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| La Lumiere of Howth has arrived home! |
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| Posted: 30/05/14 |
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Carmel Kavanagh
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Ken Kavanagh
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La Lumiere of Howth
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Finally the weather and our personal diary allowed us to return to Milford Haven to complete the last leg of the journey from St-Quai- Portrieux to Howth.
A smooth journey from Sutton to Milford Haven:
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On Monday last, May 26th, we trudged across from our house to the station in Sutton in a heavy downpour, travelled by Dart into Connolly Station from where we took the train to Rosslare and then the ferry to Pembroke Dock where we arrived at 00.45.
Thankfully it was not raining in Wales as we once again found ourselves marching along with knapsacks on our backs in search of Albion House, the small family-run hotel we had booked into for the remainder of the night.
The following morning, after a hearty breakfast, we took the bus to Milford Haven, did a quick shop in Tesco and finally boarded La Lumiere in the marina where we had left her on May 8th. The trip across had gone very smoothly and we hoped this would be a good omen for the sail up to Dublin!
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Sophie and Daniel Kavanagh
come to inspect Grandad's new boat !
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The departure:
Having checked the engine, nav lights and weather forecast yet again, we settled the bill, refuelled and made a pot of "de Mammy's stew" for the night passage. We were now all set to go when the lock gates opened at 16.09, 2 hours before high water.
The forecast was for light to variable winds from the north/northwest - not an ideal direction since we were heading northwest but we felt they would be manageable if they didn't strengthen. As there were no gale warnings and no mention of rain or fog, we decided to take our chances with the wind and go with the flow!
(For 2 hours before high water there is free-flow through the lock!)
The passage:
At 16.30 on the button we exited the dock and proceeded past the many oil refineries in Milford Haven out towards St Anne's Head and St George's Channel.
As we encountered 10-15 knots of wind from the northwest, we initially headed directly west until we cleared the islands of Skokholm and Skomer when we tacked and headed north. We motor-sailed with the flood, achieving an average speed of 8.6 knots for a number of hours. Given the spring tide, we knew we had to take full advantage of the strong current, as we would be slowed to a crawl when the tide turned.
What we did not know at that point, was that the wind was due to strengthen to force 5, accompanied by showers and poor visibility for a short time. The first we heard of this was on the forecast at 19.50 when we were well committed to the passage.
So we soldiered on through the night which passed calmly but slowly as we struggled against a strong ebb tide with our speed reduced at times to 2.5 knots.
All remained calm until 06.00 when we were over on the Irish side hoping to round Wicklow Head with end of the flood which we succeeded in doing. But by 09.45 we were bashing into 22 knots of wind and a very bumpy sea.
It became so unpleasant that we phoned Greystones Marina because we had decided to go in and await the flood tide which would take us nicely up to Howth.
However, as often happens at sea, the situation calmed down again and by the time we were passing the entrance to Greystones at 11.30, we decided to revert to plan A and plough on for Howth because, with such unsettled weather around, things might just get even worse later in the day. Thankfully there was no sign of either the rain or fog which had been forecast.
Our progress was slow and it was frustrating to observe some south-going yachts running majestically before the wind with the help of a favourable current and wave direction as we slapped and thrashed our way northwards towards home!
However, the boat behaved beautifully most of the time. There was just one really scary moment when the wind began to strengthen. Suddenly La Lumiere heeled over rather violently and I nearly went for an unplanned swim! We had forgotten that we were no longer on board Safari of Howth, which was only ever reefed in a gale!! We now know that early reefing is the key to comfortable sailing on our new boat but all was forgiven when we were able to roll in the mainsail from the safety of the cockpit.
The vagaries of Irish weather !
By the time we rounded the Baily at 15.25, the sun was shining, the sea was calm and all was well with the world. But while I was sunbathing in the shelter of the sprayhood, Ken was in full off-shore gear at the helm keeping a look-out for lobster pots and fast ferries. All this will definitely take a bit of getting used to!
We arrived off the entrance to the marina in Howth at 16.15, 23 hours and 45 minutes after exiting the lock at Milford Haven and proceeded into K3, our new berth, tired but very happy that we and la Lumiere were finally home!
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