Dun Laoghaire to Arklow 19 May 2023

 


We’ve planned a shorter run today - from Dun Laoghaire to Arklow, about 4 hours south along the coast.  Tide dictates a late morning departure which gave time for a bit of a lie-in followed by some food shopping.  We then gave an admirer, Stephen, a short tour of the boat, before slipping the ropes at midday.

Leaving Dun Laoghaire outer harbour 

We quickly arrived at Dalkey - one of the most expensive suburbs of Dublin, and the waterfront houses do indeed look fabulous - and motored through Dalkey Sound.  Outside us was Dalkey Island (above) with its Martello Tower and small ruined church dedicated to St Benedict, plus it’s colony of common and/or Arctic terns.

Our journey south follows the coast quite closely.  It’s cloudy and grey, but not too cold (and not too warm - too cool to be be Goldilocks).  It is calm which makes the journey really rather pleasant.

The distinctive Wicklow skyline on a bit of a grey day. 

The current lighthouse on Wicklow Head.  Two old redundant lighthouse
towers are above and behind this one

We arrived at Arklow shortly after 15.00, motoring up the end of the Avoca River to a riverside pontoon that we were earlier told “had plenty of room”.  It didn’t. There was one suitable gap in a long row of boats which involved negotiating a plethora of mooring buoys in the river channel to access.  We managed, if not elegantly. 

The following two bucolic pictures of Lazaway at the pontoon belies the reality.


However after a pint in The Old Ship it all looks better (even if the aroma has not improved) - one of Arklow’s many pubs.



The top end of the town has had a bit of a makeover and looks quite smart.  A central feature of this area is a statue of Father Michael Murphy who apparently played a prominent (and fatal) part in the 1789 revolt - a key bit of Arklow’s history. 


Time for a barbie. 

Today’s boat bird list has 33 species.

Our route:















































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