Dublin

Having left Dunmore (nr Waterford) at 3am on Friday we sailed all day with lightish fair winds and a good bit of engine. We wanted to go into Wicklow at about 11pm but when we went into the harbour there were no Bonita friendly spaces free so we left and carried on to Dublin arriving here about 9am on Sunday. I long ago learnt the hard way that it's best not to try to squeeze Bonita into spaces that look too difficult. 

Dublin harbour is a busy commercial port and we are constantly entertained by watching huge ships being skillfully manoeuvered in the river.

We went into the city for lunch. Dublin has changed beyond recognition since Geoff Jones and I sailed here in Young Alert in 1978. There has been lots of new building and pretty Miss Molly Malone would not find much of the fair city that she recognised. Almost the only thing that seems unchanged are the large number of statues of a variety of heroes of the struggle for Irish independence - many frozen for ever in dramatic postures.

There are two Dutch gaffers here; Cine Mara and Vlieter. Strong winds are forecast overnight but should be settling tomorrow.

Bonita's first name was 'Iris', she is Iris No 8 here.

The other news is that I have a research team hard at work finding more detail about Bonita's history. The only copy of Lloyds Register of Yachts that is available from being scanned onto the internet so far is the 1902-3 edition which can be found here but Tim has a friend with a complete set of Registers.

The photo shows Bonita's first entry under her original name 'Iris' in the 1889-90 edition; she was owned by Mr Edwin G Wrigley who was a member of the Royal Barrow Yacht Club. This is also the first time that Crossfield (misspelt here but corrected in later entries) appears in the register as a builder although they appear frequently in later editions. We hope to be able to complete a full account of her changes of ownership, home port etc.