a prompt start and head up the coast a bit.  But before that we wanted to fill up our fuel tanks, knowing full well that if we didn’t take advantage now we might struggle to find somewhere convenient to refill.

Motoring away from Dun Laorghaire

148litres of diesel (60litres into 3 jerry cans and the rest into the main tanks) heavier and €216 lighter (ouch!) we motored away from Dun Laorghaire across glassy seas. 

Passing Baily lighthouse at the northeast corner of Dublin Bay

Glassy sea for most of the passage

The AIS GPS aerial in its new location held together with tape after being cut in 2!

Shortly after leaving Dun Laorghaire it was clear that the AIS was no longer working properly and that the GPS aerial had failed again.  This time I decided to bite the bullet and cut the antenna in half to access the inner workings and, specifically, the connections.  A little soldering and a chocolate block connector later I had a much more consistent readout on the AIS test kit.  So I stuck the housing together again with self-amalgamating tape and secured the antenna to a different section of the pushpit rail (so that the cable was under minimum tension and the aerial was maximally protected from accidental knocks) and waited to see what happened.  Amazingly, it carried on working normally………..and continued to do so until we were well into Scottish waters.

Approaching Skerries

We decided to go a little way up the coast to Skerries, a small village 15-20nm further north, to anchor and await the wind.  Skerries is a small village on Red Island, a lump of land permanently joined to the mainland by an isthmus [Ed: so not an island then!].  Both the northwest and southeast sides of the isthmus feature sandy beaches and the bay on the northwest side provides good shelter from winds from the ESE through S to the NW and the holding is excellent (on sand).  We anchored just outside the many moorings in about 7m and enjoyed a lazy lunch and afternoon watching the world (and some showers) go by.  One of the excitements was the launch of the local inshore lifeboat to assist/work with a Coastguard helicopter a few miles up the coast.  The other great excitement was the gradual building SW wind.  Perfect for the next leg of our voyage north.

Skerries, Ireland