( Overview
/ Two Bullocks on a Boat in Eire
A day of sunshine and (very heavy) showers.
Getting a little stir crazy, but not wanting to tackle the high seas left after the gales, we decided to sail the 6 nautical miles to Crosshaven. It is also the most famous part of Cork Harbour, housing Cork Royal Yacht Club which hosts the biennial Cork Week.
We cut across the anchorage area, passing the Dutch chemical / oil products tanker, Thun Gemini….
…and another ship registered to the Netherlands, Bylgia, an Anchor Handling Vessel.
We had hoped to berth at Royal Cork YC, mainly because we’d heard they have good showers, but hadn’t been able to contact them. The Clubhouse finally answered the phone as we approached, but couldn’t accommodate us because of yachts arriving for Cork Week.
1
Mildly panicked, we thought we might have to regroup and re-plot, and move onto Kinsale a day early. We phoned Crosshaven Boatyard on the off chance and pottered around in the channel for 15 minutes whilst Judy tried to find us a space. Whilst we were eyeing up the town pontoon, she called back.
She had found, what we think, must have been the last available spot. One of the tightest and most awkward berths, but with some superb boat handling skills from Kevin, we docked successfully.
Part of the harbour dries at low tide. A perfect place for a heron to look for food.
We had to find the Presentation Convent, especially as there is a love story connected to it’s funding. Wealthy New York Jewish merchant, Emil Lieber, met Teresa, a Catholic, when she was a steward on a steam liner. They fell in love, but she refused to marry until ‘after much effort’ he converted.
The convent, built in the 1880s, is now looking a bit worse for wear and is in the same grounds as a primary school and St Brigid’s Church. Climbing up the hill, however, meant we had some great views.
Little alleyways and steps climb up from the harbour front.
Crosshaven Boatyard, established in 1961, originally specialised in building commercial fishing boats, but also built Gypsy Moth V. Sir Francis Chichester was 65 when he sailed the 53ft ketch single-handed around the world in 1966/7.
Chichester broke many records including fastest voyage around the world by a small vessel, and the longest non-stop passage by a single hander, but he found Gypsy Moth V cantankerous and difficult.
Chichester is quoted as saying Gypsy Moth V needed a crew of 3; a man to navigate, an elephant to move the tiller and a 3ft 6 inch chimpanzee with 8ft arms to get about below and work some gear. He particularly found it tough rounding Cape Horn with its wall of 50ft high and steep waves.
Norman Wilkinson’s painting depicts this rounding. 8 years old, and on an isolation ward at the time, I followed Chichester’s progress on my transistor radio. Through my Dad’s work connections with the City of London, the Lord Mayor gifted me a print of the painting, which hangs in our dining room.
Continuing our pub crawl / pilgrimage. The Oar on the front at Crosshaven. Hard to imagine this will be packed in a few weeks time during Cork Week.
We really liked Buckley’s with its friendly barmaid and atmosphere.
A lovely view from our cockpit.
A perfect evening for Kevin to enjoy the view, and for me to watch the tennis.
And a lovely sunset too.
Sign in with Apple 
Log in with Facebook