July 14th - 26th : Dun Laoghaire.

We left our berth at Howth at 10:30, and once clear, had a very gentle sail for a while before deciding that there wasn't enough wind. The donk was started, and we motor sailed across Dublin bay to a small anchorage in Dalkey sound for a couple of hours. There had been a major regatta in Dun Laoghaire this weekend, and many yachts and support boats were returning from the racing to the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire for the post regatta party.

After the rush had died down, we weighed anchor, and set off towards Dun Laoghaire. The harbour is absolutely enormous, with a marina to match ( 800 berths ). On the way in to the allocated berth we saw a large facility for the overhaul of buoys of all types and sizes - quite fascinating.

The marina had gone all high tech, and instead of issuing us with an access code, our finger prints were scanned into the system, and a print reader used to gain entry to the gates and facilities. Due to the size of the marina, in addition to the shoreside facilities, a barge was moored at the far end of the marina, complete with loos and showers - the name of the barge was MARIna LOU !

The photo below shows just the Eastern side of the harbour from near the end of the outer sea wall. There is a major ferry terminal in the central part, and the marina on the Western side.

After flying back from Dublin for our son's graduation ceremony, and attending to a few things at home, we returned to get 'NJ' back to the UK side of the Irish sea. At 08:00 on 26th July we set out from Dun Laoghaire bound for Holyhead; 55 miles, and some very significant cross tides.

On leaving the harbour we saw a large cruise ship anchored in the bay, busy disgorging passengers via the ships boats. The liner turned out to be the Oriana.

As we cleared the traffic separation zone we entered a bank of fog which was just clinging to the surface of the sea. The sun was trying to break through, and was creating a 'halo' effect as we looked back towards Dublin. After a pleasant and quite interesting day at sea, we finally moored up on the visitors pontoon at Holyhead marina at 18:20.

We have enjoyed our trip to Ireland and am sure that we will return some time as there is much, much more to do and see.