We are now in Crosshaven 12 miles from Cork and will be here until at least next Wednesday (21st). We arrived here on Wednesday after leaving Waterford at 7.30 i the morning on another sunny windless day. The trip down the river from Waterford was glorious as was the trip along the coast (70 nautical miles). Loads of towers on cliffs, odd islands, caves and lighthouses were visible. The downside was that the wind was very light and varied from the North east to the South West. This meant that our wind vane steering (Jeck) couldn't work so we had to steer her ourselves and motor sail the whole way. The MP3 players came in useful. The sight of Gina Highland dancing at the wheel to the sounds of the Campbeltown Pipe Band was surreal.

The entry into Cork harbour is both scenic and busy - dinghy racing, power boats, yachts and supertankers . We berthed up at the Royal Cork and Munster Yacht Club (the oldest yacht club in the world) at Crosshaven and have been happily ensconced there since.

In order to get the boat ready for the 500nm trip across Biscay we had to get our life raft serviced which involved hiring a car and a dash to meet a lorry at a chandlers to get it picked up. This means we now have a hire car and are touring the area.

Yesterday we went to Kinsale (beautiful) with it's ancient harbour and cobbled streets, painted houses and rugged coastline. Today we are in Cork and moving on to Cobh. Tomorrow we have to return the car and get back to preparing for Spain.

We will leave for Spain as soon as the life raft is returned and weather right. Hopefully our next blog entry will be from Spain.