Nearly all coastal sailers here, they have that spare look, no solar panels or wind generators and few with radar. A small number of 40'+ boats with the bulk in the low to mid 30' range. In fact many are sub 30'. With the very exposed coastline here that has few options for protected sailing outside the man made harbor, I would sum up the local sailor here as, hearty!

Howth was a very nice find for us. As our last stop before dropping off our rental car and flying out of nearby Dublin, it's a surprisingly rich community. A seaside destination for working Dubliners and beyond, it's 'colorful' on a friday night with locals and tourists mixing. Yet it has a vibrant and large commercial fishing industry. Several smaller trawlers were unloading and the quality of the fish at several mongers on the street was a sight to behold.

We had dinner at the 'Bloody Stream'(a reference to the wake of fishing boats I surmise) and were in the middle of a local working group(Caterpillar Inc), holding a company party. Oddly a German group stopped and did a Happy Birthday 'Flash dance' sort of thing. We asked the Dubliners what that was all about, and they hadn't a clue, no birthday among them... Suffice to say spirits flow in Howth.

Howth is just on the cusp of the season starting(both for tourism and boats newly launched by the looks), we were told. It was cool and brisk, I didn't see a single boat go out into the mixing bowl just outside. But you can tell by the state of the fleet and it's sail handling equipment, that these are real sailors.