Shore Day

 The wind was due to be N F5 and falling today but dropping to nothing tomorrow morning. So we decided to stay in Howth today and have a long day motoring to Ardglass tomorrow.

In fact, it never dropped all day. It brought a lovely cool breeze into the town but there were white horses out in the bay. Robinetta would have had problems making progress north straight into it.

We had a late cooked breakfast of bacon and egg.

When we were in Howth in 2016, nearing the end of our circumnavigation of Ireland, we did the fine walk along the cliff. We never went to the touristy bit by the train station.

They told us in the marina office that there is a new Tesco just a bit further on, and we needed a few things so we went that way after a quick detour to check out the food outlets in the other direction as we thought it would be nice to eat out tonight.

That led to a delicious pomegranate sorbet for me and a latte for Alison. Her order got mixed up and she got an iced one by mistake. She enjoyed it.

The Tesco is a big one and, in common with every supermarket we have ever been to in Ireland, has some local produce. We bought a few staples and will come back tomorrow morning for bread.

Then we headed back past the station and turned left.

Between Tesco and the station there is a Blues Café and a pub with a seafood bar. Beyond the station is a quay with a really good chandlery and around a dozen seafood restaurants and half a dozen fishmongers.

I was in heaven.

We went into the first fishmonger, not knowing there would be others! We bought a Red Mullet and got it cleaned and scaled and left it there to collect later. We wouldn't be eating out tonight, I would be cooking.

They had sole and gilthead bream and lots of other fish.

The middle of the quay has a working commercial boatyard. There was a large ship lifted out for maintenance. It only occupies 30 m of the quay but goes back a long way.

The end of the quay has tourist boat trip places and an open area where you can look out over the bay to Ireland's Eye. A busker was playing the the trombone to a recorded accompaniment. It's a delightful spot.

We went back to Robinetta and Alison did laundry while I had a go at patching Worm. She has damage to the floor plank that weeps.

Mid afternoon, I felt like a little trip to get a seafood snack and a drink would be nice. If we weren't going to eat out for dinner, we could at least sample the experience.

We looked in every restaurant. They were all either full or not very interesting, or both. It was really busy, with local families and international tourists.

We ended up at The Bloody Stream. The pub with a seafood bar. It was a good choice. I had a Guinness and Alison had a Bulmers and we shared a starter portion of mussels. The Bloody Stream is a real stream which now runs under the pub but it is said that it ran red with blood during the 12th century Norman invasion of Ireland.

Later that evening I cooked the Red Mullet for dinner. Lovely. 

Cruising under sail is not just about sailing.

I wish Scotland had somewhere with fish like this.