Anyone that likes cruising and tinkering with their boat, will love following the Holly's adventures. Who is Holly? Well she is "Holly GoLightly" to be precise - a lovely Moody 35 that has been lovingly cared for and upgraded by owners Aidan and Oonagh. We thought you might enjoy this short tale of their experience sailing Howth to Carlingford earlier this month....

"After leaving Howth, we found ourselves dealing with some easy motor sailing in relatively light winds, flat seas & sunshine up to Carlingford Lough. Not hard-core sailing, but it makes for a very easy relaxing passage ! We have been so lucky with the weather this past few weeks.

After leaving howth while the racing fleet did their thing, we passed north close up to Rockabill Lighthouse (7km offshore) , and were astonished to see a tiny lone figure on the smaller of the two islands ! No sign of a boat, other than a motor yacht anchored off the larger Island with the lighthouse on it. They are separated by maybe 20-30 metres. Maybe he swam from the main Island !? He didn't seem distressed, so while there was curiosity there was no alarm as we presumed he was not a modern day Robinson Crusoe. (Edit: we've since discovered there are rib tours to the island from Skerries!).

North of Rockabill, there was less to see as we headed offshore more or less due North across the expanse of Dundalk bay, heading direct for the Helly Hunter cardinal mark outside Carlingford Lough.

I think it's been nearly a decade and a half since we first visited Carlingford Lough, one of our first adventures in Maelduin. We visited often in those years, but it's been a long absence and this is our first visit in Holly.

It all became familiar again, with the Helly Hunter leading to the obvious Haulbowline lighthouse and the well marked channel. We even remember not to run aground on the shoals outside the marina - all the way to No.18 for us !

After an excellent meal on board produced by the "in-house catering department", we headed up the bar for some open-air drinks on the veranda and back on board for some Netflix and a nightcap.

We spent several days in Carlingford, just soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the improving weather. Oonagh discovered her foot injury was steadily improving and although walking any distance was still out of the question, it turned out that time on the bikes was no problem at all.

We discovered that Carlingford had established it's own local cycling "Greenway" in 2014, along route of the old Dundalk-Newry and Greenore railway tracks. It's only 7km each way, but it's a very pleasant cycle and an ideal warmer upper for our little folding bikes. We rolled along by the shore of the lough, by fields of sheep and cattle, past Greers Quay where the fishing boats tie up, and into the small town of Omeath."

To read the rest of the story and many more you can head over to their open Holly Goes Cruising facebook page ... scroll down and you will find a goldmine of tips as they share their upgrade and repair work on board.