The Other English

We thought we'd have to wait until we were in Norway or Sweden, maybe France to be entrenched in a culture that spoke another language. 

Don't ye know, Ireland has two official languages:  Irish (Gaelic) and English.  Sometimes, people use a combination of the two.

Here are a few of our Gaelic favorites that we've heard:
Cobh = Pronounced Cove; A town close to Crosshaven
Youghl = Pronounced Yawl; A town close to Crosshaven
Slan = Bye or Cheers
Slan abhaile = Pronounced slan awallya; Safe home or Have a safe trip
Go Mall = slow down
Tog bog e = please go slow
Baile Átha Cliath = Dublin
Lough = Pronounced lock; A lake
Bruscar = Trash can

Even when the Irish are speaking English sometimes it can be hard to know completely what is being said.  Quite often, there are idioms that are being expressed that will take us a minute to understand and respond.  A couple that we heard were:

> If the sun were out, we'd all be flyin' = Could you imagine if the sun was shining?
> How ye keeping'? = How are you?

Even when we arrived in the UK, there was an adjustment period where we might not understand what the other person was saying, and worse, they might not understand us and don't you know we were all speaking English.

The most common translations for us:
You alright? = Would you like to order something in the bar?
Half Twelve = 12:30
Granary or bleached? = Which type of bread would you like - wheat or white?
Car Park = Parking Lot
Lorry Park = Truck parking (o'carse)
Squibbly/scribbly = Signature, as in "Can I get your scribbly on this receipt please?"
Chips = French fries
Crisps = potato chips
Bonnet = hood of the car
Boot = trunk of the car
You’re having me on = you’re kidding with me

Baxter and I even find ourselves using a couple of these now and again.  It is fun to fully embrace the culture, even if it's technically the same language you thought you knew.

Falmouth, U.K.

We had no expectations for Falmouth, outside of the historical significance of sailors who have adventured through these waters for hundreds of years.  Well, as it turns out, it is every bit as awesome as it was centuries ago.

We started exploring by just walking up and down the streets, talking to locals and reading guide books.  The first pub we ventured into, 5 Degrees West, we thought we might be able to sit on the patio with Kala, as in Ireland, but it was rainy and we weren't sure we were in the mood to duck under the umbrella when it started to pour but we soon learned that not only was Kala welcome on the patio, but she could come inside (o'carse ye can) but they had a bag of treats ready for her too.  High points for Falmouth!!  It turns out Falmouth is cool for people and also very extremely doggie friendly, which makes the people's lives easier.

Now that we were on the mainland, we also needed to get a few things in order.  Our US phones were older (iPhone 5s) and we were not in the mood to upgrade a US number and have to pay international rates for the next year, so we just cancelled our US plans.  We replaced the iPhones with a circa 1990 Nokia flip phone with a UK sim card and saved money each month.  Anything that needed to be done smart phone-ish, we could do with our iPads and a wifi connection - now that we were near land, we should be able to get wifi fairly easily.

It was also time to learn how to food shop in England.  Every country has a different layout to their grocery stores and there are items in one place that you can't get in another, so we toured around understanding what is and isn't available in the UK.  We also learned that Cornwall (Falmouth's county) is proud, like Texas kind-of proud, of everything Cornish.  So we enjoyed the vibes and looked forward to sinking more into the culture.

Nice morning walk for Kala overlooking Falmouth

Doggie's are allowed - inside!

Furry Friends Welcome!!

It's really all we need to make voice calls

Main Street in Falmouth

Everything Cornish...very Cornwall proud

This is just a really cool building that was converted into flats (apartments) with great views of the harbour

This is the dinghy dock with the bridge to the marina - this is low tide.....you can use the dinghy heights (about 1.5 ft off the water or the building on the top left for perspective).  The tide is usually about 4-5 meters

This is high tide - compare to pic above to see the tidal height differences

Dry dock in Falmouth.  You can see at the stern of the boat the boat is on hard ground.  It looked like they were doing repairs on the thrusters but you can't see that in this picture.

Some days it is cold and rainy.  The frost collected on Kala's whiskers but she was still smiling and happy to go for a run.

A sunny day on a morning walk

I thought this was pretty neat and something good for the US to adopt.  Charities open up stores (similar to Goodwill) and resell donations in order to raise money.  They are all over the place and include all kinds of different charities.

Sailing to Mainland England

The weather and tides worked out the next morning to carry us out of the harbor in St Mary's and then we planned it so we would have favorable current most of the day towards Falmouth.

As expected, there was quite a bit of traffic as we crossed the English Channel towards Falmouth.  We had great wind to sail all the way to the mouth of the harbour.  The sun was shining and it was pretty fun to see mainland England and realize how many sailors in history, including Vikings, Romans, Spanish Armadas, Explorers and legendary sailors who have seen the exact same headlands and cliffs, and had the same tides and currents and navigated the same rocks and overfalls.  The realization that our hard work in prepping Terrapin and crossing the Atlantic to reach this point on the planet was a good feeling - the kind you get when you feel like you have accomplished something special and you'd like to relish in the moment.

So, we managed the cargo traffic around Falmouth, found another green mooring buoy - similar to St Mary's - and secured Terrapin.  Based on all the salty boats around us, this was going to be a great town to explore!

An awesome broad reach through the English Channel with cargo ships less than a mile away

Land Ho!  First views of mainland England!

As we sailed into Falmouth Harbor, we had to mind the cargos.

Pendennis Castle on the west side of Carrick Roads into Falmouth

Terrapin in Falmouth

Baxter checking the mooring lines while Kala supervises

Isles of Scilly

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful day.  It was quite unusual for this time of year in the Isles of Scilly.  It was warm, the sun was shining and we were secure on our mooring.

