MV Dirona travel digest for Dublin 2017


Show Dublin 2017 travel log map Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.

On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at //mvdirona.com/maps/LocationCurrent.html.


   

11/10/2017: Brunswick Lock
Back in Brunswick Dock at high tide to make an overnight run from Liverpool to Dublin.
11/10/2017: Liverpool
One final look at the Three Graces in beautiful downtown Liverpool.
11/10/2017: 21.9°
The forecast called for westerly winds in the 20s for the first couple of hours of our run to Dublin, then they should settle down to below 10 knots. But we're seeing mostly 30 knots on the bow with gusts into the 40s. The current against the wind is generating steep, tight waves producing considerable boat motion with a maximum pitch of 21.9° in the past five minutes. We normally don't mind a bit of boat motion, but we'll be glad when this is over.
11/10/2017: Traffic
We're about five hours out of Liverpool and conditions remain rougher than predicted and the traffic in and out of the busy Liverpool port is heavy.
11/10/2017: 16.4°
The winds are falling and conditions have improved relative to what they were earlier. We're still pitching 16 degrees, but that should settle down soon.
11/11/2017: Calm
We're now seeing the calm conditions we were expecting for most of this trip. The winds are now less than 5 knots and pitch and roll are down to around 6 degrees each and falling. The rest of the run to Dublin should be enjoyable.
11/11/2017: Ulysses
Traffic dropped off as we left the Welsh coast, but has picked up again as we approach Dublin. This is the Irish Ferry Ulysses heading to the capital from Holyhead in North Wales.
11/11/2017: Stena Adventurer
The Stena Adventurer, also en route to Dublin from Holyhead, North Wales.
11/11/2017: Kish Bank
The distinctive 100 ft (30 m) lighthouse at Kish Bank was installed in 1965. The hat-like top is a helicopter landing pad.
11/11/2017: East Pier
Two massive piers, built in the early 1800s, create a huge 250-acre (101-hectare) sheltered harbour at Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary). This is looking past the east pier light to a group of boats sailing inside the harbour walls.
11/11/2017: West Pier
Fishers beside the Dun Laoghaire west pier light give a feel for how high the wall is (click image for larger view).
11/11/2017: Dun Laoghaire Marina
Dun Laoghaire Marina, our destination, is a large 820-boat marina behind a second set of breakwaters within the protected harbour. Although the marina is outside Dublin proper, it has convenient train access to the city with a large number of shops and restaurants close by in Dun Laoghaire.
11/11/2017: Fast Friends
We're once again moored beside an RNLI boat. This is at least the third time, the last of which was beside the RNLB Macquarie at Inverness.
11/11/2017: The Lighthouse
At The Lighthouse pub in Dun Laoghaire for lunch and a welcome pint of Guiness after our overnight run from Liverpool. Whenever we told someone we were heading to Dublin, they always replied that we would be able to get a proper pint of Guiness. We're not sure if the Guiness was better here, but it sure tasted good.
11/12/2017: Mark & Carol McGillivray
New Zealand residents Mark and Carol McGillivray, owners of Nordhavn 50 Panacea, were in the area and stopped by to visit. We had an excellent evening with them, first on Dirona and later over dinner at Toscano Italian restaurant on the waterfront.
11/13/2017: Sunrise
An 7:46am sunrise at Dun Laoghaire Marina. The days sure are short in the winter here, even shorter than Seattle. The shortest day in the year, December 21st, has 8:25 of daylight in Seattle and an hour less at 7:29 in Dublin. Both still beat Tromso in northern Norway, where the sun never rises at all during the entire month of December.
11/13/2017: Berth
Looking past the two Dun Laoghaire Marina inner breakwaters to the East pier and its lighthouse, just visible in the distance. These all combine to make for calm conditions at our berth, even in strong winds.
11/13/2017: Lunch
Lunch at the Forty Foot pub overlooking Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
11/13/2017: Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum of Ireland is housed in a former church in downtown Dun Laoghaire and is packed with displays covering the history of the area and its many maritime tragedies.
11/13/2017: Lens
First-order Fresnel lens at the National Maritime Museum of Ireland. The lens was in use between 1901 and 1972 at the Baily Lighthouse, on Howth Head peninsula along the north side of Dublin Bay.
