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A Harbour Seal photographed at Dun Laoghaire Marina on Dublin Bay, Ireland. Also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinnipeds, they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Baltic and North seas. Photo: AfloatA photograph of a Harbour Seal taken at Dun Laoghaire Marina on Dublin Bay, Ireland. Also known as the common seal, this species can be found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They are the most widely distributed species of pinnipeds and can be found in the coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Baltic and North Seas. Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Afloat Calendar Dates

#SeafrontTours- The Seafront Memorials Tour is a free guided tour that is part of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council's annual Summer of Heritage programme.

The first tour begins this Sunday 5 July and will be held every Sunday throughout the summer until 6 September.

Meeting Point: Queen Victoria Fountain, Dún Laoghaire.
Wheelchair accessible.

This is an outdoor event.

Enjoy a tour of the coastal memorials in Dún Laoghaire including the Queen Victoria Fountain, George IV Memorial, the mailboat Leinster's anchor,Christ the King, the Crimean War Cannon and the 1895 Lifeboat Disaster.

Tour Time Start: 11.30am
One tour per day
One event per week

Tour duration: 60 mins
Maximum capacity: 20 people

For more information on other events download the Summer of Heritage brochure here

#Wine&TableQuiz- Come along for a fun night combining a Table Quiz & Christmas Wine Tasting on Thursday 11 December (doors open 7.15pm) at the Eblana Club (off Marine Road) in Dun Laoghaire. The festive evening is to raise funds for the local National Maritime Museum of Ireland.

A selection of wines to match your Christmas feast will be available to taste.

Following this there will be the Table Quiz (8.30pm). The familiar mix of obvious and obscure questions are guaranteed to infuriate all who take part.

Tickets for the festive fundraiser event are €10.00 each and available from the door. In addition for more information on bookings made by email [email protected] or by contacting (01) 2143 964

Published in Boating Fixtures

#TableQuiz - The Glenua and friends monthly winter lectures for 2014/15 resumed last month in the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club, Dublin and instead of a talk for December, a Christmas Table-Quiz in aid of the RNLI is organised for Thursday 4 December at 8pm.

During last year's lecture season, a total €837 was raised for the RNLI. Kieran Cotter, Coxwain of the RNLI Baltimore lifeboat was presented with the donation from Mick O'Meara, President of Glenua.

So on this occasion, the fundraising efforts continue with the Christmas Table Quiz, an event which welcomes everyone to take part either solo or with friend at the venue in Ringsend.

A table of four is €40 and all is in good cause for the life-saving rescue service.

Joe Varley well known for his lectures over the years, has volunteered his services as Quizmaster. For further details contact 087 2129614.

 

Published in Boating Fixtures

#AsgardLecture - The History of Asgard, from Launch to Gun Running to Conservation is the title of a lecture by Pat Murphy which is to take place in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland, Dun Laoghaire.

The lecture is on Thursday November 20th (8pm). Tickets costing €10 will be made available at the door opening at 7.30pm.

Murphy will tell the life of this famous yacht in Irish history from her launch in 1905 to current conservation in Collin's Barracks Museum.

Asgard undertook a 23 day voyage that centred on the dangerous mission to collect guns and ammunition for the Irish Volunteers. The landing of the arms took place in Howth Harbour in July 1914 and this historical event is described in detail with unique photographs.

The lecture will also feature Conor O'Brien's Kelpie and the Kilcoole landing.

In this centenary year of the anniversary of the Howth gunning event, the lecture will also cover commemorative celebrations.

In addition to tickets payable at the door, bookings can be made in advance by email: [email protected] and by contacting the NMMI on (01) 2143 964

For more details about the Maritime Institute of Ireland's museum which has a gift shop and café, visit: www.mariner.ie

Published in Boating Fixtures

#LectureILEN - "The Ketch Ilen-Ireland's Sole Surviving Sail Trader" will be the public lecture presented by Gary Mac Mahon next Thursday (7 November) in the Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club, Ringsend.

The talk which forms the members of Les Glénans & friends 2013/2014 lecture series starts at 20.00hrs in the Dublin docklands venue noting an entry fee of €5 in aid of the RNLI.

