The coastline has become more mountainous and we picked up Belfast coastguard on the VHF for the first time yesterday. Coming into range of new coastguard stations always feels exciting, like we are making progress.
The weather is still dominated by the high pressure and its fluky wind conditions. On a 20 mile straight-line course from Skerries to Carlingford Lough, we went from being close hauled on port tack, to having no wind at all, to picking up a new air flow that had us close hauled on starboard tack, which finally freed up to become a rare beam reach.
We love this country. Helen would like to live here (Alex prefers Dartmouth).
The sailing centres are buzzing – dinghies, yachts, keelboats, kids of all ages, boats constantly coming and going and the yacht club bar doesn’t stop serving food until people stop coming in for it (pretty late). Strangely, while there seems a keen interest in racing, there doesn’t seem to be as much sail cruising. We have seen more Canadian and Belgian yachts than Irish ones touring the coastline!
There are sea birds all over the place, we are struggling to identify them all. Herons are less shy than at home – we have seen one in every marina. They stalk the pontoons and stand on the bathing platforms of motor yachts, plucking passing fish out of the water.
Having now listened to a lot of national radio, it is clear that Ireland has pretty much the same issues we have at home: house price inflation, pressure on the health service, overcrowded public transport in major cities and (despite bring so wet) hosepipe bans when the sun comes out, with water companies blamed for high leakage rates. Refreshingly, the quality of debate is much better than at home. The radio presenters host relevant and knowledgeable guests daily and are able to carry out informative interviews that get to the detail without the pointless point-scoring.
Apart from a lack of skimmed milk and coffee bags, the biggest differences we have noticed from home are the genuine welcome and lack of reserve. Wherever there are two or more Irish people in the same place there is a conversation going on. In the marina shower block, I found out that my 3 companions were a novice diver, a final year vet student and a compliance manager in a phama company, also hair conditioner is a good lubricant if you are struggling to get a tight wetsuit on. At home there are plenty of people we have known for years, without really knowing them at all…
We are poised now on the border between the Republic of Ireland (on the south bank of Carlingford Lough) and the North (on the north bank); it is Euros on the south side, pounds on the north, and a ferry going to and froacross the river – we wonder if they have border checks! Our next journey will take us back into the UK. We have freely moved about the country and the seas around it for the last month, without question and with a welcoming, friendly people. We wonder what the differences might be in 2 years time…
Ventata 