Go west Young man go West.

It’s Thursday August 18/2016.

We’ve had a quiet night. The tide was in and high so we hoisted the life raft up on the main halyard and swung it over onto the shore and then placed it into boot of the little red car. The car had been recently serviced and they even fixed the boot door so that it actually opened! Bonus!! Got the raft in and had breakfast sorted out trip to the West and then went off to Longraide? Dropped off the raft and then to Kilmore Quay for a crab sandwich. Didn’t get one as all the crab was being send to France. Hmmm thought they were partial to frog? Had a messy Prawn roll instead and Sally had Tuna.

Headed off to Wexford to visit Patricia noticed the brakes had gotten a little soft continued driving, brakes got softer! Hmmm something wrong I suspected. Kept driving lots of room between us and who ever was in front of us! Pumping peddle no longer works!! Now know something is wrong!!! Begin to use hand brake. ( Hand Brake is that leaver thingy that’s between the front seats usually behind the gear shift which is the knobby thing in front of the hand brake that is used to shift gears on a manual transmission car and also an automatic car. The difference between being, a clutch operated with the left foot whether or not the steering wheel is on the left or right side of the vehicle!) Also a hand brake or in some makes of cars called a parking brake operated by leaver or foot is a mechanically operated brake. The leaver is connected to a cable running to the rear wheels that when operated applies the rear brakes thus slowing and stopping the vehicles when the hydraulic or air systems (Air Brakes systems on Large trucks and Busses) malfunctions. Now if the cable also breaks your in the deeeeep doodoo!!!!  The little red car also had a 5 speeder transmission so lots of gear options, And since we were in the middle of nowhere for all intent and purpose and since it wasn’t the first time I’ve experienced a dysfunctional brake system we continued very very carefully on our way.

We arrived safely at the nursing home had a short visit and then back on the road to New Ross. Of course my dear wife as we were leaving mentioned to her mother that we were driving around with no brakes!! We discussed this on the drive back to the boat! We made it safely back to the yard.

Friday August 19/16 We awoke to a howling Gale and very heavy rain with a Very High Spring Tide so high in fact that we stepped down onto the pier side instead of up 4 steps! There was so much water running that there was a Very Large waterfall cascading down to the River. Noisy or what even I heard it!

 We traded the Little Red Car for the bosses jeep and away we went to Wexford and then up the Super highway to Dublin and the Super Duper highway out to Galway then some city roads in Galway then onto some not so super-duper roads then some not so super roads then onto some 1 ½ laners then the one laners with a ditch on both sides then onto a laneway and finally onto a track then we arrived at Uncle D’s House in the West!

The house is literally at the end of the road and the end of the known world. Next stop would be Lake Melville Labrador! No chance of seeing it though as we were enjoying some more Irish summer weather! Alan and Heather were already there. Parked the jeep and had a grand visit while sitting in the bay window with a peat fire burning merrily at our backs and a glass of whiskey in our hand and a Gale blowing in off the North Atlantic rattling the triple pane windows. A fine night indeed. We even found time for some dinner. Heather and Alan went for a swimm reminded me of something I heard or read about Mad dogs and English men. I had a nap!

Sat. August 20/16. Awoke to the sounds and smell of a cooked Breakfast! Whoooppie!! Ate that and then we all jumped into the jeep and off to Clifton we did go. Had a walk about and some rain and a pint. Purchased a fiberglass repair kit and returned to the House. Lahing Rain again.

Sun. Aug 21/16. Up early. Girls heard about market in Roundstone so of course we had to go. Alan refused. I couldn’t!! Nice drive but wet and miserable weather. Poor market. I went to café and did some writing. Girls found me. I drove home. Stopped on way to pick Black berries. 7 pounds worth! Alan had gone off and picked mussels. We had them for dinner. Sally Heather and Alan played Catan I read my book.

Mon. Aug.,22/16. Decided good day to drive back to New Ross. Dry and overcast but warm enough to fix the boat. So we did and then we all headed off. Us in the Jeep and A&H in the camper Van. They had to go into Clifton for something so we left ahead of them and got a geo cache at the Allcock and Brown memorial. ( Allcock and Brown were the first to fly across the Atlantic in 1919. They landed in a bog here next to the Marconi experimental radio station). We then drove to Yes it’s Keohes’ for lunch with H&A then a long drive back to the Boat Yard where we arrived at about 2030 to a closed gate! Managed to get in and had pasta for dinner the blissfull sleep.