On the 6th of June 2015 Brighton Belle was on the custom house pontoon in the heart of Cork, Ireland. A brilliant spot for visiting Cork and its night life.

I was staying on as skipper from the previous week. After the previous week of gales on the nose all the way from Brighton I was chilling out on deck in the sunshine while waiting for the arrival of the new crew and guests for the coming week. 

I was delighted to hear that the new crew Jo, Beth and  Francina wanted to stay that night in Cork. Another chance to enjoy that delightful city.

Early next morning after a hearty breakfast, safety briefings and a chat about the week to come, we slipped down the river, past Cobh and out toward the sea. Sunday morning and the harbour was full of yachts racing as we sail out between them and out towards the Old Head of Kinsale. . 

The wind was light and the sea calm and I was praising Neptune for favoring us as my plan was to make a shortish passage this first day giving the new guests a chance to get familiar with the boat and learn the ropes in comfort.

And that’s not the half of it!

Assembled Thursday night for the Race Briefing at Brighton Marina Yacht Club.  Coq au Vin all round in honour of the event.  Over 20 boats racing plus another 20 or so cruising.  BMYC was humming, but as usual the BB team were last to leave…no more need be said.

Up at 04:30 hrs to prepare the boat, then out of the marina ready for the race start at 07:00. Wind puffing a bit, say f5, but to be honest we were all keyed up for the start so didn’t notice the swell...  After a bit of confusion with the start time which created a ‘practice’ start for us Stewart manoeuvred Brighton Belle into prime position to cross the start line next to the Committee Boat just  after the start gun (just showing off!).

Cork to Plymouth, 8th to 15th August 2015

This should have been week 2 of 2, with the first week shaking fins with whales and dolphins around the South and West of Ireland. Unfortunately a deep Atlantic low pressure system intervened and Brighton Belle stayed warm and cosy in Crosshaven for the week while high winds blew and high waves broke around the coast. I took advantage of the week to do a land tour instead, in a tiny hire car around the narrow roads of West Cork and Kerry, but that's not really a Brighton Belle blog, so....

... on 7th August, I drove my little car back to Crosshaven and met up with Paul and Bob, the first crew members to arrive. We had a splendid evening in Crosshaven, feeling it important to check out the watering holes... The Oar and The Anchor stay in my mind. Come Saturday morning saw the arrival of Fiona (skipper), Joan, Stephen and Malcolm. We spent the day getting ready, sorting out the boat, stocking up on supplies, ready to leave. 

We set off Sunday, around 12, heading for the Isles of Scilly. A memorable trip, lasting 26 hours (at least double anything I had done before). We had plenty of wind, some pretty impressive waves, a pod of porpoises, several pods of dolphins, a lot of kitkats and twixes, a ton of rain and not a lot of sleep- rewarded by a view on Monday afternoon of the Isles of Scilly, bathed in sunshine, just like they look on the postcards.

We spent the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday recuperating in New Grimsby harbour on Tresco, going ashore to check out the pub and the beautiful gardens. On Wednesday we set out for Falmouth... first wildlife of the day was a sunfish, not looking at all well, and that was followed by a minke whale...fabulous. We had an exciting ride over the  'overfalls'  - felt like surf canoeing- I'm sure I heard the Hawaii 5-0 theme... but as that is my ringtone it could have been a call about PPI. We also had a view of the Red Arrows, who we thought had arrived to greet us but it seems they were booked for Falmouth festival... which was in full flow as we arrived. Great sailing followed by a very neat bit of mooring on a pontoon gave us access to all the joys of Falmouth.... cold showers but warm pubs.

Yesterday we set about unstepping both of Brighton Belle's masts for service and rigging replacement

Brighton Belle was moved to a berth close to the road that goes over the bridge into the boat yard.  The crane set up in the road and lifted Mike Stevens up to tie the slings on. Once the weight of the mast was supported by the crane, all the shrouds were disconnected at deck level and the mast was slowly lifted straight up. Brighton Belle was reluctant to let the mast go...stuck fast but after a few anxious moments and with a little work it suddenly popped and started to rise out of the deck. The mast was laid onto wooden trestles ready to be serviced and re rigged in the coming days.

That left Brighton Belle with just the mizzen mast standing. It was getting late and the light was fading by the time the mizzen mast was lifted off to lay alongside the main mast.

