Thronged streets....
....vibrant colours...
...sights...
...sounds...
....time to relax...
...full of excitement...
...proud to be Gaeltacht ( Gaelic speaking)
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Location:Grey's Lane,Dingle,Ireland
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 42
Tue 6.8.13: Dingle Harbour.
Thronged streets....
....vibrant colours...
...sights...
...sounds...
....time to relax...
...full of excitement...
...proud to be Gaeltacht ( Gaelic speaking)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thronged streets....
....vibrant colours...
...sights...
...sounds...
....time to relax...
...full of excitement...
...proud to be Gaeltacht ( Gaelic speaking)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, 5 August 2013
Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - PS to update 41
Some HD highlights of West Coast Ireland:
Teeming wildlife (gull soars off Bull Rock);
BIG swell (Bull Rock again);
The scale....
and grandeur of the landscape (Castletownshend);
Secluded anchorages (Crookhaven);
Colourful harbours (Castletownbere);
and iconic landmarks (The Fastnet Rock)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Teeming wildlife (gull soars off Bull Rock);
BIG swell (Bull Rock again);
The scale....
and grandeur of the landscape (Castletownshend);
Secluded anchorages (Crookhaven);
Colourful harbours (Castletownbere);
and iconic landmarks (The Fastnet Rock)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Green Street,Dingle,Ireland
Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 41
Mon 5.8.13: Dingle, County Kerry
We slip out of Sneem as dawn....
...is breaking. Ghosting out under sail, leaving the tranquility undisturbed.
25 knots of northerly breeze fill in as we clear Scariff Island...
...and beat up, inshore, under towering cliffs and rolling hills. Puffins rise from the water and fly, low over the wave tops, orange feet trailing, wings beating frantically.
We ease sheets off Valentia Island. Dolphins gambol alongside, criss - crossing under our bow....
...as Stargazer, makes 6-7 knots, swooping over the swell.
Sculptural.....
....kaleidoscopic...
....cliffs guard the entrance to...
Dingle Harbour. Fungi, the resident dolphin, shoots past close under our port side. A tripper boat speeds over. I round up to drop sail, as Fungi pulls a leap for the crowd!
PS - HERE IS POST 39 (THE BULL ROCK SLEIGH RIDE) WITH THE PICTURES ADDED:
Sat 3.8.13: Sneem, the Kenmare River.
The breeze is down to 24 knots from the west, as we leave Castletownbere harbour.
The blue-black sea is white crested and furrowed deeply by the wind, out in Bantry Bay.
A rainbow arches across the horizon. Prelude to a ten minute, 30 knot, black squall - followed immediately by clear skies and sunshine.
Stargazer clambers out over the swell; hard on the wind, under double reefed main - more mountain goat than boat, today.
Bull Rock rears vertically out of the surging seas, its creased brown flanks stream white with spume. An arc of sky blue, at its base, reveals a tunnel cut clean through the rock, by the tumbling waves.
We bear off, for the Kenmare River. It's dead downwind. We 'sail the angles,' gybing our way in; under full sail, now that the wind is free. Another black squall comes through. Stargazer's bow wave climbs aft and rises alongside us, like two white walls. For five minutes we're planing at 9-10 knots!
I dowse the jib and reach into Sneem, dodging round the necklace of green, shrub topped, low cliffed, islands, which protect the anchorage. Brightly coloured rowing gigs battle in the channel ahead. It's Sneem Regatta. I round up and drop the main, as a French flagged, square rigger follows us in.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We slip out of Sneem as dawn....
...is breaking. Ghosting out under sail, leaving the tranquility undisturbed.
25 knots of northerly breeze fill in as we clear Scariff Island...
...and beat up, inshore, under towering cliffs and rolling hills. Puffins rise from the water and fly, low over the wave tops, orange feet trailing, wings beating frantically.
We ease sheets off Valentia Island. Dolphins gambol alongside, criss - crossing under our bow....
...as Stargazer, makes 6-7 knots, swooping over the swell.
Sculptural.....
....kaleidoscopic...
