Live Update! June 28th, 2022 (Patreon)

Hi guys :)

I'm happy to report Mads, and I are feeling much better! Mads has been negative since last Wednesday, and I've been negative since Saturday. It's one of those things where we didn't realize how bad we felt until we were better. And now that we are feeling better, we are not wasting time! 

Thursday, we left Glandore and sailed down to Baltimore. However, not before Mads was able to sail in a dragon race with the Glandore Sailing Club. That helped lift his spirits after being quarantined for two weeks. 

We headed to Baltimore on Thursday, and the trip was pretty smooth. However, there was very little wind, and it was right on our nose, so we had to motor almost all four hours. We lost a bit of time with covid, so we mainly focused on getting to Baltimore as fast as possible. 

We grabbed a mooring ball outside of Baltimore for one night and then sailed a little further west to Heir Island the next day to shelter from some westerlies that were coming in. Heri Island is a tiny place with a population of about 30 people. There are four mooring balls off the pier to the island, and we were the only ones there all weekend. Or you could say the only ones crazy enough to be out sailing in the weather we've been having ;) It was pretty much raining and gusting 30 knots all weekend long. We held out, and the sun finally came out Sunday and Monday so we could get out and explore the island. 

Heir Island (spelled Hare island on all the maps) is about 2.5km long. On the westernmost point are terrifyingly beautiful cliffs, where you can spot Fastnet Rock on a clear day. On the southern part of the island, there are three beautiful little beaches with ice-blue water but still a little too cold for this California girl to get in the water. There is also a sleep-away sailing camp where we watched the kiddos zip around the harbor in their dinghies. It is such a special little place, and we are grateful we got to explore there. 

Yesterday, we sailed back to our mooring closer to Baltimore. We want to hike up to The Beacon, a monument to the rebellion of 1798 at the harbor entrance. We also want to check out Skibbereen, a quirky town 30 min from Baltimore. 

Then, I'm sad to say I think our time in Ireland will be coming to a close. I have to be back in France to fly out of Paris on July 6th. It looks like we have a weather window on the 30th, and as far as we can see, we will take it. We might do a little mid-way stop in the Scillies again (because we loved it :) and to get some rest) or we might push through. Of course, we will see how we're feeling and what the weather will allow. 

When we were planning the summer, at one point, we thought we would at least be able to make it up to Galway. We now see maybe that was a bit over-optimistic! The plans changed; we thought we would at least make it to Dingle, but the universe, the sea gods, or the almighty covid had other plans for us. Either way, we are incredibly grateful to have been able to see and do what we have. Ireland is a beautiful country filled with even kinder and more generous people. Of course, we would not be here without the support of all of you cheering us along the entire way. Especially when unexpected things happen, it always helps to know we have a solid and supportive community behind us. Thank you, thank you so much for that :)  

And as always, we will keep you updated with our trip back to France! 

Mads sailing in the Dragon Races. I had the perfect view from Athena :)

Mads Ireland souvenir from the sailing club :)

The sail down to Baltimore was a bit wet.

Our mooring off of Heir Island. We couldn't help but go for a little rainy dinghy ride. 

When the Sun came out on Sunday!

One of the beaches on Heir Island 

The cliffs on the western point. 

Mads in snipper mode trying to get a shot of some birds :)

At the top of the cliffs was a crab graveyard! Quite the feeding spot for the birds! 

And just a picture of a donkey ;) we were surprised by how many there were on the island.