Dingle Cruise - Story coming soon

[oceanfroggie]

. . . coming soon the story of our summer cruise to Dingle, Fenit, Ventry, Kilrush and Limerick in the midst of the Kerry mountain scenery on the wild atlantic SW coast of Ireland

On route passing Shannon Airport on the vast Shannon Estuary

Fabulous food in Dingle's abundant and diversified restaurants, cafes, tapas bars, and pubs

"Fungi" the world famous 30yo Dolphin is a huge tourist attraction

Going down a mine shaft in a boat - Ardnacrusha hydro dam lock

Wild Atlantic coast off the Blaskets

Fenit surrounded by the Kerry mountains has miles upon miles of the finest silky sand beeches in these isles and they are empty

Vast and imposing bronze statue of "Brendan The Navigator" pointing out to sea across Tralee Bay

Anchored a mile off the beech in Ventry's natural harbour

More "cutsie" eateries in Dingle of a summers evening

Homeward bound - Little Samphire light house and the Kerry mountains behind as we head back into the Atlantic bound for Kilrush Creek.

Entering the hydro dam lock - 102 feet deep!

This is just an appetiser for the full cruise story to come soon . . .

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Great pics, thanks

 

[wellf100]

wow, plenty of variety on that cruise! i don't think water gets much more 'glassy' than the first pic!
great stuff
cheers

 

[longjohnsilver]

Love that first pic, a proper millpond. Is there much turbulence in the lock, and how do you secure the boat as the water rises and falls?

 

[scubaman]

Wov, that's a pretty impressive lock!

Great pics, thank you for posting! Very much looking forward to the rest.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Love that first pic, a proper millpond. Is there much turbulence in the lock, and how do you secure the boat as the water rises and falls?

Cherrs, yes the tide and wind were flowing in the exact same direction and speed, so it gave the impression of flat clam.

In the lock one does not tie up, rather there are three options to hold the boat on station during the descent or ascent depending on where the boat is positioned within the lock, using a boat hook to hold ladder rung, use short 3m length of light rope to loop recessed hooks, moving from hook to hook with vertical rise or fall, or wrap short 3m length of thin rope around hose covered vertical chain.

When single handed I hover on engines and get the lock keeper to pull the plug and drop me in 20mins instead of the usual 55mins so the exhaust does not build up. At normal ascent or decent engines are normally shutdown because of exhaust buildup but there is no turbulence and newbies often think their boat isn't moving its so smooth and quiet. It's an amazing experience going through that lock, especially with two boats. We've had time to cook and eat breakfast inside the lock shaft.

 

[AndieMac]

Thanks for posting OF, look forward to the next instalment, cheers.

 

[kindredspirit]

Looking forward to more pics Noel. Ventry Harbour is brill. Did you "do" Smerwick Harbour as well?

 

[alt]

Hi, N

Delighted to hear you had another wonderful cruise, looking forward to more pics / stories.

We moved a Cranchi to L. Ree, so we'll get to the Derg at some stage next season, looking forward to meeting up.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Only in Ireland!!! A field near Fenit

Hi Kevin, spent two days in Ventry, had planned a night in Smerwick but it was to blow up 48hrs later so we passed it on way to Carrigaholt.

Hi Niall, cheers will catch you on Derg next season.

Fun of a summers evening in Ventry Bay

The imposing statue of "Brendan the Navigator" on top of the rock at Fenit Harbour. Fenit is where some of the largest "Liebherr" cranes in the world are loaded onto ships.

Fenit Pier at sunset. Later that night there was an amazing cosmic astro shower. The railway tracks are still on the pier and were used up to 20 years ago to load freight on the island harbour quay.

"The West End" - Fabulous fish restaurant in Fenit. The owner borrowed our fold up Brompton bikes for a test cycle

Dusk at the anchorage in Ventry Bay

Anchored in Carrigaholt bay for a lunch run ashore in the rib

The "Long Dock" at Carrigaholt is famous for its fresh fish cuisine (and prices).

Breakie at the overnight anchorage. Quick run ashore with the tender and folding bike to collect freshly baked croissants.

. . . full story to follow in due course.

 

[kindredspirit]

Fabulous pics. Used to eat at the Long Dock very often.

 

[Mike k]

will you be posting a vid this year OF?

 

[oceanfroggie]

will you be posting a vid this year OF?

Hi Mike. Hopefully later in the winter when I get some spare time to put it together. Cheers. Noel

 

[oceanfroggie]

Looking up at the sky from inside the hydro dam lock. 102ft to the bottom.

Tralee Bay early in the morning

Dingle Marina with the commercial fishing harbour behind

Dingle Marina is a popular port of call for vessels crossing the Atlantic as well as more local traffic emanating from Galway, Limerick or Cork.

Our berth in Dingle for the week. In the background is the narrow cliff lined entrance to Dingle's natural harbour and Dingle Bay outside.

View of entrance to Dingle Harbour from inside, where Fungi the dolphin plays and feeds with each turn of the tide.

"Frogette" chills out as the auto-helm takes us out of Fenit bound for Carrigaholt. Notice a blue "Liebherr" crane ashore awaiting transhipment via sea. Some of the largest cranes in the world have been made in Kerry since the 1960s.

Sunrise at the anchorage off the beech in Ventry Bay. A nice view to wake up to. Went for a swim off the back of the boat before 'breakie'

Fishing harbour in Dingle. Lots of big French and Spanish boats in here during the night, but gone back out again by dawn.

