Our cruising dream started at the 1994 London Boat Show. The Prout stand was a revelation and we started our '10 year plan' in earnest. Up until then, our only sailing experience had been a 3 day trip in the Whitsunday Islands, Australia aboard a 45ft crewed monohull, 'Waltzing Matilda'. Over the following 2 years we completed the Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses, I read every book I could lay my hands on about other cruisers and we decided that waiting for 10 years was not a good idea. We bought AfriCat (formerly Bri-Dee, Gremr) in June. For the first 2 months, we confined ourselves to the waters of Chichester Harbour, before plucking up the courage to venture over the bar to Bembridge. This was quickly followed by further small ventures, before moving AfriCat up to South Dock Marina, London. We did have a very enjoyable 2 week trip up the East Coast as far as the River Deben and got quite intimate with the Queenborough area. However, the fun really started when we moved to Christchurch, Dorset after 16 months. Every weekend found us out sailing, discovering all the joys of Poole Harbour, Studland Bay and Swanage along with a few trips further afield, including our first channel crossing to Cherbourg and 2 wonderful weeks around the Channel Islands. With increased confidence and the Yachtmaster theory behind us, we decided to take 6 months off work and travel around Ireland, figuring that if we could survive that we could sail anywhere. So, in early May 1999, we left Christchurch bound for Ireland.

AfriCat is a 1979 31ft Quest which we sail two-handed. We are both quite conservative sailors, who prefer the actual arrival at new destinations to the sailing itself. As a result, we only sail when the weather is good and we are in the mood, generally only when forecasts are not more than a Force 6. We also like to be as self-sufficient as possible and tend to stay away from marinas, choosing either swinging moorings or the hook wherever possible.

Due to tides, we left Christchurch early afternoon and headed over for Poole Harbour in order to refuel before heading across the Channel. We ended up stuck in Poole harbour for 5 days due to bad weather, although we did try once but turned back after 2 hours as it was just too unpleasant. The crossing on the 12^th May was rough and wet and we were both pretty queasy, but AfriCat behaved perfectly and we made good time. After a good stock up (120 litres of wine!) we did our second-ever overnight passage to Plymouth, the crossing taking us around 27 hours. It started off pretty rough, by midnight we were motoring, the wind picked up towards morning and we had a romping sail into Plymouth harbour. We spent 5 restful days in the Plymouth area, exploring the area while waiting for the strong winds to abate. On to Fowey and Falmouth, before rounding the first obstacle, the Lizard, in perfectly calm conditions and stopping overnight at Mousehole. The next horror, Lands End, was rounded under motor in a dead calm but with a heavy swell and light fog, made extra special by the sighting of a small basking shark close to the boat. Newquay was our next refuge, where we spent 2 well-protected nights in the small fishing harbour, spending many hours watching the resident seals begging for fish. An overnight stop at Lundy Island before Milford Haven prepared us for the crossing to Ireland. The original plan had been to carry on up the British coast, taking in the Isle of Man and south-west Scotland before crossing to Ireland at Rathlin Island. However, the lack of closely spaced safe harbours and the prevailing strong SW winds made the Irish East Coast a far more attractive option.

We made the crossing to Wexford on the 1^st June, under motor, in 50 - 200m visibility due to fog. It was warm, we saw lots of seabirds - our first ever puffin was a real treat - as well as dolphins. For the first time, we used the GPS in anger and it proved to be spot on, helping us locate the beacon at Wexford without too much difficulty. Luckily, the fog lifted long enough for us to be able to clearly follow the markers into Wexford before coming down heavily again about an hour after we moored up. The entrance into Wexford is shallow and meanders between numerous sandbanks, but if you follow the transits between the buoys faithfully there is no problem. Anyway, running aground on mud is no problem when you have a catamaran!

