sail to Skerries and back

Mark Rosenthal

2026-06-21 Helen Michael Tess Mark I arrived onboard just after 11:00 with the other crew already in the cockpit. We agreed to have a hot drink before leaving the mooring. We followed Soulmate out of the New Harbour and started to sail towards the Skerries until we had a Helen HOB (hat over board) moment which accounts for the deviation on the track! After several attempts we managed to capture the cap and returned to our northerly course towards the Skerries. With the moderate NE winds we made an average of 8.5kt and arrived at the Skerries too early. We hove to and drifted north of The Skerries while we had lunch. In 20 minutes of steady drifting the tide took us well to the East of The Skerries and had to battle against the currents to get round the West Coast of The Skerries before turning on a broad reach to head for Clipera. After several attempts we managed to capture the cap and returned to a northerly course towards the Skerries. With the moderate NE winds we made an average of 8.5kt and arrived at the Skerries too early. We hove to and drifted north of The Skerries while we had lunch. In 20 minutes of steady drifting the tide took us well to the East of The Skerries and had to battle against the currents to get round the West Coast of The Skerries before turning on a broad reach to head for Clipera. As there were no ferry movements due we headed directly for the end of the breakwater having informed Port Control of our intentions and observations of the James Joyce, still 15 minutes from Point Victor. Back on our mooring for 16:00hrs we cleared up and waited for the launch to come alongside to take us to the groyne.