Waking up on a beach with the waft of air crossing the strand from the local bakery, That was my first Day in Annagassan. Worried that neap tides wouldn't allow me launch the boat at Laytown this year, plan B had me turn north and up to a little village where the River Dee and the River Glyde eventually enter the sea. The tide here has such an effect on the landscape as the bay empties twice a day far out into the Irish sea, you could almost walk across the bay to the Cooleys and Mourne Mountains but for the dredging done for Dundalk harbour. Indeed I think I read such an event once from the Táin saga where Maedhbh's great army attempted such a march only to find Cú Cullain picking them off for fun with his sling shot from the top of the Cooley Mountain. No one here in Annagassan lets on to know too much about anything until they find out you know a lot less and then from day one school began on such an array of subjects that a university would be hard pressed to even cover half the topics. Opening the arteries for a reboot of forgotten knowledge, the wind and tide became the bane of my life, neither sleeping or eating without checking a timetable or looking at the sky. "You marry a boat", one fisher man said as he laughed about the work involved. Another called it 'routing with boats', sure there's nothing like it! But the mackerel skies and mare's tails soon turned the relaxed and light hearted day into a more tempered sure footed approach for what was to be done.Boats tied up for the week with south east and north east winds to persist. Posing on the beach had only begun when the signals were given to retreat. And retreat I did finding my self so far up the River Glide that locals thought I had gone for good. The rivers here were dredged in the 1860's and again in the 1950's, leaving great dyke's on either side of the two rivers making me wonder if this what it is like in Holland. I sat on the grassy bank watching a king fisher use the boat as a perch to fish, it's head movements rapping up and down as if listening to his favourite cassette. Black and white bully and fight over head as black crows attempt in vane to bully a flock the migrant white egrets. But to the crow's surprise, the lanky whites could give as good as they received and soon were left alone to perch together in trees well away from the on-coming winds. Annagassan was once the largest Viking settlement on Ireland's east coast with over 2,000 people and 200 boats. Some say the mud and difficulty accessing the tides of the Irish sea caused them move to Dublin. I'd imagine it was also to do with the good will or lack of shown by the local tribes that eventually made them retreat. Thankfully I was received only by the former when I finally appeared once again through the arch in the bridge.The locals were quick to remind me that the ocean is that way and what a band of land lovers we really are. In truth the banter never ended, even when the work got serious, some one would have the last laugh from the quay side. But if this was my introduction to Annagassan, I reckon I got away lightly! Thanks for all the support, suggestions and encouragement, I will be back. And I know the usual camera shy, ,reclusive, bunch that always help to move the boat won't want to be mentioned but I can't do it. The boat would never be seen flying through the sky with yee.... many thanks for your patience and expertise, you know who you all are.....
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