Thursday 20 April
Arklow was once a thriving town, dominated by a huge factory producing explosives, but sadly these days little evidence remains of any gainful activity. My diesel tanks needed replenishing after so much motoring, and the crew wandered around the commercial harbour in search of ‘the man with the tanker’. Eventually they found themselves in the RNLI station, where the helpful crew sourced a phone number for said man, and contact was made to arrange delivery for later that afternoon.
A hefty pipe was led down the bridge and onto my side deck, for fuel to be dispensed straight from the tanker, who is more used to delivering orders in the thousands of litres to thirsty fishing boats, than my paltry 300 litres. Skipper was pleased with the price, though, as it wasn’t subject to UK rates of VAT.