Day 18 -Sunday 5th June Wexford still

The performance last night was good. his lyrics were interesting and with his base support and use of loops he produced a very full sound. He played piano and guitar and I loved it. He comes from Wexford, so he was amongst friends.He has an English wife from Brighton, whom I spoke to when I bought his CD. They live in the States and when he comes back, he has a lot of callers. Candidly, he said this was a mixed blessing. When the door bell goes he can't see who it is because of the bubble glass. His remedy is to put his coat on when he goes to answer. If he doesn't want to invite them in he says he is just going out.If he wants to be sociable he says he's just got in.!

I tried to leave Wexford this morning. the forecast was for a N/NE wind about force 4/5 but further up the coast it would be 6/7. I knew I'd probably have to motor sail, but I wanted to get to Arklow.

Motoring out between the sand flats, the seals were showing a lot of interest in me.They were swimming towards the boat to investigate. They wait for the sea bass that come in on the tide. It is so shallow they must be easy to catch. The channel runs parallel with Beggerin island. It looks an unlikely island on the charts.Its more of a bit of land surrounded by a couple of rivers that don't amount to much more than a moat. It's sort of beggerin to be an island!

There is a old chart in the boat club which shows how the harbour used to be before the storm in 1925. The comparisons are interesting.It wasn't even an island then! Beyond the' island'is The Raven Point and in the woods, there is the last strong hold of the red squirrel in Ireland.

As I came to the end of the channel the swell increased. I motor sailed for a while, but the seas were steep and the waves were breaking. It was not a nice place to be.The wind was not so strong, but the swell must have been generated by the stronger winds further north.These were made worse by the shallow water. Prudence prevailed and I returned towards Wexford. In the process my topping lift, which holds up the end of the boom when the main sail is down, became detached.The end was frustratingly out of reach and I knew it would mean a climb up the mast when I got back to harbour. I felt the sea was giving me a punch on the nose to remind me that it isn't always so easy as the trip I'd had across the Irish sea.

Shortly after returning the winds died down quite a bit, but I had lost the advantage of the north flowing tide and I needed to climb that mast! The lumpy seas had resulted in quite a lot of stuff falling to the floor of the cabin and I pondered how to improve things so as to make stowage more secure.I had a bit of sticky back velcro and it dawned that I could velcro all those plastic boxes down!

It seems that Ireland doesn't really get going until after midday on a Sunday. At least the shops opened though. I was half expecting them to be closed. I eventually tracked down some industrial strength velcro which is about 2inches wide and really sticks. I am going to put it every where!

I had a look in a few estate agents windows, as you do.This seemed to reinforce my view that whilst there may be a bit of decent architecture about, it doesn't extend to many houses. There was a cad sketch of a place which had approval. It's huge. Who would want to build it?It looks the size of a Roman villa, with a similar layou.