....cliffs guard the entrance to...
Dingle Harbour. Fungi, the resident dolphin, shoots past close under our port side. A tripper boat speeds over. I round up to drop sail, as Fungi pulls a leap for the crowd!
PS - HERE IS POST 39 (THE BULL ROCK SLEIGH RIDE) WITH THE PICTURES ADDED:
Sat 3.8.13: Sneem, the Kenmare River.
The breeze is down to 24 knots from the west, as we leave Castletownbere harbour.
The blue-black sea is white crested and furrowed deeply by the wind, out in Bantry Bay.
A rainbow arches across the horizon. Prelude to a ten minute, 30 knot, black squall - followed immediately by clear skies and sunshine.
Stargazer clambers out over the swell; hard on the wind, under double reefed main - more mountain goat than boat, today.
Bull Rock rears vertically out of the surging seas, its creased brown flanks stream white with spume. An arc of sky blue, at its base, reveals a tunnel cut clean through the rock, by the tumbling waves.
We bear off, for the Kenmare River. It's dead downwind. We 'sail the angles,' gybing our way in; under full sail, now that the wind is free. Another black squall comes through. Stargazer's bow wave climbs aft and rises alongside us, like two white walls. For five minutes we're planing at 9-10 knots!
I dowse the jib and reach into Sneem, dodging round the necklace of green, shrub topped, low cliffed, islands, which protect the anchorage. Brightly coloured rowing gigs battle in the channel ahead. It's Sneem Regatta. I round up and drop the main, as a French flagged, square rigger follows us in.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Green Street,Dingle,Ireland
Sunday, 4 August 2013
Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 40
Sun 4.8.13: Sneem, Kenmare River
Stargazer lies in a silvered pool. It's silent, save for the echoing cries of birds, foraging on the shoreline. Small cliffs rise around us. Their feet are draped with ochre seaweed; their midriffs are belted by a black high water mark; and their shoulders are bare weather beaten grey, rock, flecked with white lichen. A tousled mop of green shrubbery tops their heads.
All this, against the backdrop of ranks of lofty hillsides, stretching around the horizon; lit by shafts of sunlight; shaded by clouds; jagged with bare rock; clothed in verdant greenery - simultaneously.
The magic of west coast Ireland.
(No data signal in Sneem - so no pictures today. Likely to make for Dingle tomorrow, which will probably have 3G signal. Hoping for a chance to get alongside and plug into shore power, for an HD camera download, of Irish photos, too)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Stargazer lies in a silvered pool. It's silent, save for the echoing cries of birds, foraging on the shoreline. Small cliffs rise around us. Their feet are draped with ochre seaweed; their midriffs are belted by a black high water mark; and their shoulders are bare weather beaten grey, rock, flecked with white lichen. A tousled mop of green shrubbery tops their heads.
All this, against the backdrop of ranks of lofty hillsides, stretching around the horizon; lit by shafts of sunlight; shaded by clouds; jagged with bare rock; clothed in verdant greenery - simultaneously.
The magic of west coast Ireland.
(No data signal in Sneem - so no pictures today. Likely to make for Dingle tomorrow, which will probably have 3G signal. Hoping for a chance to get alongside and plug into shore power, for an HD camera download, of Irish photos, too)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Ring of Kerry,,Ireland
Saturday, 3 August 2013
Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 39
Sat 3.8.13: Sneem, the Kenmare River.
The breeze is down to 24 knots from the west, as we leave Castletownbere. The blue-black sea is white crested and furrowed deeply by the wind, out in Bantry Bay.
A rainbow arches across the horizon. Prelude to a ten minute, 30 knot, black squall - followed immediately by clear skies and sunshine.
Stargazer clambers out over the swell; hard on the wind, under double reefed main - more mountain goat than boat, today.
Bull Rock rears vertically out of the surging seas, its creased brown flanks stream white with spume. An arc of sky blue, at its base, reveals a tunnel cut clean through the rock, by the tumbling waves.
