Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum. Repeat for 22 hours. Bored yet? We were. This is the noise that we lived with for the hours that it took to motor from Peel on the Isle of Man to Arklow in Ireland. The forecast was shocking for sailing, although ideal for motoring and motor we did. From the moment we left Peel to the moment we dropped our hook waiting for the tide outside Wicklow, the noise of dum, dum, dum reverberated in our ears. We are now at least within striking distance of the south coast of England and getting excited about our impending big jump to the sun of Spain.

We had left Peel with the idea of going all the way to the south coast of Ireland, the worry that we had was that the tide would turn and we would make no headway for 6 hours. Turn it did and so instead of punching it we chucked the hook over the side and anchored just off Wicklow. As we'd been at sea for a day and were within sight of land we thought that we ought to download a forecast. This forecast instantly changed our plans. A cheeky low had developed in the Celtic sea, bringing stong winds and rain, rain, rain. You may have noticed some 'light drizzle' if you are in England, so when we say some rain we mean a months worth of rain in 24 hours. It would be a deluge. Thinking that sailing in heaps of breeze and rain is not fun we happily waited in the sun for a couple of hours and then hopped into Arklow. Great plan.

The motor south had given us some high points. The sun set over a still sea and we felt blessed to be witnessing something so everyday, but so special. We also spotted a basking shark about 30 miles south of the Isle of Man, Iain was like a kiddie at Christmas, but as we approached it dawned on us this was not a basking shark, but an offshore seal. Should seals be this far offshore we asked ourselves? We also had seas where you could see the reflections of Ruffians newly polished hull.

As the evening approached in Arklow so did the low pressure system with its wind and rain. Boy did it arrive. The waves that enter the harbour in a north easterly make legends here and they were in the process of making new legends. Over the sea defences they crashed, making entry and exit untenable. They then rolled up into the harbour tossing boats around like toys in a bath, before finally crashing onto the weir upriver with a boom. All night we thought of Baldrick and his boom, boom boom poem. Ontop of all this, the rain increased the flow in the river bringing down tree's that had fallen in months past. Clearly we had made the right decision as we had tied up safely away from the swell in a marina, that'll be 28 Euro's well spent.

Having motored all the way to Arklow and with the rain outside it was time for some inside jobs and most importantly the engine service. This we've done before and presents us with no fears. We have however learnt 2 important lessons this time. First of all, after you have removed all the old oil, but before you fill the engine with new, make sure you replace the filter. The oil in our engine thought that it was doing the hokey kokey with all the ining and outing that it had to do. The second lesson is that when you are pumping oil out, make sure that the pump exit pipe doesn't drop into a 4 litre container of oil. It's very difficult, messy and slippy to get out of there! So lessons learnt, we'll be more careful next time and the service will take half the time.

With the wind abating and bright blue skies, we have northerlies set of for a few days which is great news. This will flatten the sea during Saturday and blow us south on Sunday. What this also means is that we have had a day of fun and frolicks in the sun in Arklow. We've found some sandy beaches, a complete nutter on a 60ft classic yacht who's hardly ever sailed and we've discovered that God likes long lunches as all the church yards in Arklow close between 11 and 2.

We are now literally waiting for the tide, sitting in the sunshine and looking forward to a downwind sail all the way from Ireland's eastern coast to Cornwall.

Fiona enjoying her motor by pretending to sail.


Iain enjoying his motor, by motoring.


Goodbye sun. A sight that never ceases to amaze.


Hello sun.


Engine servicing.


With lashing rain outside we took in the local hotel and surfed.


Arklow at night with the storm raging. Pictures can never do the surge, rain, wind or noise justice.


There are clearly some talented artists here in Arklow.


Fiona contemplating, sitting on the sea wall and enjoying the sunshine.


The fishing port in Arklow was once the busiest in all Ireland. Sadly, with the fish gone, so have the fishermen.