11/14/2017: Custom House
A convenient 20-minute train trip brought us from the Dun Laoghaire marina to downtown Dublin in the late afernoon. This is the magnificent Custom House building was built in the late 1700s on the banks of the River Liffey that runs through Dublin.
11/14/2017: J.W. Sweetman
We had an excellent meal at J.W. Sweetman along the River Liffey.
11/14/2017: O'Connell Monument
O'Connell Street is Dublin's main thoroughfare and contains several statues that memorialize Irish heroes. This is of Daniel O'Connell, 'the Great Liberator', who in the early 19th century fought for Catholic emancipation and the repeal of the Acts of Union that joined Great Britan and Ireland.
11/14/2017: O'Brien Monument
William Smith O'Brien was an Irish MP who was sentenced to deportation to Van Dieman's Land (now Tasmania) for his part in the failed 1848 Young Irelander Rebellion, a nationalist uprising.
11/14/2017: John Gray Monument
John Gray was an Irish politician and supporter of Daniel O'Connell who also advocated for the repeal of the Acts of Union and was instrumental in introducing a freshwater supply to Dublin while chairman of the Dublin Corporation Water Works Committee between 1863 and 1875.
11/14/2017: Spire
The 393ft (120m) Spire of Dublin on O'Connnel street. When installed in 2001 it was the highest statue in the world until being eclipsed in 2008 by the 420ft (128m) Spring Temple Buddha in China. Given the simplicity of this statue it's not entirely fair to include in the worlds largest statue list, but it is a great landmark in Dublin.
11/14/2017: James Larkin Statue
James "Big Jim" Larkin was an Irish trade-union leader most known for organizing the six-month Dublin lockout in 1913-1914 that aimed to introduce trade unions to improve the terrible living conditions of Irish workers.
11/14/2017: Post Office
At Dublin's General Post Office to mail a package. The grand building was the command headquarter's for rebels in the 1916 Easter Uprising during Ireland's struggle for independence from Great Britain.
11/14/2017: Parnell Monument
Statue of Charles Parnell, an Irish nationalist politicion and British MP who controlled the balance of power between the Liberals and the Conservatives in 1885 and successfully pushed for Irish self-government.
11/14/2017: Henry Street
Henry Street is one of Dublin's two main shopping streets, along with Grafton. The mostly pedestrian road attracts 33 million shoppers per year.
11/14/2017: Guinness Truck
Trucks pulling stainless steel tanks of Guinness passed by constantly while we were walking about Dublin. The many-block Guinness brewery is nearby along the River Liffey.
11/14/2017: Four Courts
The imposing Four Courts building was built in the late 1700s and is home to the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. The building was destroyed in 1922 during the Irish fight for independence and was rebuilt in 1932.
11/14/2017: Rory O'More Bridge
The many bridges that cross the River Liffey in downtown Dublin are lit up beautifully at night. The Rory O'More bridge was opened in 1861 with an inaugural crossing by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
11/14/2017: Guiness
Looking across the River Liffey to the 50-acre Guinness Brewery, founded in 1759, that covers blocks and blocks in downtown Dublin.
11/14/2017: Temple Bar
The cobblestone streets of Dublin's popular Temple Bar district on the south side of the River Liffey are full of restaurants, quirky shops, pubs and people.
11/14/2017: Molly Malone
Statue of Molly Malone in the Temple Bar district. She was a fictional fishmonger described in the song of the same name that has become Dublin's unofficial anthem.
11/14/2017: O'Neill's
We finished the day with a great evening at O'Neill's pub, a quicky multi-floor building with small balconies and tables tucked away all over the place. And amazingly, we ran into Mark & Carol McGillivray who were visiting from New Zealand.
11/15/2017: Calm
A lovely calm morning looking toward the west pier inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
11/15/2017: Time To Fuel
The port-side tank is showing yellow to indicate we've got less than 125 gallons in that tank. The two indicators to the left show we're down to only only 310 total gallons of fuel on board and will need 1,438 at the next fueling. We've been monitoring our fuel levels with the hopes of waiting until we return to Ireland to refuel since the prices are better there.
11/15/2017: Baily Lighthouse
We're making a small run this morning over to Carlisle Pier to refuel. This is the Baily Lighthouse on Howth Head Peninsula, just visible across Dublin Bay through the Dun Laoghaire harbour piers.