The effort was well worth it, as this first experience of legendary Irish hospitality was not easily surpassed. The Wexford Harbour Boat Club made us most welcome, allowing us free use of a vacant mooring as well all facilities, which includes a very cosy bar. As this was our first Irish town, we were stunned by the number of pubs but we soon got used to this. Unfortunately, the weather was really awful while we were there, resulting in us spending 2 of our 5 days aboard as the wind was too strong to make the dingy ride ashore safely. A break in the weather allowed us to move on to Arklow and Wicklow before arriving at Dun Laoghaire for a very pleasant visit to Dublin and surrounds. The Royal Irish Yacht Club offered us wonderful facilities, with free 48 hour use of a vacant mooring including use of the club and the water taxis back and forth. Unfortunately, there are plans to build a marina in the yacht club area over the next year which means there will be very few moorings left, leaving the marina as the only option. On the 12^th June we left Dun Laoghaire on a sunny Saturday afternoon, spending the night at anchor just outside Howth harbour entrance, watching the last of the race boats returning. Another overnight stop at Balbriggin broke the journey up to Carlingford Lough, where we spent 3 days lazing, walking, drinking Guinness and relaxing. The town of Carlingford made a wonderful backdrop as we tied up alongside the harbour wall. We harvested mussels, which made a delicious dinner. The trip to Strangford Lough was completed in good time, resulting in us arriving at the entrance a bit earlier than expected. As the tide was with us and visibility was good, we decided to go in. What a sleigh ride! The tide rips through the entrance at up to 7 knots at spring tides. Picking up a mooring at Portaferry was quite an effort, motoring full blast into the tide we were still going slowly backwards! What a wonderful break we had in Strangford, we spent 8 days exploring the many wonderful gulleys, always made welcome by the clubs. However, a detailed chart is essential! Places visited were; Portaferry, Quoile (Q.Yacht Club), Ringhaddy (R.Cruising Club), Ballydorn (Down Cruising Club & 'Petrel' lightship), Audley Roads and Strangford. We only stayed one night in Belfast Lough as there were no safe anchorages. We moved on to Larne Lough, from where we visited friends in Belfast and saw the sights, including an Orange Parade and the Falls Road - all very peaceful. Larne proved to be a useful stop, the East Antrim Boat Club made us most welcome and there were 2 supermarkets close by.

Rounding Fair Head was contrary to the pattern of heads thus far, with 30 knots on the nose and a very lumpy sea running. We stopped over at the newly-opened Ballycastle marina, to visit the local sites with the guidance of our very good friends, Jeff and Lynda, from Belfast. Next day we motored over to Rathlin Island in grey skies and mist, which cleared late morning to provide a glorious day, spent cycling to the RSPB Bird Sanctuary at the west end of the island - very hard work! About 70 permanent residents inhabit the island, it has a restful, timeless quality which we later found at all the other islands along the west coast. Morning brought a return of the mist, so bad that we could not see the harbour wall, resulting in us catching up on many boat chores. An impromptu music session that evening in the pub proved very popular and entertaining.

On the way to Lough Swilly, we spent a rolly night in Culdaff Bay on the first of the Marine Institute visitor's buoys. Officially, these are charged at £5 per night, but that depends entirely on whether anyone comes to collect. In total we spent 12 nights on these buoys and were only charged for 3. However, they are nearly always in a relatively exposed position, far from the amenities (when there are any, which was VERY seldom). Self-sufficiency is definitely the watch word once you start heading further west as there are very few marinas, a handful of public facilities but a profusion of very friendly and helpful people. Whenever the chance presents itself, water and diesel should be filled up, as the easily accessible points are few and far between. We also picked up our first salmon net, from here on they became quite a nuisance, being really attracted to the self-steering rudder!

