Aleria's Adventures

  We dropped the mooring and headed for home. We could either stop at Clare Island to await the tide or head into Clew Bay and drop anchor for a while. We opted for the latter which would give us a chance to tidy up before heading in around half tide. We had a lot of packing up to do. There have been reports of the ferries seeing many basking sharks in the Middle Ground lately, so we kept a good lookout but did not spot one.  We dropped anchor off Inishoo. Two fishing boats were milling about but it did not look like they were doing much catching. As we tidied up, Alex dropped a hook in the water but soon lost interest when nothing bit.  It's astounding how small Inishoo has become. It seems it shrinks every time we pass by it. Soon there will only be a shallow and Inishgowla will take the brunt of the Atlantic storms.  It was blowing much harder than predicted so we moved inside Inisgowla for more protection. There we wiled away several hours. I read Chris' memoir while Alex p

I came across this short analysis of Clew Bay anchorages and berths by chance. Christophe the author has spent quite a bit of time exploring our environs.  Apsara is a 36 ft aluminium offshore sailing cruiser based in Clew Bay. He takes people for day sails.  eOceanic shares Navionics charts for your use online. 

Aleria in Kilrush We launched Aleria mid-May but several things delayed bringing her home.  For one, we had her brightwork redone and to do so they removed all the hardware but failed to reinstall it. So when we tried to install the spray hood, we realised there were no fittings. We had to acquire and install a new rail which, fortunately, our sail maker in Galway had enough of in stock to supply us. The snaps are still missing.  Then we had an engine problem. It kept stalling and we couldn't find the spare Racor filters. So we had to order new ones, treat the fuel with diesel bug killer, and then polish the fuel which took a couple more days. It worked! Finally, we were ready to depart from Kilrush. We arrived Saturday, the first day without gale-force winds. It was hot. Never mind that the airflow was going to be northerly for several days which would see us either motoring north or bashing into headwinds, we were taking off. Check and check. I provisioned while Alex installed

Yesterday had to be the greyest day I've ever witnessed. Still and grey. The day before, Thursday the 2nd of September, we decided to sail out to the Inishkeas, but the wind died and we motored the 35 miles out. But not before I had to climb the mast for the first time in years. We had taken the halyards home to wash as they were green after two years in the elements unused. When Alex tried to reinstall the halyard, it got stuck and wouldn't go over the sheave. It was terrifying. At least it worked and I even managed to snap a few photos.  So we took off and headed out past Achill Island and Head to the 'deserted' Inishkeas. The last time we were there was about 5 years ago or longer. We anchored in our usual spot in a slight northerly breeze which was to be easterly and during the night did shift but less than 5 knots, so very settled conditions.  A little sailboat was anchored off the beach and there were people camping in one of the ruins. But lo and behold, two hous