We took Kala to the beach for a swim then for a long hike and explored St Mary's.  Since it was Sunday, quite a few shops were closed but there was a pub, a bakery and wifi available.  A charming little island which seems very busy in the summer but since we were approaching the fall, it was quieter than usual, much to our delight.

It was interesting to switch gears from Ireland to the UK.  Money was in Pounds, not Euros, the beers were different (except Guiness - everyone has Guiness on tap - everywhere), the accents were different and the vocabulary changed, a wee bit.  We were super excited to experience the UK.

Terrapin has arrived in the United Kingdom

This is my dinghy.  Have you seen my dinghy?  I love my dinghy - a -lot!!

The village of St Mary's

Such a variety of boats in the anchorage.  Terrapin in the back (center of photo with tallest mast)

All's well when there's a beach

Beautiful ketch careening on low tide.

Let's go this way!

Enjoying the sunshine!

Salty ol' pub

RNLI Lifeboat - I imagine the Celtic Sea can be nasty and these are the guys who come rescue boats - all volunteers

"Take me to my boat - faster, please"

Cool jellies washed ashore

Cork To Scilly

Usually when we are cruising, we stop in a place, meet the locals, get the lay of the land, have an adventure or two, work on boat projects and then we're ready to go on to the next location.  Both Canada and Ireland left us wanting to explore where we were instead of moving on.  It was sad to start looking for a weather window for the 200nm passage to the UK.  Unfortunately, Ireland only allows US citizens to stay for 90 days, which would put us in the middle of winter.  We unsuccessfully tried to convince the Irish government to give us a long stay visa but our efforts were futile, so we were off to England.

We left Crosshaven on a beautiful Friday morning, against superstition (sailors believe it is bad luck to leave on a Friday).  Our plan was to see how timing played out when we were near the Isles of Scilly, about 40 miles south of Lands End, the southernmost tip of England.  If we could arrive in Falmouth in daylight, we would keep going past the Scilly's but if timing was off and we needed to either slow down or speed up to arrive during the day, and get the tide timed correctly, we would stop overnight at Hugh Town on St. Mary's, one of the Scilly Islands.

The wind was directly behind us which meant the two of us would need to pole out the jib and go wing-on-wing.  With the current behind us as well, and the wind over 25 knots, we were cruising.  At one point I saw 11.5 kts SOG (speed over ground).  Considering we usually average about 6kts, that was really fast for Terrapin!

By sunrise, we reached the traffic separation zones around the Isles of Scilly.  These are areas on the chart designated where there is so much traffic that cargo ships going in opposite directions are "spaced" - comparable to highway lanes on an interstate.  However, small, private boats, are only allowed to cross these zones at 90 degrees - images of the Atari game "Frogger" come to mind.  These lanes are very strict and managed closely.  Nevertheless, as we crossed the traffic separation zone it was clear we had gone too fast that in order to arrive at Falmouth in daylight, considering tides, we would have to slow the boat down quite a bit - or stop.  So, why not stop?

We emailed the harbor master in St Mary's who advised us that we were welcome to pick up a green mooring ball.  We navigated our way into the harbor, found the green buoy and realized that the shackle we would moor to was ON the ball.  With 7' of freeboard, it would be hard for me to reach - and don't ye know it was blowing 25 kts (o'carse it was).  No problem, I picked up a nylon line to temporarily secure the boat and then together Baxter and I moored the line properly once the dinghy was in the water.

Since this was our first arrival in the UK on the boat, we contacted Customs to report our entry and declare that "yes, we have a dog on board".  We answered the appropriate questions, provided the requested information and three phone calls later, we were cleared in to the UK.  We took the dinghy down and we were off to shore for a celebratory pint!

Quick pit stop for diesel before heading out

Goodbye Ireland - we will be back soon!

Beautiful day for a sail

These oil rigs in the middle of the Celtic Sea kinda look like the Tivo Guy.

Sunrises never get old.  The wonder of what the day will bring is captivating

Wing-on-Wing.  We take the Spinnaker pole (the big metal pole that is horizontal on the left) and lower the top of it down the mast and then attach the bottom of it to the clew (end of the sail).  That keeps the headsail from slamming as the wind is behind the boat.  Then we move the boom (the white metal horizontal piece on the right that holds the mainsail) and move it to the opposite side of the headsail so as not to block the wind from the headsail.  That way, both sails are filled by the wind from behind.  The hard part with two people is attaching the spinnaker pole to the headsail, but it's manageable.

Traffic Separation Scheme

Geographical orientation of Isles of Scilly to Cork and Falmouth

Kala doesn't care what else happens in the world except that she goes for a dinghy ride, and the faster the better.  First time dinghy has been off the deck since we left Newfoundland in July.

Securely attached to the mooring in St Mary's, Isles of Scilly

Euro Driving

It has been an interesting experience driving in Europe and the UK.  Beyond the obvious of Baxter in the right seat and driving on the left with the stick shift on the left.  Other mentionable considerations include the fact there are very few lights - most intersections are managed with round-a-bouts, the signs are not always easy to figure out as you drive past at 60kph, lane marks are different, and everyone else understands except you.  It took us about 6 hours to manage the most important aspects and then we were ready to go.  By time we had driven around Ireland, I dare say we blended in with the masses.

The adventure begins

Different view than we're used to in the states

One should really pay attention here, apparently

Such a nice way to say "Yield"

Do not pass...which is on the right, not left

Calm traffic

Our little Clio was lots of fun!