Rounding Malin Head via Garvan Sounds in a near calm, we spent 4 nights in Lough Swilly, visiting Lenan Bay, Fahan (L.Swilly Yacht Club), Rathmullan and Portsalon. This is a very picturesque lough with some wonderful waterfront homes. The still conditions provided some stunning reflections. Portsalon has a very quaint pub cum village shop, with good Guinness, and a wonderfully long white beach on which pony traps are exercised. Our next move was to Mulroy Bay where a friendly fisherman offered us the use of his spare mooring at Fanny's Bay. That evening, as was the norm, the wind died resulting in mirror-like water and wonderful peace - the sound of the curlews and seals was perfect. We moved on to Sheep Haven and dropped anchor at Downings, planning to stay only one day to collect our post. Between the post office and the weather, we were delayed for 8 days, sitting out a gale at anchor in relative comfort. However, as soon as we could we moved along the harbour wall so as to be able to stretch our legs a bit - 2 days trapped aboard was beginning to take it's toll. We made good friends with Sammy who runs the tourist fishing vessel, Summer Rose, which meant we ate wonderful fresh fish every day. Eventually a break in the weather allowed us to move on to Arranmore, where we were once again gale-bound for 4 nights. We only managed a short visit to the island on the first afternoon, after that the sea was too rough to make a safe dingy ride. However, the visitors buoys are well-protected (even though it doesn't appear so) and we only really had some discomfort on the last night when the huge rollers outside eventually managed to curl their way around into the bay. This is where we spotted our first otter, what a treat! The passage to Killibegs was mostly in light airs but the swells were still huge and it felt like a roller coaster ride at times, but the company of storm petrels meant we had something to keep our minds off the stomach churning motion. Killibegs is primarily a commercial fishing port, nevertheless yachts are made to feel welcome, with water and fuel easily available - at 25p / litre for diesel we filled every container we could find!

Stopovers at Kilcummin and Broadhaven followed, with a 2 night visit to Elly Bay before moving on to Clare Island. Approaching Elly Bay inside the islands with 20 - 25 knots of Westerly was fun, but the overfalls at the entry proved to be quite rough. Clare Island was a nice, relaxing break - once again the laid-back island lifestyle effected us and we struggled to leave. Initial plans to visit Newport had to be abandoned due to bad visibility, so we moved on to Killary which is likened to a fjord - very deep, cold waters and LOTS of mackerel, as well as salmon farms. A stopover at Fahy Bay in Ballynakill rewarded us with a 20 minute visit by an otter, who paid scant attention to us and got on with the serious business of feeding. We made the passage to Inishbofin in the early evening, providing some breathtaking sunset views of both the mainland and the island. This was the first time that we felt that we were really in the mainstream of yachting - up until now we had only seen the odd yacht, sometimes nothing for days at a time - we were surrounded by at least 11 other yachts, including a Wharram Tiki. The walking was gentle and scenic, a visit to the East End village is definitely recommended.

After 3 'island' days we once again wrenched ourselves away and headed for Clifden, for a much needed stock up and wash day. The supermarket delivered our groceries to the Boat Club and a very efficient service laundrette did a huge load in 2 hours for £4.50. We only found one self-service laundrette throughout our trip, service wash is the norm at £4-5 per load. Slyne Head was another smooth rounding, taking us to the very picturesque town of Roundstone. Here we made friends with David and Judy on 'Cloud Walker'. The Shamrock Bar does good value meals. A stopover at Cashla Bay included a walk to the Coral Beach, which was really amazing although not as extensive as expected, made up exclusively of coral fragments. Inishmor was a pleasant visit, although being more tourist-oriented it did not have the same attraction to us. We spent 3 days exploring the sites and making friends with the crew of 'Sant Efflam', a 30' leather boat being sailed and rowed by a French crew from Oban to Brittany. We had F7 gusting 8 while there, resulting in some huge, confused seas which made us abort our first attempt to leave for the Shannon. We got away the next day and had a long, uncomfortable trip to Carrigaholt, where we moored alongside the drying Old Quay and spent 4 days, once again weather-bound! Carrigaholt is a small village of 6 pubs, 2 restaurants, a church and a mobile home park - wonderfully quaint but a bit rowdy during school holidays. An overnight stop at Smerwick Harbour allowed us to catch up with the crew from Sant Efflam before proceeding to Dingle, where we were accompanied by Fungi for a while, but also HOUNDED by the many 'pleasure' boats that take tourists out to catch a glimpse of him. The entrance channel is narrow but these boats pay no attention to the Rules of the Road and shoot across your bows from every direction if it means they can get a meter closer to the dolphin - the best course seems to be to just stick to your guns, go slowly and STAY IN THE MARKED CHANNEL. We stayed as long as the gale blew and then left, glad to move on to less commercial areas.

A number of short stops followed; Darrynane - wonderful entrance through rocks, small bay filled with moorings and surrounded by wonderful white beaches; Sneem - you could be at the ends of the earth, serene and peaceful, seals galore; Dunboy Bay via Dursey Sound - amazing how close the cables appear to be to the mast, the bay is a good but tight anchorage with amazing scenery and an interesting dingy ride up the river as far as the castle gates; Glengarif & Adrigole - good anchorages, amazing phosphorescence and coloured algae in the water, lots of mussel rafts.