Dolphin watch boats tear around chasing poor auld "Fungi". We reckon his zimmer frame under the water is anti-fouled

We had some fun teasing them the evening we arrived as I pretended we had found the Dolphin by steering tight and erratic circles on the plane a few under meters away from the trip boats and they all flocked over like bees looking for honey.

Dingle Bay

Ryan's Daughter Country - Dingle Peninsula. David Lean's classic movie starring Robert Mitchcum was filmed here back in the late 60s. They built a "real" village with fully completed buildings on top of the peninsula with the intention of donating it to the local community after filming was finished - but daft planners insisted it was demolished and completely removed. Only the cobblestone paving of the main street still exists on top of the mountain.

The fold up Brompton bikes made this holiday. We used them everywhere - outside a Jazz Cafe

The Brompton bikes after 10 years are still the biz.

 

[AndieMac]

Nice report Noel, looked and sounded like a great holiday.

Swimming before breakie...sounds like a warm summer. The boat still looks in fabulous condition, as usual.

 

[MapisM]

Nice report Noel, looked and sounded like a great holiday.

Swimming before breakie...sounds like a warm summer. The boat still looks in fabulous condition, as usual.

+1 to all that, many thanks OF for sharing with us your pics of some beautiful places! :encouragement:

Apologies for my ignorance, but I can only understand the IRL flag in your ensign (wake shot pic) - what does the rest mean?

 

[Greg2]

Some great pics! We would love to get our boat over to Ireland for a season or two as part of a slow circumnavigation of the U.K. Maybe one day....

 

[oceanfroggie]

Thanks Guys.

Apologies for my ignorance, but I can only understand the IRL flag in your ensign (wake shot pic) - what does the rest mean?

Hi MapisM. We use a few different ensigns, all azure blue with the ROI tricolour, but under a club symbol. The one on our ensign that day was the Inland Waterways association of Ireland. Our home base is Killaloe at the base of the River Shannon so usually turn left out of the marina to stay on inland Loughs, or turn right for the tidal Shannon and access to the SW coast.

Displacement wake shot with Kerry coast behind. The weather was so pleasant we did as much of the long passage legs at displacement speeds. More time to chill out, read books, listen to music, chat, have meals underway, etc. Our longest leg was only 100nm so with plenty of daylight hours there was no need to rush and the auto helm could do the hard work.

Chill out time underway

Map of Ventry's natural harbour near Dingle Harbour both off Dingle Bay on the Atlantic SW coast of Ireland. Boat position shows our overnight anchorage.

Kilrush Creek marina on the edge of the Shannon Estuary is under new ownership and it shows. Improved services, self service diesel station, self service SMS lock into the marina lagoon.

Another view of Fenit harbour with the large statue of Brendan the Navigation pointing out toward the americans he is supposed to have discovered 100s of years before Columbus! Who knows?

Fenit pier during the day - links the mainland to the island harbour

Late evening as we arrive in Dingle after 15hr slow cruise - one of the most relaxing passages we've ever enjoyed. Past many dolphin pods on route and cruised right under the cliffs of Mt Brandon

Live Jazz in Dingle Cafe

Entering the Atlantic mouth of the Shannon Estuary on route from Fenit. Local tip is to hug the north shore under the Co Clare cliffs to avoid any slop mid channel created by the tidal ebb which is usually against the prevailing westerlies.

Beeves rock lighthouse halfway down the Shannon Estuary.

Returning up the tidal River Shannon on route to Limerick City.

Just downstream of the sea lock in Limerick city

Limerick City Marina looking upstream on the tidal Shannon towards the castle

Cruising through the middle of Limerick city on a small tributary of the the Shannon, the Abbey River which facilitates navigation to the sea lock in Limerick city by bypassing Curragower waterfalls on the main Shannon. In winter floods if combined with the hydro dam running at 100% output this short stretch of water is more like the Colorado river white water rafting, but flat tame in summer if the hydro dam is running at typical summer output levels.

Home port Killaloe. View from the Lakeside hotel restaurant across to our mooring for the night.

As you can see the weather was pretty kind to us

Back to the Future - two weeks earlier the evening we left Killaloe bound for our holiday adventure on the SW coast. We left our nearby marina berth and tied up here for a meal in Flanagan's steak house before heading down to moor north of the hydro dam for the night. Next day a 15hr passage non-stop to Dingle.

"Froggette" guided OF down through the man made Parteen lake that still has a village under it that was evacuated in 1925 when the hydro scheme was built. A single chimney of one of the houses is still visible just inches above the water line.

Looking forward to some of next seasons adventures already

We slept like babies on our return and drove to a family wedding in Wicklow the next morning.

This was a serious chill out gourmet trip we will never forget and the mobility of the little fold up Brompton bikes really made the trip.

 

[Lloydroberts]

Great photos of fabulous scenery.

Off topic: may I ask about the name "Ocean Froggie" and its origins?

 

[oceanfroggie]

Great photos of fabulous scenery.

Off topic: may I ask about the name "Ocean Froggie" and its origins?

Thanks we are blessed with a wonderful coastal cruising area joined to an amazing series of inland seas (i.e. large loughs) on the 300km Shannon navigation.

Not sure how the name was chosen by her previous owner. She originated from the Thames. We liked the name and decided to keep it when we bought the boat 10 years ago. We named the tender 'Kermit' and the sailing dinghy 'Tadpole'. We maintained "Frog" theme on board with table napkins, a kermit puppet, floor mat and a singing frog!