11/15/2017: ILV Granuaile
We watched the Irish Lights Vessel Granuaile arrive at St. Michael's pier this morning. Irish Lights headquarters is at the harbour in Dun Laoghaire.
11/15/2017: East Pier
The light on the end of east pier, viewed in calm conditions as we near Carlisle Pier.
11/15/2017: Carlisle Pier
Docked at Carlisle Pier to take on fuel by truck. We arranged with the harbourmaster to use this pier, where fueling is allowed and the huses will reach, for a €100 bunkering fee. This is a large commercial pier, designed for multi-hundred foot vessels, so we ended up tying against one of the large ship fenders. With nobody to help with the lines, we tied on to whatever we could reach, which will work ok in these conditions but isn't particularly secure.

Dun Laoghaire Marina does have an easy-to-use fuel dock, but they only stock 1,000L and we need 5,443L. So a truck is the only option and the pricing is better as well.
11/15/2017: Immigration
Before arriving into Ireland, we'd contacted Irish Customs, Immigration and Agriculture to enquire about bringing the boat, ourselves and Spitfire back into the country. Neither Customs nor Agriculture needed to inspect us, but Immigration would need to stamp our passport and said they'd be out today. They arrived this morning while we were waiting for the fuel truck. Fortunately they didn't need to come on board, as it would be pretty challenging with our current docking arrangement. Instead we placed our passports in a small drybag and passed them across with a boat hook to get them stamped, giving us another 90 days in Ireland.
11/15/2017: Fueling
Fuel by truck from Campus Oil with a red flag flying to indicate we're taking on dangerous cargo.
11/15/2017: Low Tide
We had to adjust our lines several times during the fueling to accommodate the falling tide. In our short stop here to fuel, we'll go down more than five feet.
11/15/2017: Payment
We used our successful passport-stamping process to pass a credit card over to the Campus Oil driver to pay for the fuel. Overall we took on 5,459 liters (1,442 gal), only 16 liters (4 gal) more than we expected. Those Maretron FPM100 Fluid Pressure Monitors sure are accurate, as we discovered on our Indian Ocean crossing.
11/16/2017: The Workshop
We started an afternoon trip to Dublin with an excellent lunch at The Workshop Gastropub along the River Liffey.
11/16/2017: Westin Dublin
The Westin Dublin opened a decade ago in the beautifully restored 19th-century Allied Irish Bank and Pearl buildings.
11/16/2017: Trinity College
Trinity College, in the middle of downtown Dublin, was founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I. Most of the buildings date from the 18th and 19th century. This is the chapel, completed in 1798.
11/16/2017: Campanile
The iconic Campanile (bell tower) at Trinity College was completed in 1853.
11/16/2017: Book of Kells Exhibit
The Book of Kells is a lavishly illustrated Gospel manuscript and one of the oldest books in the world. It was produced in the 9th century at the Iona Abbey in southwest Scotland, that we visited in August of this year. The book was transferred sometime before the 12th-century to Kells, Ireland for safekeeping from Viking raiders and later to Trinity College in 1661 where it has been on permanent display since the 19th century.
11/16/2017: Book of Kells
Photography isn't allowed in the Book of Kells Exhibit, but here's a picture we took in August of this year of the manuscript copy on display at the Iona Abbey where it was produced over a thousand years ago.
11/16/2017: Library
The Long Room in the Old Library Building contains 200,000 of the library's oldest books and manuscripts. The computer-generated Jedi Archive in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was based on this room. It's quite spectacular.
11/16/2017: Sphere Within a Sphere
In the striking Sphere Within a Sphere sculpture at Trinity College, the inner ball represents humanity and the outer Christianity. Versions of the sphere also are in Rome, New York and Tehran.
11/16/2017: Science Gallery
The Science Gallery at Trinity College is a combination art and science gallery that encourages young people to tackle scientific challenges through experimentation and interaction with the public. The program's success has inspired Science Gallery International, with locations in Detroit, London, Melbourne, Bengaluru and Venice.
11/16/2017: Parliament House
Impressive Parliament House was built in 1729 for the Kingdom of Ireland parliament. The Act of Union joining Ireland and Great Britain abolished that parliament in 1800, and the build ling has housed the Bank of Ireland since 1808.
11/16/2017: City Hall
Dublin's City Hall was built between 1769 and 1779, originally as the Royal Exchange.
