Road trip to Galway for the Volvo Ocean Race

Following the successful stop over in Galway in 2009 ( see my 2009 posts here and there ) , the 2011-2012 edition of the Volvo Ocean race (formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race) was scheduled to finish in Galway, with a last leg starting from Lorient, France.

A magnific leg 9, i have to say, stretching along the coastline of Ireland, taking the inside of the Fastnet and the outside of the Aran-Island.

Leg 9 (and final) of the Volvo Ocean Race

I had decided to go over to see the boats  arriving in the docks, so Monday i had an eye on the online GPS tracker, and estimated arrival time of the 550nm leg.
Initially scheduled to arrive tuesday morning, the boat did an excellent progress, and the estimated time went down from 3AM, 2AM to midnight.

So around 9pm I left limerick for an impromptu road trip, and I manage to "press ganged" a sailor for this adventure. We arrived a bit after 10PM in all lited Galway

Wheel

Wheel

The boat arrived in the complete darkness, crossing the line a bit before 1AM, then move slowly into the docks ( which could not be opened till 2AM due to the tides ).

Off course a myriad of lighted boat went to welcome them... ahead...

Camper entering the docks

Within 30 minutes of docking - well probably a lot more - the leg winner (Camper ) was hushed on to the main stage, in front of drunken Irish and dancing raving teenagers ;) 

Leg Winner : Camper

After that it was time to celebrate the overall race winner Groupama, who only arrived second , 7 minutes after the leg winner.

Overall Winner : french Groupama

We also had a look at those magnificent boats:

Volvo 70

Volvo 70 Mast

We waited the arrival of the last 2 boats, and soon it was 5AM ... time for a bit of sleep before driving back to Limerick/Shannon.

And to finish the highlights of Franck Cammas crew victory:

The boats are still in Galway till Saturday 7th of June , where they will race one last time in a in-port regatta.

What would you do on a Wednesday evening...

George's Head seen from Middle rock

Off course you could wonder intensely on CR7 haircut during a penalty shootout...
Or you could head down to Kilkee, for an evening dive.... as I did

Oru club had the boat moored in Kilkee bay for the week, after a busy weekend, doing water safety for the Kilkee Hell of the West triathlon (  http://www.limericktriathlon.com/drupal/?q=kilkee  )  like we do every year.

This time I actually decided to stay for the Saturday night in Kilkee, enjoy a few scoops in the local pub ( The Skinny dog ... or more accurately The Greyhound Bar ... not to name it ) with triathletes, and their partners. We also manage to squeeze a dive or 2 over the weekend.

With the boat easily accessible ( no need for launch or recovery, happy days) , we decided to go on for a midweek dive.
When I arrive the sea was flat calm, and the temptation to go farther the coastline was pressing, but the lack of dry cox made me think better of it. Five of us were diving.
So I settle upon middle rock once more, the visibility in the water had deteriorated from the weekend.

Funnily Sunday, the visibility was poor, green and murky for the first 15 meters but all cleared up down below. On Wednesday however it was murky all the way down ... which did not help my photo-graphical skills ...

Poor visibilty.. combined to poor white balance settings

Middle Rock: Right in the mouth of Kilkee Bay, this is said to be one of the finest dive sites in the area. On nautical charts you'll find it rightly in the middle of a groups labelled "Black Rocks" from the color you can see when the tip of the rocks emerge from the water.

Middle rock is easier to access than outer rock, which usually see big waves and swell even on calm sea, we usually approach it from the North, dropping the divers the deeper (up to 33 meters ) and leaving them heading south to find the sheer wall of the rock.

While the first group was enjoying the site under we made use of a fishing rod, and were lucky enough to capture some mackerels.

Soon enough it was time, to go back to land, moor the boat ( no tricky boat recovery this time ) and head for the next curry in town.

Happy divers... post dive...

Incidently you can check the different dive sites in Kilkee on our friends website http://www.kilkeesubaquaclub.com/ , I encourage you to have a read at Noel Gleeson on "Oileán Na Bátha".

 How else would you spend your Wednesday evening ?

Parents Irish Holidays - Part 3 Donegal

Guinness for strength...

Heather Blooming

Sheeps on Donegal cliffs...

Donegal coastline...

Walking on Aran Mor

The Ferry to bring us back on land

Carrick-on Shannon pub ... Ireland coloured

Bundoran Beach

Walking on Donegal beaches of fine sand

Mum

Dad

The END

The End

How to end the week well

Underwater summary of the week

Found in newfie, a natural smiley...

Well, it has been a great week, with the escapes to the beach Tuesday and Wednesday. I was back in town Thursday night, with the usual concert in Bourkes. This time it was Rarely Seen Above Ground ( R.S.A.G. ).
A brilliant artist drummer, I was quite surprised by the performance in a very good way.

leaflet Bourkes

RSAG in Bourkes

Friday, was quiet at home, watching TV and chatting on FB. A bit of rest before having a rugby day, watching the French league, with a worrying prestation from ASM - hopefully it will be better next weekend - then heading saturday night to Thomond Park for the Munster-Leinster game. Not a great rugby game infairness but the ambience in Thomond is always good, even if the boys in blue managed to calm down the public.