Ilen is a 56-ft sailing ketch that was built in 1926 in the Baltimore Fishery School Boatyard for the Falkland Islands Company. She was designed and sailed to the Falkland Islands by Conor O'Brien who in 1925 was the first Irishman to complete a circumnavigation of the world in the 42-ft ketch, Saoirse, also built in Baltimore.

The Ilen served seventy years as a trading vessel in the tempestuous seas of the South Atlantic before being brought back to Ireland in 1998.

Now being restored, she is the focal point for a remarkable maritime project embracing the A.K. Ilen School for wooden boatbuilding in Limerick and Hegarty's boatyard in Oldcourt.

Gary McMahon, in his illustrated presentation, will provide the background to the return of the Ilen to Ireland and the founding of the A.K. Ilen Company with Anthony Keane OSB.

It is an Irish-registered charity dedicated to education through the medium of sailing, very much in the spirit of the original aims of Glénans

Gary is a keen offshore sailor who publishes maritime books through the A.K. Ilen Company and will include Conor O'Brien and his exploits on Saoirse in his lecture.

For further details on this lecture contact: 087 2129614 and details for the Poolbeg Yacht, Boat Club & Marina visit: www.poolbegmarina.ie

 

Published in Ilen

#LockoutLectures – The 1913 Lockout –Dun Laoghaire & The Marine is the theme to a series of lectures to be held on Sunday 25 August in the Dun Laoghaire Club, 3 Eblana Avenue which is off Marine Road.

The afternoon event (donation request) is to be hosted by the Maritime Museum of Ireland which runs the nearby National Maritime Museum of Ireland and to where as previously reported this venue is run an exhibition on the 1913 Lockout.

The lecture programme in the Dun Laoghaire Club, is listed as follows:

12noon "Kingstown-Portrait of an Edwardian Seaport Town" – Peter Pearson

1pm "The 1913 Lockout –International Context" – Colin Whitson

2pm "Women in the 1913 Lockout" – Mary Muldowney

3pm "Dublin Dock Communities and the Legacy of 1913" – Joe Mooney

3.45pm "Dun Laoghaire in 1913 –Stronghold of Unionism or Frontier of New Unionism?" – Padraig Yeates

4.30pm "Patrick Moran: Trade Unionist, Sportsman and Patriot" – May Moran

5.15pm "Edward Lee –The 'Model Employer' – Mike Lee

If visiting the National Maritime Museum which is open every day 11am-5pm, noting admission fees, there is a gift shop and café in addition to wheelchair accessibility, though some areas have restricted access. For mor details visit:www.mariner.ie

Location, the museum is in the former Mariners Church on Haigh Terrace, which can be reached from Lower Georges Street or from the coast road, noting pedestrian access over the DART railway line (opposite the East Pier), or by strolling along The Metals.

#BaroqueConcert – Dublin-based early music ensemble Respicio are to perform in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland (NMMI), Dun Laoghaire this Friday 31 May.

Come along to the hear music by Teleman, Bach & Graupner, starting at 8pm (tickets cost €10) in the unique surroundings of the maritime museum. The restored former Mariners Church, was awarded earlier this year the Best Museum / Restored Site at the 2012 Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland Awards.

The museum is (mostly) wheelchair accessible and during normal opening hours, 11am-5pm every day, there is a Museum Café serving hot snacks throughout. There is also a WiFi hotspot. For further information about the museum run by the Maritime Institute of Ireland visit: www.mariner.ie

 

Published in Boating Fixtures

#Lecture – The inside story of MSC Napoli, the containership which became the UK's largest, most complicated and most expensive shipwreck and salvage operation and will be the topic of a lecture held on Tuesday 23 April.

Robin Middleton CBE, former Secretary of State Representative of the United Kingdom, who took all the pivotal decisions during the disaster, will present the lecture in the National Maritime Museum of Ireland (NMMI) in Dun Laoghaire.

Lecture begins at 8:00 pm noting an admission fee of € 10. For bookings contact the maritime museum Tel: (01) 2143965, by email: [email protected]
For more information about the Maritime Institute of Ireland's maritime museum visit: www.mariner.ie

 

Published in Boating Fixtures

#ChoirConcert - A varied and exciting programme of accessible music from one of America's leading high school choirs, the Hood Valley River High School Choir is to be held in the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire.

