Alarms and diversions

Julian woke at 6, and put the kettle on. We were away from the anchorage by 0705, under motor, and we stayed under motor nearly all day although the sails went up and down as we tried to use the light breeze that came and went, but mostly went.

Our destination was Spiddle, where the Hookers would be racing on Sunday. We motored gently into the mouth of the drying harbour, but there was only one Hooker in there, lying against the wall at the outside end. The rest of the wall was full, with two yachts lying against it and a few small fishing boats filling the rest of the space. Even at high tide when there would be enough water for us to get in there would not have been enough space for us against the wall.

We turned away to make for deeper water and suddenly stopped with a jolt. We had hit an unmarked rock, shrouded in kelp. We were doing less than 3 knots, and backed off easily with no ill effects (visible yet at any rate), but it was a reminder that we need to be careful on these coasts, even when we can see clean sand through the water. Robinetta's pump ran about 15 minutes later, but only a little water came out before it stopped.

I laid in a course for the Galway Sailing Club, and got the sails down. Of course, five minutes later the wind came back. Julian hoisted the sail this time, and we had a slow run towards Galway. With the engine off it was possible to hear that the pump was still running. Julian opened up the bilges to investigate and discovered that the float switch had stuck in the “on” position and would not turn off. It looked as though a new float switch was needed.

There is a chandlers in Galway, called Galway Maritime, so Julian phoned them and Gavin sold him a new pump, to be picked up from the House Hotel near Galway Harbour since the chandlers would be closed by the time we arrived. Sorted.

We tried to call the Harbour Master on the VHS and phone, but there was no reply on either channel, so we crossed our fingers that there would be room. We sailed as long as we could, while two yachts motored ahead of us, then got Robinetta's sails down in a bay full of moorings. There were plenty of boats heading out of the harbour, so we reasoned that there should be space inside. and headed through the lock gates and into the marina.

There were moorings just before the lock, with Galway Hookers rafted up to hang off them, but there were another two inside, but not in the marina area.

There was an empty visitor pontoon just as we went into the marina, so we moored on it, with Robinetta's bows pointing the way we would need to leave tomorrow. It was wide enough to haul Worm out without worries too. Just about perfect.

On a walk around the marina to find someone to ask about re-entry codes I spotted someone on a wooden yacht. Just the right person to talk to! It turns out that the yacht is a Laurent Giles “Peter Duck” design, owned by Ben McDonagh, a long standing member of the Dublin Bay OGA. Much swapping of stories and a drink later Julian and I finally headed for the House Hotel to pick up the float switch.

Julian went to fit the new switch and discovered two things; although nominally exactly the same switch as the old one it was slightly larger, so he had to drill a new screw hole to fix it in place, and since it did not work either he traced the real cause of the problem to the electrical connections in the fuse box. He was not a happy man.

We filled up the water tanks for the first time since Portrush, the headed for a well deserved meal.It was another very hot afternoon, and going into a town felt like a real shock to the system. All I can say about Galway on a Saturday night is that is is full of Hen parties and people who talk very loudly to be heard over the traditional music that is a feature of the Galway pubs. We did not stay late, since we wanted an early start in the morning.