Captain's Log
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Dolphins in the Emerald Isle
Tuesday 12th May 2009
A dolphin breaching and greeting Halcyon
At Last Halcyon Sails to Ireland
For the last couple of seasons, we have had Ireland on our itinerary but for one reason or another we have not been able to make it over here. All I can say is that I am thrilled we did this year. It is always exciting taking Halcyon into a new port that she hasn’t visited before and the welcome we received from the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven couldn’t have been more hospitable for her and her crew. We had a very busy schedule planned with visiting journalists and day sails and everything went extremely smoothly. There was plenty of wind supplied as well which made the day sails very exciting and Halcyon was able to show her true colours and what she can do.
A Busy Schedule
We arrived into Crosshaven on Tuesday 28th April after a fairly quick trip which was a little lumpy at times. The normal procedure ensued with Kerri finding out where our provisioning holes were and Annette organising crew repatriation while myself and Ollie got to washing the boat down and settling her into a new marina. At the same time we had many very excited visitors coming to admire Halcyon. The rest of the week we prepared Halcyon for her media show. Andrew and David Green, our marketing guru, arrived on Friday evening. On Sunday our journalist guests arrived for their 2 night stay to savour the delights of Halcyon’s galley by Chef Kerri and experience the thrill of the wind in Halcyon’s sails. We had Richard Bundy Editor of Cowes Yachting magazine, Guy Venebles a freelance journalist and cartoonist – this was going to be interesting, Sue Pelling another Freelance Journalist and Mustafa Zebibo representing the World of Yachts magazine which is highly respected in the Middle East marine community. Champagne and canapés were served on arrival followed by a sumptuous meal prepared by Kerri which blew them away. The following morning we were all up early and after a hearty breakfast we set off for a day sail. We headed to Oyster Haven bay to anchor for lunch before heading back to the Royal Cork for yet another mouth watering series of courses prepared in Halcyon’s galley. They were all ecstatic about Halcyon’s delights in every respect and headed home very happy after a quick tour of the Jameson Distillery in Middleton. Meanwhile back on Halcyon, Andrew prepared his talk for the Royal Cork Yacht Club which was held on the Tuesday night and on Wednesday we hosted some guests for a day sail who had attended the talk the night before. It was then time for David Green to head home and for us to prepare Halcyon for her day sail with JP Morgan.
A Long Awaited Halcyon Day
Halcyon was able to fulfill a longstanding obligation on her last day in Cork. At the Ellen MacArthur Trust Ball in Cowes in 2007, Halcyon was put up as an auction prize for a corporate day sail which was bid for and won by J.P. Morgan. However difficulties with scheduling, from both sides, have prevented the day from being fulfilled… until we arrived in Cork. Cork provided a fantastic venue for the day with blue skies (at least some of the time!) breeze of 25 to 30 knots, necessitating two reefs in the main and a reef in the mizzen and just the staysail. With this reduced rig she made great progress to windward at about 6 knots before we eased her off and she leapt up to 8 knots as we surged back into the harbour to drop the sails and find some shelter for lunch. Anchored up in East Ferry within the Inner Cork harbour the wind could have done what it wanted as the shelter for Halcyon and her guests was fabulous. A long lunch was much deserved after the hard work of the morning. The day was topped off with a very welcome final drink in the Royal Cork Yacht Club, who have been wonderful hosts for us over the last 10 days. Tom Rutherford from J.P. Morgan said 'the long-awaited day with Halcyon could scarcely have been more enjoyed by our party. The shoreline ripped past quickly as Halcyon made the most of the good sailing conditions, giving our party a chance to see her at work and to get involved. The hospitality on board was an equal match to the excellent sailing, and we thought was well deserved after such good sport.'
Crosshaven to Dun Laoghaire
Our passage crew arrived on Friday 8th May in the evening in Crosshaven and we were lucky to have the help of Gordon Drysdale who was on the Stavanger to Cowes passage in 2007 and Simon Bradley a twice around the World Clipper Skipper. Andrew had also decided to join us for the short trip to Dun Laoghaire, just outside of Dublin. It seemed a popular decision to stop at least once en route to Largs to savour the delights of Ireland’s Guinness and Murphy’s once more and of course to admire the Emerald Isle. We departed Crosshaven on the Saturday around 1pm with a stiff breeze in our favour which eased over 24 hours and we were joined by a school of dolphins to make things even more perfect. We arrived in Dun Laoghaire 150nm later on Sunday afternoon just before some very strong winds set in. We tucked up here for a couple of days while the wind eased which gave me the opportunity of seeing my sister and her family which was wonderful. The rest of crew had some time to see Dublin and relax while Andrew headed back to Pembrokeshire.
Dun Laoghaire Onwards.
I am writing this while the crew prepare Halcyon for a 7pm departure and will update you on our next leg when we arrive in Largs which I anticipate will be sometime during the early hours of Thursday morning.
Update to our Schedule & Prices
Finally I would like to draw your attention to our updated Schedule & Prices. We have some fantastic offers for last minute Spring getaways so please do have a look to see if you can be tempted to come and join us on a cruise in beautiful Scotland.