11/16/2017: Christ Church Cathedral
Christ Church Cathedral was founded in 1030 and rebuilt or renovated many times over the centuries. It is the most impressive structure to survive from medieval Dublin.
11/16/2017: John's Lane Church
The Church of St. Augustine and St. John the Baptist was founded in1874 and is popularly called John's Lane Church from its location at the corner of John's Lane.
11/16/2017: Guinness Brewery
At the Guinness Brewery before our tour of the Guinness Storehouse. In 1759 Arthur Guinness founded the brewery that eventually grew to 5,000 workers in the 1930s and encompasses 50 acres in downtown Dublin. The brewery currently produces 2.5 million pints of stout daily. Its proper name is St. James's Gate Brewery, after their huge gate that once crossed St. James's St.
11/16/2017: Waterfall
The Guinness Storehouse is a former grain storehouse that has been converted to a multi-media exhibit describing the iconic brewery's history and production. This is an indoor waterfall, part of the section describing how water is used in the brewing process.
11/16/2017: Copper
A 172,800-pint copper dating from 1878 from Brewhouse 2 at the Guinness Brewery. Wort, the sugary substance used to make beer, was boiled in coppers heated from below by huge peat-fired, and later coal-fired, furnaces.
11/16/2017: Gravity Bar
The tour includes a pint of Guinness in Gravity Bar atop the Guinness Storehouse, with panoramic views of the city.
11/16/2017: Cafe Topolis
We finished the day with a delicious pizza at a window seat in Cafe Topolis Italian restaurant on Parliament St.
11/18/2017: Christmas Festival
The Dun Laoghaire Christmas Festival kicks off on December 18th at the Harbour Plaza. A few hundred people showed up to see Santa, who will be turning on the Christmas lights and setting off a fireworks display.
11/18/2017: Fireworks
We had a great time watching our third fireworks display in as many months, this one to kickoff the Dun Laoghaire Christmas Festival. The previous two were Bonfire Night in Liverpool and Hallowe'en in Belfast.
11/20/2017: Hobblers Memorial
Hobblers were ad-hoc pilots who guided large ships arriving into unfamiliar harbours to moorings. The Hobblers Memorial at the foot of the east breakwater is in the form of a lighthouse-shaped tower of lifejackets and is dedicated to the seven Hobblers who drowned on the job in Dublin Bay between 1917 and 1934.
11/20/2017: East Breakwater
Looking west down the east breakwater, with Dun Laoghaire Marina on the left. Both were constructed in 2001.
11/20/2017: Dun Laoghaire Marina
The view south across Dun Laoghaire Marina from the east breakwater. The two boats in the foreground belong to the Irish Offshore Training that provides courses ranging from beginner to professional yacht skipper.
11/20/2017: Berth
We frequently see people walking the east breakwater that ends right near our berth, and finally made the walk ourselves. Adjacent to us is RNLB The Will. We love our private spot with views out the end of the breakwater.
11/20/2017: Irish Lights
The spectacular lighthouse-shaped headquarters for the Commissioners of Irish Lights on Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
11/23/2017: Howth Arrival
The view from the train as we pull into Howth for a day trip. The island in the distance on the left is called Ireland's Eye. Howth Harbour is on the right.
11/23/2017: Howth
Howth is known for fresh seafood and the commercial harbour is packed with colorful fishing vessels large and small.
11/23/2017: St. Mary's Abbey
The view across the ruins of 15th-century St. Mary's Abbey to Howth Marina with Ireland's Eye beyond.
11/23/2017: Howth Harbour
Commercial fishing vessels in Howth Harbour viewed from the grounds of St. Mary's Abbey. While not as large as Dun Laoghaire, the harbour has a similar configuration with large outer piers protecting smaller inner breakwaters.
11/23/2017: Summit Inn
We'd come to Howth to walk the popular cliff trails around the peninsula head and stopped off for a great meal at the Summit Inn pub en route.
11/23/2017: Baily Lighthouse
The Baily Lighthouse perched on the rocks above Dublin Bay. We took a picture of the lighthouse from Dun Laoghaire Harbour when we moved over to Carlisle Pier to fuel, and saw its previous Fresnel lens in the Maritime Museum there.
