Bringing "Close to the Edge" to Dublin

This was the big week where we went to collect our new boat "Close to the Edge" from Southhampton in the UK. The decision to collect her was very last minute. It all started at 9pm from Dublin Port where we boarded the car ferry Ulysses. We were very close to missing the ferry as were the last car to board and had Customs check our car before being able to board the ferry.

The ferry ride from Dublin to Holyhead was around 3 hours long and we arrive around midnight. We then began the long drive which resulted in us arriving in Southhampton around 9am. Since it was breakfast time we of course popped into a Naked Chef restaurant and got a full English breakfast as we had a long day ahead of us.

We arrived at the Swanwick Marina at 10am where we found our girl ready to go on her trailer. After doing a quick bit of paper work we went and hitched the trailer up to the car. Everything was already prepared but we spent about half an hour going over everything and making sure she was ready and safe to be towed.

We then hit the road at 11am for the long journey back to Holyhead for our scheduled ferry at 2.40am. It would be a long journey because we were now limited to 80km per hour but in reality we were mainly were cruising at about 70km per hour. After half an hour we pulled in to make sure everything was still secure and then about every two hours after that. Unfortunately we missed a turn off and then ended up heading towards London, this would add about 45 minutes to our Journey.

When we arrived in Holyhead it was around 10.30pm and then then decided to pull into a truck rest stop and got a bit of sleep. We arrived in Holyhead Port just after Midnight and then checked in. Boarding was just before 2am where we were placed on the ground floor deck where buses and trucks are placed due to the fact that we would not be able to tow the boat up the small ramps to higher floors.

When we got parked up we went straight to the restaurant for a well deserved meal. They were then serving breakfast so we loaded up on a full Irish breakfast. They ship was Irish Ferries so I think its fair to call it an Irish breakfast instead of an English breakfast.

The ferry arrived into Dublin Port around 6am and had a quick disembarking. We left the port and drove straight over the East Link Bridge and towards Dun Laoghaire which would be the home for out new boat "Close to the Edge". Once we unhitched the trailer and locked it up we then went straight home for a much needed sleep.