The evening will Include the Aurora Group, consisting of around 20 girls from the HRV choir will sing more modern and secular music next Thursday 28 March starting 8pm.
Tickets cost €10 per person and for a group rate of €7 pp (based on groups of 10 or more)

For further information and to book call: (01) 2143964 Email [email protected]

 

Published in Boating Fixtures

#Lecture – Dubliner Pete Hogan, a well-known artist specialising in painting boats is to present a lecture titled "The Log of the Molly B - Building and sailing a gaff-rigged ketch around the World".

The lecture takes place next Wednesday 13 March at 20:00 in Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club, Ringsend, in the heart of Dublin Port.

Pete has been sailing all his life usually out of Dun Laoghaire but also in the Clew Bay area of Mayo. He worked as a commercial fisherman, as a deck hand on yachts and in the office of a paper company. In 1975 he emigrated to Vancouver, Canada.

Three years later he said 'To hell with this. I'm going to build a boat... ' He built a 30 foot double ended gaff rigged ketch and sailed it through the Panama Canal and back to Ireland without motor or electronics.

He then sailed Molly B around the World by way of the infamous Cape Horn. Embarking on a third voyage, Molly B sank in a storm in the Mediterranean and he was lucky to survive.

Pete recently published an illustrated book about his adventures with Molly B and this forms the basis of his talk and slide show.

The talk is part of the les Glénans Irish Sector Winter Lecture Series. All are welcome. Entry fee of €5 in aid of the RNLI. For further details contact: 087 2129614

 

Published in Boating Fixtures
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For all you need on the Marine Environment - covering the latest news and updates on marine science and wildlife, weather and climate, power from the sea and Ireland's coastal regions and communities - the place to be is Afloat.ie.

Coastal Notes

The Coastal Notes category covers a broad range of stories, events and developments that have an impact on Ireland's coastal regions and communities, whose lives and livelihoods are directly linked with the sea and Ireland's coastal waters.

Topics covered in Coastal Notes can be as varied as the rare finding of sea-life creatures, an historic shipwreck with secrets to tell, or even a trawler's net caught hauling much more than just fish.

Other angles focusing the attention of Coastal Notes are Ireland's maritime museums, which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of our nautical heritage, and those who harvest the sea using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety pose an issue, plying their trade along the rugged wild western seaboard.

Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied as the environment they come from, and which shape people's interaction with the natural world and our relationship with the sea.

Marine Wildlife

One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with Marine Wildlife. It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. And as boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify, even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat. Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse, it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to our location in the North Atlantic, there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe. From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals, the Marine Wildlife category documents the most interesting accounts around our shores. And we're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and video clips, too!

Also valuable is the unique perspective of all those who go afloat, from coastal sailing to sea angling to inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing, as what they encounter can be of great importance to organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG). Thanks to their work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. But as impressive as the list is, the experts believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves, keep a sharp look out!

Weather

As an island in the North Atlantic, Ireland's fate is decided by Weather more so than many other European countries. When storm-force winds race across the Irish Sea, ferry and shipping services are cut off, disrupting our economy. When swollen waves crash on our shores, communities are flooded and fishermen brace for impact - both to their vessels and to their livelihoods.

Keeping abreast of the weather, therefore, is as important to leisure cruisers and fishing crews alike - for whom a small craft warning can mean the difference between life and death - as it is to the communities lining the coast, where timely weather alerts can help protect homes and lives.

Weather affects us all, and Afloat.ie will keep you informed on the hows and the whys.

Marine Science

Perhaps it's the work of the Irish research vessels RV Celtic Explorer and RV Celtic Voyager out in the Atlantic Ocean that best highlights the essential nature of Marine Science for the future growth of Ireland's emerging 'blue economy'.

From marine research to development and sustainable management, Ireland is developing a strong and well-deserved reputation as an emerging centre of excellence. Whether it's Wavebob ocean energy technology to aquaculture to weather buoys and oil exploration, the Marine Science category documents the work of Irish marine scientists and researchers and how they have secured prominent roles in many European and international marine science bodies.