11/23/2017: Cliffs
Spectacular cliffs along the south side of Howth Head. The trail we'll be walking runs along the edge of the tree line.
11/23/2017: Stena Superfast X
Looking back to Baily Lighthouse from the Howth Head cliff walk, with the Stena Superfast X departing Dublin in the background.
11/23/2017: Ireland's Eye
Ireland's Eye viewed from the Nose of Howth. The dramatic freestanding rock off the right side is called The Stack and supports large seabird colonies. A Martello Tower is just visible on the left end of the island.

In Norse times, the island was called Erin's Ey, where Ey is the Norse word for island. Erin is similar to the Irish name for Ireland, and the island eventually became known by its current name.
11/23/2017: Martello Tower
A second Martello Tower stands above Howth and is one of fifty built in Ireland. We toured a Scottish tower while in Longhope in the Orkney Islands.

Martello Towers take their name from Martelle Point in Corsica, Italy where in 1794 two small cannons mounted on top of a round tower fended off an attack by two British warships with a combined firepower of 106 guns. The British were so impressed that they built over 100 such towers around the south and east coasts of Great Britain in the early 1800s when Napoleon was building an invasion fleet.
11/23/2017: Harbour Road
Looking across Harbour Road in Howth from the Martello Tower property.
11/23/2017: Traps
We walked around the Howth Harbour for a bit after completing the cliff walk. Along the pier were stacks of fish traps made out of large plastic bottles with holes cut through the sides.
11/23/2017: Mulloys
Several attractive fresh seafood stores are along the harbour, but Mulloys looked almost like an art gallery.
11/23/2017: Fishing Vessels
After several days of high winds, a large number of fishing vessels had departed the harbour or were preparing to get underway.
11/23/2017: Dusk
Looking back to Howth from the harbor pier at dusk.
11/23/2017: Wrights Findlater
We had an excellent meal of fresh seafood, of course, harbor-side at Wrights Findlater in Howth before taking the train back to Dun Laoghaire.
11/24/2017: Cruising Guides
The cruising guides we ordered from Amazon UK just arrived. We're really looking forward to cruising Norway next summer and the Baltic the following year. And we're considering returning to North America the following summer via Iceland and Greenland.
11/24/2017: Cream of the Crop
Spitfire at "the resort", Cream of the Crop Cattery where he'll stay while we return to the US for a short trip. Spit wasn't too excited about coming out of his carry bag initially, but he soon got comfortable. Deborah Lefroy took excellent care if him and sent us wonderful status updates.
11/24/2017: That's Amore
An exceptional evening at That's Amore Italian restaurant in nearby Monkstown. The food was delicious and the ambiance was wonderful. The owners knew most the patrons and the restaurant is so small, with only a half-dozen tables, that they had to move ours out for Jennifer to sit down
11/24/2017: Brrrr
It's been cold recently—the temperature is down to 38.8 and still falling. But unlike where we were this time last year, in Baltimore, they won't be shutting off the water to avoid the pipes freezing.
11/25/2017: N2kview Remote
It's kind of amazing to be able to check the shore power from an airplane over Iceland when the boat is back in Dublin. N2kview on the Android works identically on any internet connection in the world as it does on the boat.

What's happening behind the scenes is pretty impressive: We're sitting on an aircraft at 36,000ft over Iceland running N2kView on an Android device communicating over the Aer Lingus WiFi system, then over a KU band satellite link to ground stations and out onto the open internet to KVH. Then out to one of the KVH ground stations, up to a satellite and back down to the KVH V7-IP systems running on board over a static IP address.

From our plane seats we can see all boat system status, start/stop the generator, turn on the heat, and even start the main engine. In this particular case we are watching the shore power closer than usual since we have been having show power breaker trips every few days to a week since arriving in Dublin. Something isn't right either on-board or on the shore pedestal.
11/25/2017: San Jose Sharks
After landing in San Francisco, we drove to San Jose, checked into our hotel, then walked out to SAP Center to watch the San Jose Sharks take on the Winnipeg Jets that Saturday evening. We've seen plenty of hockey games in the past few years, but haven't attended an NHL game since living in Toronto in 1986-1997. We had an super-fun evening and really enjoyed the game.
