Crossing the Void - Tresco to Irish Republic
Slipstream Web Diary
Bill Cuthbert
Thu 9 Jun 2011 21:32
|
The crew of Vicky, Nic, Anna, Shumps, Alison (Queen
of Gugh & Tresco) and Bill had a mixed morning. Simon and Bill repaired the
main track and fitted a new set of jam cleats and.....unblocked the female
heads. Some jobs are just too much fun. The remainder of the crew went shopping
and coffeeing on-shore. The forecast was 5-7 with 4-5 later but the rider of
"Rough" or "Very Rough" was also in the mix. Alison met a man in the coffee shop
with a skippers hat on. He declared that "later is best". This delayed our
departure for Ireland by one hour. Such is the respect with which Bill holds his
spouse.
It was blowing a hooley in New Grimbsy Sound around
noon but Bill seemed happy to set off into the void. He was muttering something
about deadlines, hull integrity and "flights on Saturday". So... after a nice
round of sandwiches and salad - on deck in the sunshine,,, we let loose the
Harbour Master's mooring buoy opposite the village quay and set off out of thew
Sound.
Video footage will confirm that the entrance to the
Sound was a maelstrom with wasjing machine water breaking over rocks left and
right. We were soon through and off and away North. At this stage we had no
fixed destination but the options included Milford Haven (if NW wind) or Kilmore
Quay in the Irish Republic if a bit more westerly.
The passage lasted 22 hours. Anna & Alison
formed a breakaway movement and spent the first 17 hours below decks. They
emerged at around 05.00 Thursday to the new dawn and the
dolphins....
 The rest of the crew had a very different crossing.
The wind blew 25-30knots most of the day but permitted a heading that
more-or-less bisected the Irish Sea. As night fell the wind backed W and
"Ireland" was the call from the skipper. The working members of the crew
suffered a little through the passage with huge seas, constant struggles at the
helm and not a little mal-de-mer. Nic defined the crews feelings about the
passage when he declared: "This IS fun. I can, however, think of a million
things that are MORE fun than this."All four were pleased, however, to
see Alison and Anna so rested as dawn broke. Land was sighted around 08.00 but
with the wind dying, and directionwise on the nose, we turned on the motor and
chugged into Kilmore Quay around 11.00. Anna was a stalwart at buoy and
channel-marker recognition. (Note the wooly hats in mid-June) The roughness of
the woyage had precuded contact with her boys, Will & Tom, and she was
anxious to bet back in contact through Eireann Telecomm.
 After 155.1 nm we were glad to tie up and rest
easy. They are very welcoming in the Marina. What a wonderful country. We
finished the day off, glad to be tied to a pontoon, using landside heads and
after a fantastic crab, scallop and fishy supper at the Crazy Crab with
Madeliene and Sian.
|