Dublin Bay

We sailed less than 10NM south into Dublin Bay and tied up overnight at the Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Doon Leary) Marina. 

Interesting to note this is a huge marina inside an artificial harbour built over 100 years ago to provide a safe refuge for sailing ships that would otherwise get embayed in Dublin Bay (and go aground on the rocks).   The project was massive, especially in those days.   '

The pleasure boat marina has berths for 850 boats but is only half full.  Before the recession of 2008 the marine was full with a 2 year waiting list.  Ireland was booming, or so everything thought.  Then the downturn came and those who had overspent lost a lot, including their luxury boats.  

We visited an excellent Shackleton exhibit and the Maritime Museum here, and followed the beautiful promenade east by Scotsman's Bay to the James Joyce Museum in the Martello Tower.   

The weather has improved.  Yesterday I stripped down to a single t-shirt and shorts for a few hours during the afternoon sunny period. 

And we had a wonderful visit with Ruth, who joined us here for dinner on board.  Ruth is Irish but lived some years in Canada.  She sailed in Haida Gwaii during the time we were there and later sailed with us in 1995 along Ireland's west coast and in 1996 along the west coast of Chile.  We look forward to more time together in the coming week or so. 

These are my GPS coordinates:

Latitude = 53° 17' 56.1611"

Longitude = -6° 8' 22.2256"

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Irene

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Back to Winter!

10 days of waking up to fresh powder every morning!  Yahoo!

10cm one morning...15 cm another....25...then...35cm one mornin!

Hurry with that shovel so we can get the car out and go skiing!

Visiting Victoria

A week away from Whistler....

Clear blue sky and sunshine made for a scenic ferry journey through the Gulf Islands from Tswassen to Swartz Bay.

Gulf Islands

Unusually cold weather resulted in some interesting ice formations in Victoria, which is generally not this cold.

Oak Bay Village fountain

I stayed with Mary in Oak Bay, and enjoyed walking along the shore, breathing in fresh, sea air.

Willows Beach

Oak Bay Marina

oak trees in winter

Despite low temperatures I also joined Mike for a day-hike in the Sooke Hills.

wet mossy areas were frozen

view from Sugarloaf summit

emerald forest

with Mike on Mike Hill

arbutus, my favourite

I enjoyed many delicious dinners, walks, social times, and even some city shopping as well as creative water colour painting sessions with Mary.

Thanks to everyone!  It was great to spend the week in Victoria!

Welcome 2014!

January conditions in our ski resort have been rather warm and dry, except for a few stormy days mid-month which brought us about 70cm of fresh snow. 

late afternoon on the slopes

Most days have been warm and sunny, which would be delightful weather for April or May but not what we expect in the winter months. Fortunately W/B has amazing snow-making and grooming teams and skiing is very good from peak to valley.

Lack of snow not only limited our alpine skiing options, it also meant the cross-country trails did not open until we finally had snow in mid-January. 

Mariners like to say:  red sky at night, sailors delight 

We also say:  red sky in the morning, sailors take warning

early morning sky
  Does the red sky this morning suggest a snow storm is coming? We hope so!