11/26/2017: 49ers vs Seahawks
At the 49ers home stadium in Santa Clara on Sunday to watch the San Francisco 49ers take on the Seattle Seahawks. The facility, opened in 2014, is excellent and we had a great time at the game. Although we last saw a live NFL game in Baltimore last year, we've not watched our home team, the Seahawks, live since we left Seattle in 2012. It's a while before the start of the game, but the 49ers record is not coming close to filling the stadium.
11/26/2017: Mark Mohler
We had a great evening at Rok Steakhouse in Santa Clara with Mark Mohler, who owns Nordhavn 62 Gray Matter with his wife Christine Guo. We were first moored next to Gray Matter in the San Juan Islands in 2011 and last moored next to Gray Matter in Brisbane in 2014. We haven't seen Mark or Christine since 2015 when we were in the Gold Coast, Australia. It was awesome to see Mark again and catch up. And the steaks at Rok, cooked at the table on a super-hot volcanic rock, were exceptional.
11/28/2017: Arch Rock
We had returned to the US to attend the Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference, held annually in Las Vegas. Most of the week was busy with meetings, but we did find some time prior to the conference to take in some of the sights outside the city. This is Arch Rock, one of many fabulous weather-carved formations at nearby Valley of Fire State Park.
11/28/2017: Petroglyphs
Stairs leading up to 4,000-year-old petroglyphs at Valley of Fire State Park.
11/28/2017: Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock just outside the Valley of Fire visitor center. The almost square-shaped rock sitting at an angle at the center of the picture is balanced precariously on the pockmarked section below.
11/28/2017: Sheep
Several Desert Bighorn Sheep ewes feeding at the side of the road.
11/28/2017: Viewpoint
Looking north across Valley of Fire State Park from a viewpoint just off the main park road. The large dark red formation in the distance is along the Fire Wave trail that we'll walk shortly.
11/28/2017: Fire Wave Trail
Spectacular striped sandstone along Fire Wave trail. In the background is the same rock formation as in the previous photo.
11/28/2017: White Domes Trail
We kept thinking we'd seen the best at Valley of Fire State Park and found yet another striking formation. Here we are walking a barely-person-width trail through a canyon along White Domes trail.
11/28/2017: Squirrel
A hopeful White-tailed Antelope Ground Squirrel looking for a handout at the picnic area off White Domes Trail. He obviously hadn't seen the sign about not feeding the animals.
11/28/2017: The Cabins
Three visitor cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps soon after the Valley of Fire became a stare park in 1936.
11/28/2017: Elephant Rock
Elephant Rock, with its trunk-like arch on the left, is one of the most well-known Valley of Fire formations.
11/28/2017: Kinky
The Mexican rock band Kinky put on a great show as part of the Tuesday Night Live with Peter Desantis keynote at the Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference.
11/28/2017: Cloud Ninja
Jennifer with the Cloud Ninja at AWS re:Invent Tuesday Night Live.
11/30/2017: Red Rock Canyon
At the end of the conference, we made a quick visit to Red Rock Canyon State Park whose mountains are visible looking west from Las Vegas.
11/30/2017: Bridge Mountain
Bridge Mountain viewed from the Red Rock Canyon visitor's center overlook. The mountain is named after a bridge-like arch near the summmit.
11/30/2017: Rock Formations
Looking south across dramatic striped rock formations a short distance off the Calico Hill South parking lot in Red Rock Canyon Sate Park.
11/30/2017: Calico Hills
The vivid read Calico Hill's are Red Rock Canyon's most well-known feature. The hills are popular with hikers and climbers alike—a climber is just visible in white near the bottom center of the picture (click image for a larger view).
11/30/2017: Calico Tank Trail
Walking through a ravkine on the Calico Tank trail at Red Rock Canyon State Park.
11/30/2017: Steps
Steps have been carved into several of the steeper areas along the Calico Tank Trail. It was a fun walk.
11/30/2017: View
The fabulous view east from the end of the Calico Tank Trail at Red Rock Canyon State Park. The Las Vegas strip is just visible in the distance on the left and the park visitor center is down the road at right (click image for a larger view).
12/2/2017: Power Management
We wrote a web app that allows us to control the generator and other loads that are managed via load-shedding, such as the diesel furnace, HVAC and water heater. Instead of switching these loads off physically with a hardware switch, we control them with our web page, which works anywhere in the world. This also give us control over the hot water heater, where we set it to higher temperature when we're using a lot of hot water and lower temperatures when we don't need it as much. Lower temperatures are more power-efficient. We can view the web app through our static IP, allowing us to control the systems remotely.

