We woke this morning to fog dense enough to obscure the harbour wall, making our departure for Arklow unlikely.  We compared notes with a neighbouring yacht aiming to go the same way, and with advice from the HM. The problem would not be seeing our way past the shoal waters and through St Patrick's Bridge again, but the likelihood of getting caught up in the ropes of lobster pots, of which we were told there are about 3000 in these waters.  As it looked like a non-sailing day, we made enquiries about the bus times to Wexford, where we could do an afternoon's shopping and sight-seeing.  We had a cooked breakfast aboard, purchased from the village shop.  A walk up both ends of the small village showed pub/hotels either closed or in a state of renovation ready for the influx of visitors we believe arrive in the summer.  We visited the enormous and well-stocked chandler, and bought a new Admiralty Chart for East Ireland. Then, just as we were getting prepared for our bus trip, the fog magically lifted, leaving bright sun on a sparkling sea!  So we quickly readied the boat and headed out, through the Bridge and set a course to round Carnore Point and northwards for Arklow. On the last passage this way in 2007, we had taken the inland route, between rather complicated sand banks, but I wasn't in the mood for difficult navigation so made a new set of waypoints to go outside the shoals, inside the huge Tuskar Rock, and (with more dolphins at 1415!) and on up the coast.  Close to 1500, we were motoring at 7k, but the wind was now 10k+ on our port quarter, so I decided to try the Genoa, and soon we had the glorious sound of our wake and no engine, and were still cruising along at 7k under full Genoa alone.  This lasted for almost two hours, but when the wind strengthened and moved further aft, I decided it was time for the Iron Main again, and we motored on through a rather uncomfortable swell, to reach the approach to Arklow at about 1930.  Cate steered us through the Arklow Sailing Club's Wednesday evening race and into the entrance.  I remembered Arklow well from last time, and had also re-read my account of it.  There is a tiny marina with hardly any room to manoeuvre, but mercifully also a pontoon alongside on the Avoca River where visitors may berth, and that's what we did. 
We decided to be lazy and find a chinese takeaway, and as we walked past the returned racing crew they said the Sailing Club might be open, and indeed it was, a lovely little club house, still smelling of fresh paint and furniture, having been just re-built and opened one week earlier.  We had a chat and a beer (my first Guinness in Ireland for the trip!) and took the members' advice to try the New Asian Harvest for our meal, and we crossed the bridge to there and had an excellent chinese meal in comfort, rather than a takeaway.  We stopped again at the ASC and had another G and some more amusing conversation with the members, before retiring at 2300.  I must comment that my account of what a dismal hole Arklow was in 2007 bears no resemblance to what we met this time: there is now a riverside residential gated estate, a large shopping mall with cinema and supermarket, and maritime museum.  What a contrast to Milford Haven, and I wonder if Wexford has been the beneficiary of EU development monies?