A taste of West Cork Food Festival
04/09/2015 - 13/09/2015 — All Day — Skibbereen — Co CorkA taste of West Cork Food Festival is a celebration of all that is unique about this area – the world class food, the makers of this food, and the art and craft made in this area.
A Taste of West Cork Food Festival is so much more than a festival which happens to be about food. A Taste of West Cork Food Festival actively promotes everything about West Cork as a unique destination.
Food carries an inherent feeling of nurture, comfort and gratification. Healthy, naturally produced, fresh tasting and beautifully prepared food further enhances our feeling of wellbeing. Place this in a geographical area of wild and wonderful natural beauty, layered with ancient spirituality and human tragedy and liberally sprinkled with a purity of culture, art and craft and the result is “West Cork – a place apart!”
The beauty of West Cork draws so many artists, writers, craft people and food producers to West Cork. A Tast of West Cork Food Festival showcases the wonderful food and food creators of this very special place. It brings together a unique mix of food markets and cooking demonstrations, food tasting and cookery compititions, special dinners, brunches,and banquets, talks and exhibits, children’s events, adventures and more.
A Taste of West Cork which is one of Ireland’s longest running food festival, and if fast becoming a premier event on the food calendar. The festival is one of the best opportunity for the many local producers and chefs to showcase their wares to people passionate about food.
A Taste of West Cork Food Festival understands how important local food is to our economy and with our wealth of artisan food producers, supportive retailers and markets, talented chefs and award winning restaurants we continue to attract visitors to West Cork. Our world renowned food combined with the most idyllic part of Ireland makes A Taste of West Cork Food Festival the perfect festival for all the family.
The 2015 Festival is set to be bigger and better and will include the much loved traditional open air street food and craft market, daily walks, interactive workshops, food demonstrations and tastings, themed nights in restaurants in Skibbereen and beyond, the already famous Celtic Cook off, cookery compititions, traditional music nights and many special events.
There is something to tempt every palate and many of the events staged throughout the festival week are free or minimum charges apply so there is also something to suit everyones pocket.
Discover West Cork—taste West Cork— join us at the Taste of West Cork Food Festival on the 4th – 13th September 2015.
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Fast Track RYA Day Skipper
12/09/2015 - 20/09/2015 — 9:00 am - 4:00 pm — Carbery Sailing — DurrusThe Fast Track course is designed to teach students to assume full responsibility for the yacht and its crew. This is the ideal course for anyone about to buy their own yacht or undertake a self skippered holiday in Greece or other destinations. Students should ideally have attained Competent Crew level ability or have the necessary experience.
Theory Phase
In this shore based phase you will complete the RYA Day Skipper Theory course. Students are taught the basics of coastal and inshore navigation, pilotage, chartwork, position fixing, plotting a course, weather forecasting, an understanding of tides, IRPCS – International Regulations for Prevention of Collision at Sea.
You will also be taught yacht types and the equipment they carry, safety procedures such as distress calls, use of flares, safety harnesses, life jackets and liferafts.
The course includes a general assessment paper as well as one on chart work.
Practical Phase
This phase is when you complete the RYA Day Skipper practical course were you will skipper the yacht on short passages in West Cork and there will be much emphasis on boat handling and navigation. A full safety briefing is given before the yacht sails.
Day Skipper students stay aboard Merlin during the practical course. Keeping the crew well fed is an important part of cruising. Apart from breakfasts, meals are organised according to a rota which you will know in advance. When it is your turn, you prepare a meal of your own choosing and wash up afterwards.
You will visit different harbours and anchorages to practice pilotage techniques. The course aims to provide you with the skill and confidence required to plan and undertake a short passage in tidal waters as the skipper and be able to berth the boat safely. Man overboard recovery techniques will also be practised with a dummy, such as a fender tied to a mooring line, substituting for the real thing. The instructor will debrief students after each exercise or passage.
During the course you will cover approximately 100 miles between Union Hall and the Kenmare River in West Cork, including at least 4 night hours sailing to experience night pilotage and identify navigation lights.
The course will finish about 4 pm on the final day, after boat cleaning and individual debriefings.
