To Irland

Since it has been a little over a year since we departed the Azores and set sail for Ireland, it’s time to share the story of that passage.

2-10 June2025

After we had left the last of the Azorean islands behind us, we were treated to the delightful company of dolphins for a while. The water was no longer calm, however; the boat was now rolling heavily. As if that were not enough, water started finding its way into the boat in several places.

We already knew about the leak in the forward bathroom and around some of the windows, but the strangest one was the window above the sofa in the saloon. It turned out that the water was coming from below and traveling upward along the wire leading to the sensor that indicates on the cockpit panel whether the window is closed.

The other problem area is the starboard cabin, where it is leaking in several places. We removed three ceiling panels, which helped channel most of the water to a single spot. It seems to be coming in from the outside of the swan-neck vent, then running down the hull above the foot of the berth. There is also a leak—much heavier, in fact—at the head of the berth in the corner.

The “box” beneath the window keeps filling with water, so it has to be emptied regularly. We discovered the leaks in the starboard cabin on the third night when Elise woke up with water dripping onto her face and realized that she was soaked around her feet. She could not sleep there any longer, so she moved into my cabin, while Edgar continued sleeping on the sofa in the saloon.

On the fourth day, just before I came up on deck, Edgar and Elise spotted two large whales. It was difficult to get a photo, as they were at least 200 metres away and the large waves made it even harder. Whales are not always easy to spot; what usually gives them away is the spray of water when they surface to breathe.

Fortunately, the dolphins come much closer to the boat, and we enjoy watching them play in the waves.

We originally set out with about 1,200 nautical miles to Dublin, but when we had around 680 nautical miles left, we changed our minds and decided to head for Cork instead, which is about 130 nautical miles before Dublin.

That means one less day of sailing before we can finally be at rest. No one objected to that plan. So now we have completed more than half of the journey! 🎉

Day 6 into the trip, I decided to treat us by baking lemon muffins for dessert. I’m not sure it was such a great idea, because when I went to pack the cooled muffins, several of them were full of ants. But that wasn’t the worst part — there was an entire ant trail running through the kitchen.

From the counter, they marched along the corner up above the sliding doors, then continued toward the cabinet in the corner, around it to the corner of the window, up to the ceiling, along the ceiling all the way to the spice cabinet at the far end. Another route went across the ceiling toward the stairs and along the cabinet up to the cockpit. Once in the cockpit, we only found a few scattered ants here and there.

Out came the can of insect spray, and the hunt was on. An hour later, we were finished and keeping our fingers crossed that we had managed to get rid of them — though probably not completely.

An hour earlier, Elise had told me that everything was calm and that nothing at all had happened… hmm.

It turns out that ants are also very fond of ginger ale, among other things. So from now on, every empty soda can gets rinsed out immediately.

After 8 days at sea, we are finally approaching Ireland. The waves have calmed down, and I’m enjoying the last sunrise of this crossing. Instead of continuing all the way to Cork, we decide to head for Kinsale instead, as it’s closer to the Celtic Sea.

The marina is full because of a regatta, but thanks to our ARC friend Brian from Navilus, we managed to get a perfect berth close to town.

It feels great to have solid ground beneath our feet again after 8 days at sea. Now it’s time to explore Kinsale.