An Irish cat

For a cat, travel requires significant paperwork.  For example, when the Alférez travelled by plane earlier this year, he had to get a certificate of vaccination and rabies bloodwork from his vet, had to get this stamped and taxed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and on arrival at his destination this all was reviewed and further documents were made, stamped, and further taxed.  All these documents and taxes were still good for returning to the U.S., but only because the Alférez returned in less than 30 days; otherwise he would have had to start from scratch.  And start from scratch he did a few weeks later back in Florida, when he had his paperwork created, stamped and taxed for his trip to Ireland.

The essential problem is that international animal travel has no concept of passport.  This results in each trip being a bilateral stack of papers between two countries.  Worse yet, the origin country stamps where is the pet going, and the destination country usually requires paperwork from the immediate prior country of origin.  Add it up: in case of an unscheduled stopover, the whole stack is rendered non-valid and the poor animal could be in bureaucratic limbo.

The Eurocrats, somewhere in their immense and imponderable officialdom, have recognised this issue, and have created the European Pet Passport for intra-EC travel.   This can be issued by any authorised private European veterinarian, and in Kinsale the Alférez got one.

When we arrived in France, and even though we showed the Alferez's European passport, the Douane (customs) people got into a bit of a bother, went onto their computer, and started quoting the several laws, edicts, regulations and extra paperwork they thought applied to the Alférez.  We let them discuss among themselves in French for a while, and then we said that le chat non est Americain: le chat est un chat Irlandaise!   There was a lot of relief in the room, a lot of smiles, his subcutaneous chip was scanned, and they made a photocopy of his Irish passport and stamped it.

The Irish Alférez was admitted into France at Brest, on 22 June 2015.

In the Duchy of Cornwall

We arrived last night into Saint Mary's, in the Scilly Isles.  Called the National Yachtline of Her Majesty's government and declared two foreigners and one cat.  The cat has an European Pet Passport, issued by Ireland, we clarified.  The gentleman on the line said he'd notify Customs.  

We asked whether we should remain at the boat.  He said he didn't know when a Customs officer would be available, and that we certainly couldn't be confined to the boat, could we?  So he said we can do whatever we like.  Definitively a gentleman, as we said.

Commented the guy manning the harbourmaster's office this morning: "crazy, uh?"

Fine with us, though.  Long live the Queen!

St. Mary's Harbour.  Peregrinus at mooring, somewhere in there.  iPhone 6 Plus.  19 June 2015. 

At Mardyke Ground

We sat for a while in a home game of the Cork County Cricket Club.  Cricket has been played at the Mardyke since 1850, but the Club has only played there since its formation in 1874.  

The crew applauded politely; a lady next to us explained the sport to her daughter, and told tales of her grandfather's prowess.  The players were all elegantly decked in white.  No slobs there.

This is the planet's second most popular sport, yet it was the first game the Peregrinus crew has watched.  Provincials!

What we need

Jeremy Deller's banner at the Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork (formerly Queen's College).  Leica Typ 114, 14 June 2015.

1720

At nearly 300 years, the Royal Cork Yacht Club is the oldest in the world.   It was founded by a young William O’Brien, the 9th Lord Inchiquin, whom apparently got the sailing bug from his grandfather, the 6th Lord, and whom in turn is believed to have brought the sport from London, where he attended the court of Charles II.  There, the recently arrived king enthusiastically sailed Mary on the Thames.  Mary was a private jacht —Dutch for a swift, light vessel—, which the nederlander Seven United Provinces had presented Charles on occasion of his departure from exile.

Peregrinus stays here for a few days, doing light maintenance and awaiting a weather window for passage to the Isles of Scilly.

From the mast hangs the civil ensign club members can legally use on their boats: the Irish flag in canton on a field of blue, defaced with a crowned golden harp.

Life

Life isn't about how you survived the storm...
It's about how you danced in the rain!

Kinsale, Newman's Mall.  iPhone 6 Plus, 1/1464", 5 June 2015.

Fastnet Rock

Fastnet was known as "Ireland's Teardrop", because it was the last part of Ireland that 19th century Irish emigrants saw as they sailed to North America.

For the crew of Peregrinus, however, this was the first sight of the Old World: the top of the lighthouse, peeking from a dark sea.

Click the photo for additional images.

The crew, après arrival

Fort Lauderdale to Kinsale: 3,524 nautical miles, 6,526 kilometres, 29 days, four crew: the Seaman, John, the Alférez, and the Admiral, who was the designated Captain for the trip.

Canon PowerShot G15, 29 May 2015

County Cork

County Cork looks... like the movies of Ireland.  Emerald green pastures, with hedge rows in between the fields in the rolling hills.  In the flower of Spring, tree leaves shimmer in sunlight in an orgy of green.

A gentleman from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine arrived promptly after our arrival, as previously arranged, to admit the Alférez into Ireland.  The fee is €50.  As we had no Euros yet, he said no problem: he issued and stamped a receipt, and asked us to leave him an envelope with the fee at the bar.  We say, 'Sláinte' that!

The Kinsale Yacht Club registration takes place at the bar: best location for check-in we have ever seen.  The Admiral asked for an electric adapter for Peregrinus' US-type electric plug.  A gentleman in the bar volunteered to help, walked the Admiral back to the boat, and ended up taking the Seaman all over the County searching for said adapter.  The gizmo cost €2.30.  The life stories John the Scot-transplanted-into-Kinsale and captain of Igraine of Camelot told us over beers and wine back at Peregrinus all afternoon are priceless. 

Out of a new world, and into an old one

Peregrinus is now east of the northern tip of Newfoundland, south of Iceland, north of Gran Canaria, and east of Ireland.

The New World is in our rear view mirror, at least for a while.

With favorable winds, we race at 8 knots towards our expected first sight of land, at Fastnet Rock, off of the southeast tip of Ireland, 230 nautical miles ahead.