We motored out of Derrynane in light winds again but the overnight wind had generated quite a big sea swell so there was a lot of white water crashing over the rocky entrance to the harbour. Once the wind piped up we were close hauled for the Skellig Islands of Valentia. Little Skellig has a Gannet colony of over 20,000 birds and we could smell them as we passed close by!
After the ornithological excitement we stopped for a lunchtime anchorage beside Valentia Island, a remote lump of rock originally only accessible by ferry (there's now a road bridge) that became hugely important to world communications. There was a Marconi radio station on its most western tip (the ruin still visible)where Morse code messages would be transmitted to America. You can imagine the briefing to the radio operators when told of their new posting:
Chief Radio Man, in clipped British tones:"Good news chaps, you're going to Valentia."
New Radio Man: "Absolutely spiffing, always fancied Spain, old man."
C.R.M: "Ah, not quite the same, I'm afraid. Splendid views, though, and no shortage of wind".
Anyway, lunch over we reached past the north side of the island over to Dingle. We saw a group of Gannets diving into the sea just ahead of us and, the next minute, had over 20 Common Dolphin all around us. They got bored of us quite quickly and went back to their fish hunt.
As we approached the entrance to Dingle harbour at about 6.30pm, we had half an eye out for further dolphin encounter. We'd read of a resident dolphin called Fungi who is said to welcome each boat personally so, of course, didn't believe it. More than a little yelp of surprise from the crew, therefore, when he popped up about 2 metres from us, had a good look (presumably making notes of boat name, sail number, length and number of crew for his records) before gently rolling back under to wait for his next vessel!
Dingle has a small but new marina with a working fishing harbour across the other side of a large breakwater. After showers, we walked into town for drinks and a meal, slightly overwhelmed by the sudden re-introduction to a place with more than one bar and a shop! Dingle is really geared up for the tourist (we felt outnumbered by the Americans) but we've got acclimatised now and have found some less busy, more genuine parts.
Today (Friday) is Barbara and Steve's last day on board and we'll miss their company. We had an excellent fish lunch at a small cafe in the marina, went for a 3-hour day-sail to try to catch some mackerel (failed) and will have a final meal aboard this evening. In the morning they catch an early bus as the first stage of a complicated bus/train/ferry/train/car trip back to mid-Wales.
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