The rain is pouring down, the wind is blowing from the wrong direction, and for the third day we’re waiting at Howth for the wind to change. My thoughts stray to ten days of waiting at Båly in Norway last year, when a westerly wind prevented our continued voyage across the North Sea. Then, we cursed the low pressure areas, now we are anxiously checking the weather forecasts several times a day, hoping for a westerly or northwesterly wind.
Laziness has hit Howth Sea Angling Club, where the bar has been changed into a dormitory, with sour-smelling socks, inflatable mattresses, clothes lines with wet waterproof clothing and sleepy Vikings. The high points of the day have been few and simple – a warm bath, a lunch of fish and chips from the local pub, a large box of mixed wine gums and liquorice, a hand of whist, a cup of hot cocoa…
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after – the waiting is unavoidable on a voyage where you depend on the wind.