Winter Solstice and the baby boat

So Winter Solstice is a boat. She's a Rampart 32, built in Southampton, made from timber and 40 years old. The baby is our sailing dinghy. In this picture they're both in Mountshannon Harbour on Lough Derg.

The Beginning

A leap into blogland on this wild and wintry March night. I live in East Clare in a cottage in the hills. I'm amazed the broadband is still working. Wind and rain and ice and snow get into the workings across the valley where the box that does things sits on Paddy Tuohy's barn roof. The signal has to come from Tountinna Mountain beside Lough Derg, past the Scarriff factory to the barn across the valley from me. Bounce, and over to the box on my roof. There's a lot that can go wrong.

I'm glad we brought Winter Solstice down from Shannon Harbour to Portumna on Sunday. Wind and rain are no fun when you're boating. We had to travel on one engine as the other one wouldn't start. It can be difficult berthing as the boat wants to go in a circle.