Feck. This. Weather.

Rainy day woman… SAT20JULY24

t’s not the first Saturday in recent weeks where the rain has decided to settle in for the day…

Around here, grey is the new blue, and it’s all beginning to feel like that old US tourist line, “The worst winter I ever endured was a summer in Ireland…”

What the absolute feck is going on? Have we now settled into a whole new summer timetable where Greystones gets about two teasing weeks of sweetly sunny weather in May and then a slight return in September and October…?

Which leaves late May to late August, when we all get to live in a blinky washing machine. One minute it’s rinse, the next a short blast of spin dry, then we’re back to our regular 8-hour 15-degree wash.

And it’s not like it’s cold out there. It’s warm, verging-on-muggy, which is all well agus good. But throw in a few buckets of water every three seconds, and you’re left with another Greystones summer that most people are happy to experience indoors.

Which is why we decided to fight back on this particularly wet and miserable Saturday. Heading down to the harbour with our trusty lurcher, Otto, in tow, it was heartening to see some very hardy – and well-covered – souls taking a walk on the marina boardwalk.

Taking a turn onto Sidmonton to hit The Cove, we were also a little surprised to see the sails of yachts passing by at the end of the road. The theme from Jaws really should have kicked in at this point.

As we got closer, we could see there were ten yachts in total, all huddled together at The Cove, possibly waiting for the Greystones Sailing Club bar to open.

And that’s when we saw some even hardier souls, jumping in the water off the Cove steps. In less than a minute though, they were scurrying back to their sauna across the road.

So, some people are clearly handling these summertime blues better than others. In short bursts.

Given that Ireland’s weather has been certifiably crappy for centuries, the Irish must be at least 40% fish by now. So, getting out there, come rain or shine, is really part of our rich and incredibly soggy heritage.

You can check what’s going on over the coming weeks right here, and see what Mother Nature has in store for us over here.