Brighton Belle has been lifted into the boatyard this afternoon to have her bottom pampered. The Coppercoat finish applied last year has done a fantastic job and kept the hull really clean. Just a thin dark slime has grown. 

....but as you can see, a quick pressure wash and the bottom is back to perfect again! Excellent!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. “  Mark Twain.

He forgot to mention the stern lines but inspiring for all that. See you on the high seas in 2015

At the end of May we will take a long voyage of nearly 400 nautical miles to get Brighton Belle to Ireland in a couple of hops of about 2 days. Then we will have gentle potter along the coast visiting the beautiful harbours and inlets looking for that perfect sheltered spot away from the noisy bustle of modern life, before returning to Cork to hand over to the next Skipper and crew.

Each of the following crews will fly to Cork or Shannon airports and share a taxi to get to the boat. They are then in easy reach of the beautiful south west coast of Ireland. The Irish Cruising Club has this to say about it: 'the coast provides some of the most fascinating sailing imaginable with many well sheltered anchorages and endless scope for exploration. The sea is empty of shipping, except for local fishing craft. The scenery is varied and magnificent. The inhabitants are courteous and friendly'. 

See details of the dates and location of cruise on our web-sitehttp://brightonbelle.org/index.php/calendar.

If you sign up as crew, you will be spending one or two weeks this summer sailing  and exploring this beautiful area on Brighton Belle.   We look forward to sailing with you.

We love to chat so contact us to ask all those questions!

Our gathering on Saturday was a great success with about 30 visitors, 60 mince pies, 2 gallons of mulled wine and some fabulous food.

It was really lovely to see Brighton Bell smartly dressed in Christmas lights and full of smiling faces and conversation.

Thanks to all who came to meet us and a really big thank you to Liz for being such a fantastic hostess and for producing such lovely nibbles. Pheasant Yorkshire puds!  

Brighton Belle sailed out of Brighton Marina for a jolly today. With 7 on board we set off to have a little fun and practice some manoeuvres. 

Skipper Phillip, assisted by a willing crew of 6 threw a nominated member of the yachts equipment over the side and shouted 'man over board'.

Lots of action, sail handling and great teamwork had us sailing back and picking up the 'casualty' within about 4 minutes.

In the excited discussion that followed, we talked about boat control and speed of approach and what could have been done better. It was agreed that the recovery had been quite successful. 

Then, extraordinarily, that nominated member of the yacht's equipment, the danbuoy and horseshoe life ring, was over the side again!

Joining the boat all went swimmingly – thankfully not literally as she was berthed in the Cork Royal Yacht Club marina at Crosshaven and access was via pontoon - until I decided to pop into the club bar for a drink. Who was to know that ordering a Guinness rather than a Murphy’s would be a hanging offence in these parts? I would have been in less trouble for ordering a Scottish whisky.

The rest of the crew arrived late from their flights but the Guinness, followed by a Murphy’s for reasons of diversity and inclusion, ensured that I was not disturbed till the morning. The day was spent provisioning, plotting and generally preparing to sail with a bit of socialising, string games and swimming thrown in – again not literally.

We had a glorious sunny sail from Crosshaven to Glandore with good winds, and anchored as close as we could to the little jetty where George took our day guest, Paddy, ashore to catch his bus back to Crosshaven. An idyllic backdrop to an evening of swimming, eating and drinking.

Getting out of a tight spot

Crosshaven (In the Republic of Ireland) is within the natural harbour of Cork. The previous skipper and crew of Brighton Belle, by their own admission, got her into a tight space. We got her out.

July 12^th to 26^th 2014

At the beginning of the year I signed up for Brighton Belle’s voyage from Sada in Galicia, northern Spain to Crosshaven, County Cork, in southern Ireland. As part of their own preparation for the voyage Brian and Diana Moore had signed up to a 600 mile sail on Velvet Lady, another Oyster 55, in March. They were confronted by gale force winds for most of their week on board and the experience had told Brian, the Skipper for our trip across the Bay of Biscay, that it could turn out to be very demanding of the crew’s competence and resilience. So on 6^th June the whole crew met in Brighton for a pre- voyage briefing (and a tasty meal!). Brian’s and Diana’s stories of the rigours and dangers of their own voyage certainly hit the mark with me and if I hadn’t been apprehensive beforehand I certainly was from then on.