Aleria's Adventures

The first in-person meeting since Covid locked us down had the Committee members travelling from all corners of the island this past weekend. The weather was changeable but the mood was positive and focused on the long overdue face-to-face discussions. The committee members and their spouses descended on Athlone for a weekend of camaraderie, exploration and serious business.  We congregated first at Sean's, the oldest pub in Ireland, for refreshments and a chance to reacquaint ourselves with fellow members and partners we had not seen in a couple of years. Then on to The Left Bank for victuals and further re-establishment of connections.  The spice entertained themselves on Saturday morning while the Committee members went to work deliberating important decisions about the Club's current affairs and future directions. In the afternoon, Aoife Nolan-Beattie had arranged for a guided tour of the historic town of Athlone on the mighty Shannon River. It was a delightful storytelling

We had a leisurely start in the morning on the 29th of June, my 68th birthday. (How did I ever get this old?) Alex made breakfast and gave me two books to celebrate: Chris' new memoir and a polytunnel book, wrapped in kitchen towels. How thoughtful. No waste.  We knew it would take us about 7 hours to sail over to Inishmore in the Aran Islands, but the later we started the more settled the seas would be according to WindGuru. We left at about 11 am. The wind was still gusty and the seas were still very lumpy, especially between Inishark and High Island. It never really got much better, so we were glad the others didn't sail. The highlight of the trip was a sighting of small porpoises.  As we approached Kilronan, two other yachts came into view crossing from within Galway Bay. It was Aniar and Gaia sailing over from Rossaveal. They picked up moorings while we dropped anchor. The wind was northeasterly and it was not really pleasant. Another ICC boat came in and went into the pie