We bear off, for the Kenmare River. It's dead downwind. We 'sail the angles,' gybing our way in; under full sail, now that the wind is free. Another black squall comes through. Stargazer's bow wave climbs aft and rises alongside us, like two white walls. For five minutes we're planing at 9-10 knots!
I dowse the jib and reach into Sneem, dodging round the necklace of green, shrub topped, low cliffed, islands, which protect the anchorage. Brightly coloured rowing gigs battle in the channel ahead. It's Sneem Regatta. I round up and drop the main, as a tall ship follows us in.
(No data signal at the moment - pix to follow if/when I find some!)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The breeze is down to 24 knots from the west, as we leave Castletownbere. The blue-black sea is white crested and furrowed deeply by the wind, out in Bantry Bay.
A rainbow arches across the horizon. Prelude to a ten minute, 30 knot, black squall - followed immediately by clear skies and sunshine.
Stargazer clambers out over the swell; hard on the wind, under double reefed main - more mountain goat than boat, today.
Bull Rock rears vertically out of the surging seas, its creased brown flanks stream white with spume. An arc of sky blue, at its base, reveals a tunnel cut clean through the rock, by the tumbling waves.
We bear off, for the Kenmare River. It's dead downwind. We 'sail the angles,' gybing our way in; under full sail, now that the wind is free. Another black squall comes through. Stargazer's bow wave climbs aft and rises alongside us, like two white walls. For five minutes we're planing at 9-10 knots!
I dowse the jib and reach into Sneem, dodging round the necklace of green, shrub topped, low cliffed, islands, which protect the anchorage. Brightly coloured rowing gigs battle in the channel ahead. It's Sneem Regatta. I round up and drop the main, as a tall ship follows us in.
(No data signal at the moment - pix to follow if/when I find some!)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Ring of Kerry,,Ireland
Friday, 2 August 2013
Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 38
Fri 2.8.13: Castltownbere, Bantry Bay.
Soft rays of sunlight suffuse the pastel walls, of Castletownbere, with a welcoming glow.
They encourage lingering reflection; and discussion, which spills out, amicably, over the narrow pavement.
The business of Fish is never far away.
Deeper into town the colours become richer, more vibrant...
... and the shop signs speak of newly landed fish.
10 days out from Kinsale, although Stargazer's water tanks are almost half full; bread, fruit, salad and vegetable stocks are running low.
I fill my rucksack, with fresh provisions, before rowing back. Strong to gale winds are forecast to continue for the next 24 hours.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Soft rays of sunlight suffuse the pastel walls, of Castletownbere, with a welcoming glow.
They encourage lingering reflection; and discussion, which spills out, amicably, over the narrow pavement.
The business of Fish is never far away.
Deeper into town the colours become richer, more vibrant...
... and the shop signs speak of newly landed fish.
10 days out from Kinsale, although Stargazer's water tanks are almost half full; bread, fruit, salad and vegetable stocks are running low.
I fill my rucksack, with fresh provisions, before rowing back. Strong to gale winds are forecast to continue for the next 24 hours.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Ireland
Thursday, 1 August 2013
Into The Mystic Cruise 2013 - update 37
Thr 1.8.13: Castletownbere, Bantry Bay
The curtains of mist and rain are momentarily torn aside, by the wind, as a trawler puts to sea .
We're riding out 30 knots of south to south west wind, low visibility and sheeting rain; in the lee of Bere Island and the high quaysides of Castletownbere.
A French boat has put in to join us.
The black and white striped Gwenn-ha-du (Breton national flag) flies from her backstay - above her French tricolour;...
... and below her Irish courtesy flag.
The Celtic nation is united by the sea.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The curtains of mist and rain are momentarily torn aside, by the wind, as a trawler puts to sea .
We're riding out 30 knots of south to south west wind, low visibility and sheeting rain; in the lee of Bere Island and the high quaysides of Castletownbere.
A French boat has put in to join us.
The black and white striped Gwenn-ha-du (Breton national flag) flies from her backstay - above her French tricolour;...
... and below her Irish courtesy flag.
The Celtic nation is united by the sea.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Seaview Terrace,,Ireland
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