Once again we were lucky and rounded Mizen Head in near perfect conditions, before stopping in Crookhaven, a small but quaint village of 3 pubs and a restaurant. An easy motor-sail to Schull, inside of Long Island, provided some wonderful scenes before anchoring off and catching mackerel for dinner, followed by a magical evening during which an otter spent about 20 minutes fishing around the boat. We moved on to Cape Clear Island in light mist and a dead calm, the entrance to the North Harbour is not easily seen and proved quite daunting, but the calm conditions gave us the courage to try it - only to encounter a trimaran leaving as we entered, with VERY little space to spare! We dried out comfortably on a level, clear bottom and enjoyed a walk around the island, sighting the Fastnet Rock but deciding that this was close enough! A stop at Baltimore followed, before moving on to spend a perfectly calm night anchored at Barloge - Loch Hyne is definitely worth a visit but remember to be in and out within around 1 - 2 hours around slack tide, take a ride up to have a look at the Narrows around 4 hours after HW, the 1 meter height difference is amazing to behold! This also provided our first sighting of choughs - wonderful. Next followed Castlehaven, a wonderfully unspoiled village but dodgy anchorage, make sure the hook is well in before going ashore. A quick stop at Glandore before chancing the entrance to Courtmacsherry, which proved well worth the stop. We sat out a S 8-9 with severe gusts, in perfect comfort due to the shelter offered by the ridge behind the town and the trees along the top. The walk along to Wood Point is well worth the small effort involved. A stop at Kinsale was planned as a birthday celebration, but turned into a nightmare when the anchor dragged at 2am in strong winds and it took us until 4am to get ourselves settled again. The anchorage is very deep, in the strongest area of the current and kelp-ridden - not very good holding at all. We went aboard the amazing Chinese junk Chi-Lin, 20 tonnes of ferro-cement boat, built in and sailed from South Africa by Mike and Paddy, via the Caribbean and USA. A move to Cork followed, to get ourselves ready for the long passage to the Isles of Scilly. After 5 days of bad weather, we took a gap in the weather to make the 150-mile dash for St Marys before the predicted Force 10 hit, making it with about 12 hours to spare. Nevertheless, it was a nasty, uncomfortable, downright scary crossing, which neither of us wishes to repeat. AfriCat behaved impeccably, it was the humans that caused the problems!

We spent 8 days in St Marys and Green Bay, having a well-deserved rest and waiting for the next weather window in order to return home. Time was now ticking by and we needed to make moves back to Christchurch, with stops at the Helford River (dolphins again!), Plymouth, Salcombe, Weymouth and Studland Bay before tying up back in Christchurch on Thursday 7^th October at 10.30am. By 5pm I had booked us a week's late-break 'holiday' to Greece, leaving the next day - the need for some sunshine was desperate!

The trip was definitely worthwhile, we learnt a lot about sailing and about the boat itself. The scenery was stunning, the people were wonderfully friendly and the sailing was good, in between the storms. We would recommend the trip to anyone considering it, with the proviso that time is needed to truly appreciate the country. The most scenic, least-touristy areas were from Rathlin Island on westwards down as far as the Aran Islands. Strangford Lough is also well worth an extended visit.

The following is a summary of our trip, mentioning the passages between Irish ports rather than the day-sailing around various bays and the individual stops to and from Ireland. Times are from switching on the engine before weighing anchor until switching off once firmly anchored again. We tried to keep to an average of about 5 knots, unless it was a really short hop, the weather was wonderful and we were in the mood for sailing. As a result, we often switched on 'Thumper', either because the wind was strongly on the nose or too light. As we waited out most bad weather the passage weather is a bit misleading in that it appears that it was always good! Costs are per night, where we did pay.

I also kept a detailed list of the supplies bought before and during the trip, along with costs, compared to what was left at the end. We have a full set of Imray charts, along with both ICC pilots, Irish ensign, tourist guide book and other odds and ends should anyone be tempted to do the trip. I have also made numerous additional notes in the pilots.