We had a lazy Friday morning and after registration we moved Granuaile onto the long pontoon with all the other gaffers.
It was still very windy blowing up to a SW6 but a few more boats arrived and it was sunny.
We met a few old friends including Doug and Carol who own Moya and who I crewed for in the Antigan Classics in 2007.
There was a reception at 1900 and after the speeches we had a nice meal.
We all then went to the sailing club for music and a lot of catching up although it was hard to hear with the music.
We left at 1230 with the party still in full swing.

3-9-16
On Saturday it was a miserable morning with rain but not too much wind.
The Skippers briefing was at 1000 and Pete cancelled the racing due to the forecast which was for 40kt gusts.
Some boats went out for a quick sail in the harbour and I got to go out on Vilma a top sail schooner. It was brilliant but had an amazing amount of ropes on it.
The light rain became torrential and the wind went into the east.
We came back in after an hour and I returned to Granuaile for lunch.

The wind got up a bit and I moved a few fenders about as we were getting pushed onto the pontoon but I wasnt to worried as the wind was to go back into the south west again soon which was pushing us off the pontoon.
I went below to get another fender and by the time I got back on the pontoon the sea and waves had really got up and Granuaile was being thrown onto the pontoon and the fenders were being threw out.
People arrived from every where to help push her off and the heavy wooden fender board on the pontoon was smashed off so I decided to get out of there.
I started the engine and luckily the yacht that had been in front of me had moved so I had a bit of space and with lots of people pushing I managed to get off, just missing the yacht in front.
I motored to the inside pontoon of the marina and managed with the help of another crew get tied up but even then we were still jumping all over the place and the pontoons which are held by chains were moving all over the place.
John came round and told me about a free berth further in the marina so I set off again and managed to reverse into a calm berth with about 10 people watching.
It all went perfect and we got tied up.

30 minutes later the wind had dropped and gone back to the south west and all was calm again.
I checked for damage and luckily there were only a few light scratches but some of these were above the rubbing strip which just shows how far Granuaile was being flung over on to the pontoon. We went to the sailing club for tea and had another great nights craic listening to a live band and chatting to new friends until after 0100.

4-9-16
Jerry and Gerwin who we had met the night before came around for coffee. We then went to the skippers briefing at 1030 thankfully it was a sunny morning with Westerly force 3.
We then all went out on a parade of sail around the harbour.
As we passed the sailing club Hussars had set up cannons and were firing blanks at us but the noise and smoke was very impressive.
Vilma as she sailed past returned fire with her cannons and the was also a cannon on Moya.
We sailed by 3 times and managed to avoid being soaked by the fire hose on the lifeboat and the various water bombs being thrown about.

It was a fantastic spectacle and great fun and very different from any traditional sailing event we had done before with lots of people dressed in period costumes as sailors , soldiers and pirates.

At 1500 there was the prize giving at the sea cadets and as there was no racing the prizes were at Pete and Sues discretion.
We were given a prize along with Robinatti ( who had sailed around Ireland) for further travelled boat.
Later a 1700 we all assembled on Vilma for goodbye drinks and we had great craic.
We then went for dinner with Doug and Carol from Moya and Scott and Ruth from Vilma at the sailing club.
We had a great meal and craic and then went to the sailing club bar were the craic and singing continued until we left at 0330 with the party was still going on.

It has been a fantastic weekend despite the weather and a massive thanks goes to Pete and Sue who organised it and never stopped all weekend .