From today's Scuttlebutt:

===========================

HALFWAY 'ROUND IRELAND

The two Brits sailing around Ireland on beach cats (Shadows, designed by

Yves Loday built by Reg White) are the first to make halfway on these type

of craft - but the whimsical Irish weather has made sure that's as far as

they're going this August.



Digby Fox and Tim Swinburn have sailed from Dublin, on the eastern Irish

seaboard, to Galway, on the opposite Atlantic side, heading south and

clockwise, completing 530 nautical miles.



"We're happy to get this far," says Digby, "in one piece and in good

spirits. The physical and navigation challenges have been hard, but the

Irish weather this August has humbled our record setting dream."



The sailors lost six days sitting out two gales and zero visibility, which,

compounded with light winds in the Irish Sea, has forced them to pull out at

Galway Bay Sailing Club.



"The 21 days available to us was always tight and relied on favourable

winds, says Tim. "But I'm delighted to make it unscathed to Galway. It was

amazing to meet so many wonderful people and to sail past such spectacular

scenery."



The aim of the challenge was to make the first complete rounding in beach

cats, and to raise cash to build a hydrotherapy pool in memory of Digby's

son, Harry.



"Sailingwise," says Digby, "we've achieved half our dream. In terms of

fundraising though, we've had a great success with the online charitable

donation scheme on our website http://www.harrys-hydro.org. Thank you to the

many who've chipped in, and, ahem, there's plenty of time to whip out your

credit card if you haven't!"



Hydrotherapy is physio in a heated pool, and Digby's pool, which will help

disabled kids in the UK, is a brilliant way of passing on the joy of water

to others.



Digby: "It does kind of feel like unfinished business. I've got a horrible

feeling that we'll down a couple of pints of that black Irish elixir, and

decide that Galway to Dublin would be just grand..."

That was really a reconnaissance mission, the Brits are going to invade Ireland.

They've been here, done that, now they're just tourists.



Digby sent a final report to the Irish cat Sailors:



To my Irish cat sailing friends,



Well, your Irish weather did for us. Getting from Dublin to Galway was hard

graft. Many of your countrymen, on the beaches and at the sailing clubs we

stopped at, took great delight in pronouncing us mad as badgers.



We did get to see half of the Irish coast from a great perspective though.

And we enjoyed some unusual moments.



I'm not primarily thinking of the moment we got through Blasket Sound, that

fearsome place!, saw the wind drop, our progress stop for three full hours,

during which a gnarled fishing boat skipper came up to us, offered a tow in

two hours, after his fishing, back to bloody Dingle, while his crewman

almost couldn't contain his mirth at these two muppets in their slender,

engineless craft...



Or as I stuffed it in, after a hammering sail downwind across Dingle Bay,

when a gust just blew me over - Tim, thought that was great. He was always

quicker, as hard as I tried, so I put it down to his newer sails...



No no. The most vivid moment was getting my todger caught in the drysuit fly

zip. Best not go there eh?



At the end of our trip it was great to enthuse with Tim and TJ, cat fans at

Galway Bay SC and on this list. I was feeling a bit miserable, at pulling

out halfway, but they cheered us up big time. They're pretty keen on having

a go themselves, and I wish them luck.



And thanks to Dermot for lending us a VHF that worked, and for all our

mobile chats. Brilliant. And cheers too Neil.



If anyone comes across David Maguire and Rupert Jeffares, of Howth YC, or

Danny at Bray SC, or Roy of Arklow SC, or Liam O'Connell and David O'Brien

of the Royal Cork, or Mox at Galway Bay SC, do please say hi from us. You

really do have some wonderfully warm and welcoming sailing clubs in

Ireland.



And your coastguard team are brilliant. I chatted mainly to the Dublin guys

each day, phoning in the morning, discussing weather and our ETAs, and each

evening when we beached, and they were extremely helpful, interested in our

boats - and not just their sinkability. We had great chats.



We really put a lot of effort into making sure they didn't have to come and

bail us out. I think our best decisions were not to sail on so many days.



Bizarrely, there was a RIB race round Ireland going on at the same time, and

two jetskiers were droning round, so the Irish coastguard had a plateload of

nutters on the table this August.



Anyway, thanks for all your goodwill. It's a decent challenge, this, for cat

sailors, and I'll respect anyone having a go at any or all of it. Take care,



Digby