 | 8 th to 9 th of June 2017 - Cork City |
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| Crew : | Helen and Andy | |
| Destinations : | City of Cork Marina. | |
| Distance : | 16 miles |
We decided that, as there wasn't going to be a weather window until after the weekend, we would have a city break in Cork. We weighed our well secured anchor after listening to the pop quiz on Ken Bruce. Thinking that we could get the last of the ebb down East Passage and the early flood up the River Lee into Cork we left just before low water. We had forgotten that we had also done this last year and still had the ebb all the way up to Cork. At least it made it a straight forward park on the pontoon and I was able to take the helm parking for the first time this year.
We had telephoned beforehand and were warned that it was the Cork Harbour Festival and it might not be wise for us to be on the pontoon on Saturday. They were expecting a few hundred rowing boats of various shapes and sizes with varying ability. The harbour master suggested our boat's gelcoat may be at risk. As we motored up the river there were several blustery showers. The deputy Harbour Master met us on the pontoon. He also offered us a free berth against one of the wharfs on Saturday. After taking a look it was clear we wouldn't be able to get off the boat at low water as the ladders seemed to be under an overhang. We decided just to stay two nights and head down river for Saturday and Sunday night so we could go out on the bikes on Sunday.
On Thursday night crowds gathered on the wharf by our pontoon, sheltering from a heavy shower. Many of them started to strip off and don bright pink bathing hats and wetsuits. Some hardy souls did without the wetsuits. At 7pm the sun had finally come out and more than a hundred swimmers joined the "Rebel Plunge", a 3.8km swim down river to Black Rock. The following morning we joined them in spirit by going for a swim in the nearby hotel's indoor heated pool, a perk of being on the city pontoon.
On Friday, we were able to have a town day with lunch out and then a film which we thoroughly enjoyed. Some more provisions saw us ready for an early departure the following day to escape the small boats and save us dodging them on our way down the river. We remain hopeful that on Monday we may eventually manage to get away from the continual low pressure systems that seem to dominate the Irish coast and head south.
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