Power From The Sea

The message from the experts is clear: offshore wind and wave energy is the future. And as Ireland looks towards the potential of the renewable energy sector, generating Power From The Sea will become a greater priority in the State's 'blue growth' strategy.

Developments and activities in existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector, and those of the energy exploration industry, point to the future of energy requirements for the whole world, not just in Ireland. And that's not to mention the supplementary industries that sea power projects can support in coastal communities.

Irish ports are already in a good position to capitalise on investments in offshore renewable energy services. And Power From The Sea can even be good for marine wildlife if done properly.

Aside from the green sector, our coastal waters also hold a wealth of oil and gas resources that numerous prospectors are hoping to exploit, even if people in coastal and island areas are as yet unsure of the potential benefits or pitfalls for their communities.

Changing Ocean Climate

Our ocean and climate are inextricably linked - the ocean plays a crucial role in the global climate system in a number of ways. These include absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere and absorbing 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by human activity. But our marine ecosystems are coming under increasing pressure due to climate change.

The Marine Institute, with its national and international partners, works to observe and understand how our ocean is changing and analyses, models and projects the impacts of our changing oceans. Advice and forecasting projections of our changing oceans and climate are essential to create effective policies and management decisions to safeguard our ocean.

Dr Paul Connolly, CEO of the Marine Institute, said, “Our ocean is fundamental to life on earth and affects so many facets of our everyday activities. One of the greatest challenges we face as a society is that of our changing climate. The strong international collaborations that the Marine Institute has built up over decades facilitates a shared focusing on our changing ocean climate and developing new and enhanced ways of monitoring it and tracking changes over time.

“Our knowledge and services help us to observe these patterns of change and identify the steps to safeguard our marine ecosystems for future generations.”

The Marine Institute’s annual ocean climate research survey, which has been running since 2004, facilitates long term monitoring of the deep water environment to the west of Ireland. This repeat survey, which takes place on board RV Celtic Explorer, enables scientists to establish baseline oceanic conditions in Irish waters that can be used as a benchmark for future changes.

Scientists collect data on temperature, salinity, water currents, oxygen and carbon dioxide in the Atlantic Ocean. This high quality oceanographic data contributes to the Atlantic Ocean Observing System. Physical oceanographic data from the survey is submitted to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and, in addition, the survey contributes to national research such as the VOCAB ocean acidification and biogeochemistry project, the ‘Clean Atlantic’ project on marine litter and the A4 marine climate change project.

Dr Caroline Cusack, who co-ordinates scientific activities on board the RV Celtic Explorer for the annual survey, said, “The generation of long-term series to monitor ocean climate is vital to allow us understand the likely impact of future changes in ocean climate on ecosystems and other marine resources.”

Other activities during the survey in 2019 included the deployment of oceanographic gliders, two Argo floats (Ireland’s contribution to EuroArgo) and four surface drifters (Interreg Atlantic Area Clean Atlantic project). The new Argo floats have the capacity to measure dissolved ocean and biogeochemical parameters from the ocean surface down to a depth of 2,000 metres continuously for up to four years, providing important information as to the health of our oceans.

During the 2019 survey, the RV Celtic Explorer retrieved a string of oceanographic sensors from the deep ocean at an adjacent subsurface moored station and deployed a replacement M6 weather buoy, as part of the Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network (IMDBON).

Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the IMDBON is managed by the Marine Institute in collaboration with Met Éireann and is designed to improve weather forecasts and safety at sea around Ireland. The data buoys have instruments which collect weather and ocean data including wind speed and direction, pressure, air and sea surface temperature and wave statistics. This data provides vital information for weather forecasts, shipping bulletins, gale and swell warnings as well as data for general public information and research.

“It is only in the last 20 years, meteorologists and climatologists have really began to understood the pivotal role the ocean plays in determining our climate and weather,” said Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann. “The real-time information provided by the Irish data buoy network is particularly important for our mariners and rescue services. The M6 data buoy in the Atlantic provides vital information on swell waves generated by Atlantic storms. Even though the weather and winds may be calm around our shores, there could be some very high swells coming in from Atlantic storms.”