2014-06-29 Arthur's Coastal Cruise 2014 - Part 1

Preparing for Arthur's Summer Coastal Cruise 2014...

What a perfect week for coastal cruising! We had planned to commence our trip on Monday 23rd June. Sadly we ended up missing most of the glorious weather due to circumstances beyond our control which necessitated us delaying our departure by a week... :-(

By way of introduction...the above image is a screen-dump from my favourite weather forecasting site: Windguru. Row headers denote the data presented in column form for each day. Note that some 'units' are user selectable, e.g. Wind (both speed and gusts) can be set to Beaufort, knots, km/h, m/h. Wave height can be defined as metric or imperial. And temperature can be set as Centigrade or Fahrenheit.

My modus operandi re weather: I screen dump the weather forecasts from the relevant sources (Windguru, Windfinder and others) as they become available. Windguru and Windfinder issue updates every six hours starting at midnight. You will note that the first screen-dump relates to Brandon Bay which I use as a reference when cruising from Kilrush to Dingle or Cahersiveen. Other locations are used as references for other passages. And on some passages I check several locations.

And of course one always has to remember that a forecast is simply that...a forecast! It comes with no guarantee that the actual weather will turn out to be as originally forecast!

And this is approximately one week later! What a change... :-( Anyway, we can only deal with what is in front of us! Our passage plans will probably result in us getting to Kilrush by Tuesday or Wednesday depending on how many days we spend in Limerick.

And you may well wonder why I am looking at weather forecasts for Brandon Bay when we have not even departed Portumna! Well, over the years we have found that the more demanding passages for Arthur and her crew tend to be those on the coast, e.g. Kilrush - Dingle (or Cahersiveen), and in recent years from Dingle (or Cahesiveen) to Lawrence Cove on Bantry Bay. So I watch the weather for those passages so that we can ensure that we are well positioned to take advantage of any good weather forecast for those locations.

DAY 1 - Sunday, 29th June, 2014.

And so we are finally on the way. Arthur commences her annual Summer Coastal Cruise. And no...that's not Arthur in the photo above! In fact it is Chang Sha skippered by IWN editor Colin Becker. Our passage plan for the day is to go through the 12:30 Portumna Bridge opening and head to Killaloe and then onto Ardnacrusha where we have booked a lock time for circa 17:15...and then cruise into Limerick, hopefully to arrive circa 18.30.

We head south through the 12.30 Portumna Bridge opening. We encounter a number of barges heading south whilst some fellow residents of Maddens Marina are returning from a weekend on L. Derg, including Adventure and Misty. Little do we realise that it will be eight weeks before we return to our home berth!

We share a hurried greeting with John Miley on Misty.

We pass several GCC Grand Canal boats as we head on to Lough Derg including 45M (Lora Marie) and 68M.

Gerry Burke (45M)... not quite putting his shoulder into it... :-)

GCC Grand Canal boats 45M (Lora Marie) and 68M heading on to L. Derg.

circa 15.10...Arthur approaching the approach to Killaloe! Mary checks out our IWAI Cruising Club burgee.

A nice big smile at the start of our 2014 Coastal Cruise...

15:36 ... approaching the public moorings at Killaloe, approxoimately 3 hrs after we came through the Portumna swing bridge. We are on target for getting to Limerick by the early evening.

Aproaching Killaloe Bridge.

Clonlara Bridge...on the way to Ardnacrusha.

circa 16.50 ...Arthur arrives at Ardnacrusha and prepares to enter the upper chamber.

[Photo via HTC One M8]

Through Ardnacrusha and on the Tailrace. Limerick here we come.

Not often that I am captured at the end of the lens!
Photo: Mary Healy

Storm damage from January 2014.

We synchronized our arrival at the Railway Bridge to coincide with... :-)

Approximately 18.10... and we meet Pat Lysaght with his grandson as we start to enter Limerick.

Approaching Abbey Bridge...one of five bridges (six if you include the Railway Bridge) between Ardnacruhsa and the moorings at Custom House Quay behind the Hunt Museum.

Approaching Mathew Bridge.

DAY 2 - Monday, 30th June 2014.

We overnighted in Limerick and during the day we visited Halfords where Mary bought a fold-up bike at a super price... reduced from €375 to €250!!! More anon! In the evening we had a visit from Beverley Callender (RNLI Limerick) to whom we presented a cheque for €700 which had been raised by the IWAI Cruising Club during its visit to Limerick in May for the annual Riverfest.

Mary with Beverley...and the cheque!

The sun goes down on our second day! Tomorrow we head to Kilrush.

DAY 3 - Tuesday, 1st July 2014.

What a glorious morning! And not a ripple on the water! A good day for a cruise to Kilrush.

Well, the forecast for our passage to Kilrush is fine (I don't normally screen-dump the forecasts for this particular passage) but the forecast for Brandon Bay for the rest of the week is not looking good.

So, what are the conditions under which Arthur will normally undertake a coastal passage? Well we like comfortable conditions. And no, we do not expect that the sea will be like glass. In general terms we like low wind (F2/F3 or occasionally low F4's), wave/swell height below 1.7m. Obviously there are other considerations like wind direction and tide. Sometimes one element can compensate for another. We do not enjoy being tossed around like clothes in a washing machine or tumble drier.

In the screen-dump above Monday offers some positives...wind and wave direction are aligned. Wind and gust speeds could be okay. And wave height might also be okay. But remember... we are looking at a forecast for a date that is a week away! It will be interesting to see how the forecast will change over the coming 7 days!

Looking towards the sea-lock from our berth at Custom House Quay. And yes, the water does look a very dirty brown colour!

Dick Sparling.... lock-keeper at Sarsfield Lock, gateway to the Shannon Estuary.

In Sarsfield Lock. Looking back towards Custom House Quay.

Lock gates opening and Arthur is about to commence the passage to Kilrush.

12:20...Here we go...and yes, the water in the lock is that dirty!

Feeding time for the local swan population! And note Limerick's new Boardwalk!

The Clarion Hotel.

How about that for 'calm waters'!

Approx. 14:30 as we pass our favourite lighthouse...Beeves Rock.

No...not a selfie! Photo courtesy of Mary Healy.

Mary about to record a photo of Beeves Rock Lighthouse on her smartphone.

Approaching the jetty at Aughinish Alumina.

Bulk carrier Tenten, Length 229 m; Gross Tonnage 44009 t. at Aughinish Alumina Jetty.

Looking back at Aughinish Alumina. And yes, the water was that calm! Almost makes us feel guilty for making those little ripples in the water!

Happiness is... Looking down towards Tarbert. Note the reflection of the clouds on the water!

You don't want to tangle with the tug Celtic Rebel! Note the wake!

16:30...Tarbert on the left and MoneyPoint, in the distance, on the right.

Tarbert Lighthouse... built in 1830 and operational since 1834.

Twin Towers at Tarbert dwarfing the lighthouse tower!

Circa 16:45 and we are just approaching Moneypoint. 'Thun Gothia', a 119m Oil/Chemical tanker with Gross Tonnage of 4814t, passes us as she sails gently upriver. Despite her size, the wake that is generated is not as significant as that created by some boats that are much smaller!

Moneypoint... Kilrush is just around the corner! And look how calm the water still is!

Scattery Island (just outside Kilrush) in the distance... But what's that in the water in the centre of the photo? Hopefully it is a dolphin...anytime that we encounter dolphins during a passage it is nearly a cast-iron guarantee that the passage will be smooth and safe.