{"id":285,"date":"2012-11-09T08:35:40","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T13:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/?p=285"},"modified":"2015-07-12T14:06:54","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T18:06:54","slug":"irish-boating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/irish-boating\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Boating"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in several Maryland newspapers, 3\/17\/89<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0004\u000e\u000fErin go boating<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u0004\u000e\u0003by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove<\/span><\/p>\n

You might think that Ireland, an island the size of South \u0004\u001cCarolina, would have its hundreds of beautiful harbors crowded \u0004\u001cwith pleasure boats. It isn’t that way.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

Certainly, there is boating around the Emerald Isle, but it is \u0004\u001clocalized in a few centers and the rest of the country’s fine cruising \u0004\u001careas are unspoiled and waiting to be discovered. When we \u0004\u001cexplored Ireland by car, staying at the Bed and Breakfast inns that \u0004\u001cabound, we followed the coastline and saw enough to make us \u0004\u001cwant to come back and see the country from the deck of a boat.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a rugged coast, much more like Maine than Maryland, \u0004\u001cwith high cliffs rising from deep inlets that lead to the Irish Sea on \u0004\u001cthe east or the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Cruising here calls for \u0004\u001cthe sort of vessel you might find in the Pacific northwest, Canadian \u0004\u001c\u0019maritimes or Scandanavia.\u0005\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

Except on the River Shannon there are few pleasure \u0004\u001cpowerboats, as the cost of fuel is high. There is nearly always \u0004\u001cplenty of wind on the coasts so a seaworthy sailboat or motorsailer \u0004\u001cis better suited to these waters.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The town of Howth (rhymes with “both”) north of Dublin is a \u0004\u001cmajor sailing center and most pleasure vessels from the \u0004\u001cmetropolitan area are berthed there rather than in the busy \u0004\u001ccommercial harbor of the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

From Howth, a cruise southward \u0004\u001cdown the Irish Sea coast and around the southern tip of the island \u0004\u001cwould be a fascinating way to see this gorgeous and friendly \u0004\u001c\bcountry.\u0004\u001c About 60 miles down the coast is Wexford and a bit farther is \u0004\u001cWaterford. A side trip to the famous Waterford glassworks is \u0004\u001c\u0014definitely in order.\u0004<\/span><\/p>\n

Farther south at Crosshaven and Cork is another major sailing \u0004\u001ccenter including the world’s oldest yacht club: the Royal Cork Yacht \u0004\u001cClub. Here you can see fine vessels from around the world sailing \u0004\u001c\u001cthrough spectacular scenery.\u0004\u001c Cork is a manufacturing city in the Irish sense of the term. \u0004\u001cApple and Digital computer companies have factories here where \u0004\u001cthey produce equipment for the European market, but the place is \u0004\u001c\u0019a far cry from Baltimore.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

Baltimore, a pretty town at the southern tip of Ireland is a \u0005\u001cfar cry from Baltimore, Chesapeake Bay, too. It has an active \u0004\u001csailing club with a fleet of Mirror class dinghies and a junior sailing \u0004\u001c\bprogram.\u0004\u001c At Baltimore, Ireland I received a large dose of Irish \u0004\u001chospitality when a local physician offered me the use of his sailing \u0004\u001cdinghy, suggesting I sail over to a nearby small island and explore \u0004\u001cit. After I returned, he treated me to a shandy at the local pub \u0004\u001cand we became instant friends. Would you lend your boat to \u0004\u001c(foreigner you had known only 15 minutes?\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The southwest coast is made of rugged peninsulas cut with \u0004\u001c=deep bays. This is the region of Cape Clear, Mizen Head and \u0004\u001cFastnet Rock. The climate of this part of the country is noticeably \u0004\u001cmilder than it is farther north and tropical plants grow here. Both \u0004\u001care products of the warm Gulf Stream.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

The River Shannon on the west coast offers a long canal-like \u0004\u001croute to the interior of Ireland, drifting past Shannon and Limerick \u0004\u001cBand through rolling farmland. This area could be explored easily \u0004\u001c with a small cruising powerboat.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

North of Galway the coastline is forbidding and barren with \u0004\u001cincredible bleak beauty. A sailor in County Mayo told me the \u0004\u001caverage wind velocity there was 40 knots. Even allowing a large \u0004\u001cBlarney Factor for his claim, it’s a breezy place.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

All the harbors are picturesque in Ireland, of course, and you \u0005\u001ccan see traditional curraghs (“curr-icks”) as well as fishing vessels \u0004\u001cand a few sailing yachts. It’s a delight to go somewhere in the \u0004\u001cworld where Americans are openly welcomed.\u0004\u001c<\/span><\/p>\n

For information, contact the Irish Tourist Board, P.O. Box 7728, \u0004\u001cWoodside, NY 11377 or call 1-800-SHAMROCK. Really.<\/span><\/p>\n

— The End —<\/span><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First published in several Maryland newspapers, 3\/17\/89 \u0004\u000e\u000fErin go boating \u0004\u000e\u0003by \u0004\u000e\bTom Dove You might think that Ireland, an island the size of South \u0004\u001cCarolina, would have its hundreds of beautiful harbors crowded \u0004\u001cwith pleasure boats. It isn’t that way.\u0004\u001c Certainly, there is boating around the Emerald Isle, but it is \u0004\u001clocalized in a few Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":621,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions\/621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomdove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}