We turned off the HVAC and water heater using the app when we left Dublin for a week in the US. When we landed back in Dublin, the boat inside is in the low 40s F. We turned the heat on from the airport and arrived back to a warm boat. We commonly use the app to turn the heat on and off when we leave the boat for dinner or day trips, and also at night and first thing in the morning so we can heat up the boat when we wake up without having to get up right away.

The application also shows daily power usage and source for the past seven days. With the temperatures down in the high 30s, our power consumption, if we're on the boat all the time, gets quite high at 60-70kWh per day. When the heat is off, it drops down to a still-high 30-33kWh per day. The satellite system is 200W 24x7, the computers in aggregate probably are around 100watts/hour/day. We essentially run the boat like an apartment, so it's not that power-efficient. The rest of the page shows see the power source and duration going back for a couple of weeks.
12/2/2017: N2kView Remote
Looking at N2kView on our Android just outside the Dublin airport after switching on the HVAC and water heater. Our shore amp draw as 15 amps as the boat warms up. We have a yellow chk light due to low hot water temperature since we've been gone for a week, and a red 45.9° indicating the hot water temperature in Fahrenheit. It will be back to full temperature in about an hour.
12/3/2017: Race
Four yacht clubs are based at Dun Laoghaire, with an active racing community. With today's high tide we can clearly see the Sunday racers passing East Pier Lighthouse.
12/3/2017: Customs
An Irish Customs boat arrived at the marina this morning. Since our US flag had attracted the attention of the UK Customs while we were in Inverness, we expected we'd get a visit. But we apparently didn't look interesting enough.
12/2/2017: Main Autostart
We picked up a few parts to carry back with us to Dublin, the most interesting being a Dynagen TG410 to enable autostart on the main engine that we started the install of today. We'll blog the details.
12/8/2017: RNLI
The Dun Laoghaire RNLI lifeboat Anna Livia departing Dun Laoghaire with the Girvan, Scotland lifeboat Elizabeth and Gertrude Allan. The latter is a brand new lifeboat built in Poole, UK and scheduled to arrive into the Girvan station two days from now. Perhaps the Anna Livia will be escorting it there. We've seen several different RNLI lifeboats in the area. RNLI College is in Poole, but perhaps they do some training here as well.
12/9/2017: Groceries
Jennifer returning from a grocery run at the local Tesco store.
12/11/2017: Fender Failure
Our ProStock inflatable fenders have been through an amazing amount ranging from fueling in a 3-foot swell in the open ocean against a metal barge, to high winds against cement. But last night, two of them failed. The wind was in the low 30s, so not extreme and the temperature was in the mid 30s. Neither that unusual but it looks like the fabric flexing near the valve in the cold weather likely failed. The fenders have a 5-year warranty and these are only 3 years old, so we'll report it and post the outcome.
12/12/2017: Sunrise
A fabulous Dun Laoghaire sunrise.
12/12/2017: Smoke
The RNLI relief vessel Duke of Kent really doesn't like starting on a cold morning.
12/12/2017: Dun Laoghaire Marina
We've been noticing people walking all the Dun Laoghaire Harbour piers and so far have only walked on of the inner breakwaters. So today we finally got out to the west pier. This is looking back to Dun Laoghaire Marina from partway along.
12/12/2017: Entrance
The East Pier and West Pier lighthouses viewed from near the head of the west pier.
12/12/2017: Royal Irish Yacht Club
On our way back from the West Pier walk, we stopped in at the Royal Irish Yacht Club for a pint. Founded in 1831, it is one of four yacht clubs in the harbour and a really nice facility.
12/13/2017: 40 knots
We've been waiting for the weather to settle to make a run to Falmouth. But winds will be pretty high for the next couple of days.
12/14/2017: Pigtail
We lost shorepower early this morning. Nothing is obviously wrong, but James had found a small current leak in the 16-amp pigtail in Kinsale. Since the 32-amp is a section from the same wire, we replaced it on spec and power was stable for remainder of our stay.
12/14/2017: 48 knots
The wind is blowing in the high 30s with gusts to 48 knots, but should improve by tomorrow evening for an overnight run to Falmouth.