Tophe Adventures

Saturday, July 07, 2012

Back in Galway from the sea

So this saturday I went back to Galway for the final in-port race of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012...
As they say the final showdown:

We used our diving club ( Aughinish ) boat to get to Galway bay. Launching the boat from Doolin, all the way up to Salthill - the race was taking place just in front of it.

We arrived around 11AM after a smooth drive - despite being against the wind and the swell, thanks to a dexterous cox - before the sailing boat left the Galway docks.
While they were going out, we were able to get pretty close and have a good view of those ocean beasts.

Spanish Boat

The French Boat ... winner of the overall race :D

There was many boats trying to follow the race, including the local hooker:

Galway Hooker

Then the marshall pushed us behind the yellow buoy, so the race could start... and off they went for an hour of intense action.

The race

Camper and Groupama battling out to catch Puma

Camper and F.Cammas boat

Groupama chasing Camper

Puma... and yes we are behing the buoy :)

Puma won the race,

The winner of the in port race Puma

And after another pass near the boat, we decided to turn back to the Clare side of the bay.
We did try to get into Monks in Ballyvaughan, but a sand bank prevented our plan - and I won't say anything else about that.

It was a fast drive back to Doolin, where the Dolphin was waiting for us, with the wind pushing in our back.

In summary a very happy day at sea ! I will be following the next race ( probably won't come to Ireland this time :( )

- UPDATE -

The full inport race:

And Bock account of the race ( from a different boat ):

http://bocktherobber.com/2012/07/volvo-ocean-race-2012/

- UPDATE -
My diving club account of the event: http://www.aughinishdivingclub.com/news/170-volvo-ocean-race

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

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.

Monday, July 02, 2012

My SeaSessions 2012

I went to my first SeaSessions in Bundoran last weekend.
It is a very vibrant, cool music festival, down by the beach, exposed to the Atlantic fury.

Weekend Pass

Brilliant line-up:

KAISER CHIEFS, THE MINUTES, REV RUN (RUN DMC) & DJ RUCKUS, THE CORONAS, SIMON & OSCAR (OCEAN COLOUR SCENE), HOT 8 BRASS BAND, BITCHES WITH WOLVES, DELORENTOS, THE ORIGINAL RUDEBOYS, JAPE, WE CUT CORNERS, TOBY KAAR, TIERANNIESAUR, DUNE COLLECTIVE, CRY MONSTER CRY

I headed up ( 3 and half hours drive ) Friday afternoon, after ensuring I had a proper tent in order.

Once there, after parking into some unofficial field ( this would cause some epic muddy departure later ), I set up my tent, near the Tramore boys and girls.

cosy camper

After a couple of drinks, we headed off to the gig tents, and started to enjoying the first bands ( notably the minutes ).

Finished off Friday night with the Kaiser Chiefs, brilliant, even if i missed 4-5 songs - including "I predict a riot"... or may be it was a perfect timing - due to event independent of my own will .. and a lovely red haired called Heather - if it was ever to be her name - only to ( most likely ) never see her again.

On Saturday, we awake in the mud, and were back on the drinks, I focus my attention on the North tent, and we had a great gig with TierAnnieSaur ( check their album on band camp ).

TierAnnieSaur...

Tierannisaur...

Fashion sense, how not to wear sunglasses:

No fashion sense

Hot 8 Brass Band on the main stage... warming us up to the sound of Marvin Gaye song

Sexual healing ....

The coronas on main stage:

The coronas...

Lessons learned over the weekend:
#1: All bits are important in a tent... especially the tiny piece which goes on top, and prevent rain to get down through the vent.
#2: Take Monday off, you'll need it to rest after, despite the sleeping till 12am everyday.
#3: Never ever ask a girl's name after making out with her. Loud music is not a valid excuse, nor bad hearing.
#4: Even if you take your ticket alone, you always end up, meeting friends.
#5: A Nissan micra is not a car made for offroad driving... even if mine is quite good in the mud.
#6: Many girls always try to look pretty and stylish, even in the mud and in the rain... which is an impressive feature at times ( Remind me of Clisare video on camping )

Anyway I loved the SeaSessions, and will definitely think of coming back next year ( probably with a Monday off, so i can enjoy the Sunday bands ).

Thursday, June 28, 2012

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 ?

Monday, June 25, 2012

Picless update - ending June

Hi, no pic in this post, somehow, I did not take the time to get my cameras out in those lats two weeks, since my parents left.
Not that those two weeks haven't been busy:
- a quiet session in Dr john to catch up with the local francophone biologist from UL.
- A Sunday in Doolin, diving with underwater birds and dolphins. It actually killed me not to have my camera on those dives :).
- A play in BellTable : PigTown - worth checking out if you are around, or if someone decide to replay it.
- Another good music session in Bourkes, this time the band was "Funeral Suits"
- A boring friday night in the Limerick Horse Race.... seems the event has been getting quieter and quieter with the end of the boom.
- A wet saturday in Kilkee bay, covering fro the Hell of the west triathlon.
- Followed by some good catch up in the local pub ( skinny dog it was ). By the way triathletes are sexy :)
- A short sweet dive on middle rock on sunday followed by some healthy food watching the gorgeous bay while basking in the sun.

That's about it... now roll on next weekend and the sea session.... and this time i'll bring out my camera.