Munster pre-game mascot

Sunday morning brought by the sun, which was perfect for a nice spin to Kilkee. A full good hour snorkel, a nice hot chocolate cake and small catch up with the diving buddies....

Anemone in Newfie

Under ....

Checking out the divers down below....

Me

Nice hot chocolate cake

In summary: good music, good company, the sun, the sea, some rugby game... what else can you ask for.

Snorkel under the sunset

Another sunny day in Ireland, as a result I went for a short snorkel in WhiteStrand near Miltown Malbay (Co Clare) after work. Ended meeting the Burren SubAqua club on a small testing gear dive.

Ready to go in the water.... at least my fins are

Emerging from the not so deep

Great visibility and color - under water

Another nice sunset ....

Perfect Day...

Putain 7 ans deja....

Il y a sept ans ( le 5 février 2005 ) je posais mes valises en Irlande. Apres un long voyage en voiture de deux jours, incluant un ferry et un tunnel en train:

En fouillant j'ai éssayé de retrouver quelques photos du voyage et bizarrement je n'en ai pas pris tant que cela...

• Départ de Grenoble, France

Un dernier coup d'oeil a la vue que j'avais depuis mon studio:

• Sur le chemin, un passage par mon village natal : Hauterive, Allier, France
• Coquelles - Eurotunnel
• Folkestone, England
• Pembroke, Wales pour prendre le Ferry, un voyage de nuit très calme.

• Pour finalement arriver en Irlande: Roslare, Ireland
• Je me souviens avoir conduit pour aller directement sur la cote ouest, Limerick, Ireland
  Et voila ma fidèle voiture sur le sol irlandais... Elle y restera d'ailleurs... sans doute dans une casse ...

Je me souviens être arrive un weekend et donc m’être précipité pour visiter la cote et les plages , je crois que c'est une plage du Burren ou du Connemara....

Bref c’était il y a sept ans déjà, je passais cette première nuit a Limerick dans un bed and breakfast prés de mon futur lieu de travail ( le lendemain ), je ne savais pas a ce moment la que je ne resterais que six mois dans ce premier job, que ce serais les 6 derniers mois ou je ferais du Layout Analogique.  Je ne savais pas qu'il me faudrait un an avant de me remettre a plonger un peu, et un de plus avant de joindre un club et de m'y remettre sérieusement. Je ne savais pas qu'un espagnol allais me faire découvrir un pub nomme le Costello et que 3 mois plus tard il allais mourir. D'un autre cote je ne suis pas sur d'avoir appris beaucoup plus que cela en sept, d'avoir progresse...
Surtout je ne savais pas que sept ans plus tard, je serais toujours en Irlande !



Le trajet sur Google Map...

View Travel to Ireland in a larger map

Reeling the years 2011

Another spin of reeling the years.

The idea is very simple and based on a simple question: Where was I 5 years ago, 10, 15 ...etc ?
Previous post were: 2010, 2009 and 2008.

So let's go back in time by 5 years leap....


2006: Limerick, Ireland
My second year in Ireland, which saw my first dives in Ireland

Probably the year, I have visited the most Ireland, thanks to those guys: les boulets

2001: Grenoble, France
My first work ( permanent contract ) in France, Grenoble ( actually Meylan to be more precise ), as an engineer. And discover the nice bar in Grenoble:The Loco Mosquito
Also the year I graduated Clermont-Ferrand university.

1996: Clermont Ferrand, France
Still in CPGE at Lycee Blaise Pascal


1991: Hauterive, France
Starting in French High School

1986: Hauterive, France


1981: Hauterive, France
I think this is the year I started going to school, or was it the following.....

1976: Hauterive, France
That christmas I am barely 9 year month old, and I have many dogs to take care of me ( in the photo below i think it was atos )

Evening surfing

Evening surfing ( after work ) are the dream in Summer in Ireland... lovely time down there.



Left work at 5pm, headed straight to Lahinch with my surfboard, and straight into the water. I am managing very slow improvement in my surfing abilities, anyway that was an excellent way to spend the evening. :D

Back in the surf....

Getting wet

Great weekend, half productive ( another series of boat repair for the diving club ), half sporty/active ( surf but mostly body-boarding in Spanish Point, Sunday with PJ ), and all that fun and entertaining, with the mandatory passage to the Wicked and Costello on Saturday night....
All good. :D



PJ trying to ride a wave:

PJ riding it

Waterford Tall Ship 2011

I went Friday 1st of July to Waterford see the tall ship, and took some pictures, little did I know...

Tall Ship

hot air ballon, in Waterford sky

Russian Crew member

Russian crew

Masts

Night View

Brilliant occasion ( http://www.waterfordtallshipsrace.ie/ )

Here's a slideshow of the pictures I take: