More thunder overnight and still a few rumbles early on, but mostly the day dawns bright and clear and still. We get the shipping forecasts for Sole, Lundy and Fastnet. Quite exciting compared to our usual Wight, Portland and Plymouth.

They are all the same which is comforting in a way, and they are forecasting variable 3 or less with occasional fog and thundery showers…not so good! Becoming 3 to 6 later.

With everything stowed for what could be a bumpy night, we head off to top up the diesel and the water. All a bit frantic by the quay, but we’re back in our routine and get everything done in 15 minutes.

We say goodbye to Chris and Yee Tak who are taking the Scillonian back to Penzance then trains home. We’ll fly back from Cork once the boat is safely tucked up.

Sliding away from the quay, we are sad to be leaving them behind, as we’ve had a brilliant 2 weeks cruise to the Scillies. The wind has been frustrating at times, but that doesn’t take away from just being back on the old girl.

With no wind at all, we motor out of the harbour and out past St Agnes once more and take the Northwest passage out of the islands. 

Morning turns to afternoon and we start to see the merest hint of some light airs from the west. With full main and genoa and a freshening wind, Heydays laps up the miles across the Celtic Sea.

We know our boat inside out after all these years, and we take a couple of rolls in the genoa for no discernable loss in speed, but a much comfier ride in a building sea in what is now a wonderful beam reach.

We heat up the remaining half of the lassagne for dinner as something warm to see us through the night.

The earlier delays due to the weather have meant that this, our longest leg of the trip, takes place during the shortest hours of darkness. Serendipity for once.

With the sun about to set, we reduce sail for the night, and despite this being June, we know all too well how cold the nights can get. So with thermals on, lifelines attached and some hot drinks lined up we see the last of the sun.

Our usual pattern is roughly 2 hours on watch and 2 hours kip through a night passage. At 11pm we still have some light, with visible horizons, but with no moon and just a few stars, the midnight watch is pretty dark. We’re glad we shortened sail as the wind gusts up to 23knots by 2 pm, and the sea has built into some short but steep waves just on the beam. Occasionally  a larger one than usual brings us up with a lurch, but the old girl just shakes herself off and ploughs on.

We shorten the genny around 2.30 and slow her down from the at times mad rush (for us) at over 7knots. The motion is instantly easier and less draining.

We are shadowed for a while by some sea birds, presumably expecting us to be gutting fish. They appear as just momentary flashes of white in the otherwise empty sea.

We’re grateful to have radar, but through the night it’s just us and the birds…

Amazingly, there is just the faintest of early light on the eastern horizon by 2.45 and a very thin sliver of moon appears behind the clouds.

The waves become clearer and then almost in the blink of an eye there is a real pink glow out east…

But with the dawn comes a strengthening of the wind and waves. There are gusts of 33kts and breaking seas which continually  push us off course.

We furl the genoa completely and that helps, but it is only when we put the third reef in the main that we are back to a feeling of normality. We hear the first of the Irish shipping bulletins and they are warning of strong winds around the entirety of the Irish coast.

As we edge closer to the coast we get a semblance of shelter from the headland and gradually we make preparations for landfall.

The entrance to the river up to Cork is quite pretty even in the grey skies, especially for such a commercial city.

We’re booked into a boatyard at Crosshaven, where we will leave Heydays for a few weeks and it is a lovely place….

We meet Witse who is the owner and a really nice guy.  It turns out that he is retiring at the end of the month and the yard has been sold to the Royal Cork Yacht Club next door…..but they will honour the quote he gave us!

The yard has clearly seen better days, but it has a certain charm, mostly down to Witse. We’re chatting about our plans and he said he may even get us to the airport to save on a taxi…..I bet the Rotal Cork won’t offer that!