The bodies of two fishermen missing off the Skerries coast since last Friday have been found.

Ronan Browne, 26, and David Gilsenan, 41, had not been seen since setting out from Skerries harbour on the morning of 1 April.

As previously reported by Afloat.ie, the alarm was raised when they had failed to return by 6.30pm and a coast guard search began immediately. 

Naval vessels joined the operation as the search continued following the discovery of an upturned hull and an oil slick near Clogherhead, Co Louth.

According to RTÉ News, at 1.40am yesterday morning a fishing vessel discovered the bodies of the two men caught in its fishing gear some five miles east of Clogherhead. They were recovered by RNLI lifeboat.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.

The lifeboat and Coastguard search for two fishermen missing off the north Co Dublin coast has resumed this morning.

The Irish Times reports that the two men, believed to be in their 20s and 40s, were on a small open fishing boat that departed Skerries harbour around 11am yesterday (Friday 1 April). The alarm was raised at 6.30pm when they failed to return to port.

A Dublin Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed that items and debris believed to be from the missing boat were discovered during the initial search yesterday evening.

The search, involving three coastguard units, three lifeboats and a number of local vessels, was scheduled to resume at 7am this morning.

RTÉ News has more on the story - including video - HERE.

Preliminary figures* for summer 2010, issued today (22 September) by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), show the charity's Irish lifeboats launched on average five times every day during June, July and August.

RNLI lifeboats were requested to launch 450 times during June, July and August. The busiest station in Ireland was Enniskillen in Fermanagh with 29 launches followed by Baltimore in West Cork with 23 callouts.  Fifty-four of those launches were in Dublin at lifeboat stations in Dun Laoghaire (22), Howth (20) and Skerries (12). Read more about the year's lifeboat rescues in 2010 HERE

The figures come on the back of a significant investment by the charity in the Irish lifeboat fleet.  New inshore lifeboats have been put on service in Dun Laoghaire, Kilrush in Clare and Fenit in Kerry.  These new lifeboats are fast, efficient and technically equipped to reach casualties faster and to provide increased cover around the coast.

Commenting on the RNLI summer lifeboat launches, RNLI Training Divisional Inspector, Owen Medland, said, 'It has been a busy Summer for Irish lifeboat crews.  Over the course of those three months there have been a number of dramatic and challenging callouts for our volunteers. This summer RNLI Sea Safety volunteers have run a number of lifejacket clinics and flare demonstrations around the coast and at inland waterways to advise all water users on how to stay safe on the water.'

RNLI Operations Director, Michael Vlasto, added: 'The summer is always busy as more and more people opt to relax at the coast. The figures show that our volunteers are called on much more during this time and the fact they respond every time the pager goes off shows just how committed they are to saving lives at sea.

'Many of our lifeboat volunteers are also particularly busy at this time with their day jobs as many of them work in the tourism industry, so we are especially grateful to them in summer – and to their employers who allow them to stop work at the "bleep of a pager" to help others, and given the current economic climate for businesses this is a great contribution to the charity.'

Read more about the year's lifeboat rescues in 2010 HERE

Related Safety posts

RNLI Lifeboats in Ireland

Safety News

Rescue News from RNLI Lifeboats in Ireland

Coast Guard News from Ireland

Water Safety News from Ireland

Marine Casualty Investigation Board News

Marine Warnings

Since the first report of the Humpback whale off Howth, north Co Dublin, on Thursday, the first sighting in the area in almost 20 years, several other eyewitness reports are surfacing too. The sitings are among a handful of validated recordings of the species in Irish waters over the past century.
A 10-year-old boy who was taking part in a Howth YC sailing course was afloat when the mammal surfaced on Thursday afternoon. The whale swam between the rescue boat and the young sailor as he waited to be picked up by an instructor.
Earleir this week Skerries Sailing Club spotted the humpback on Wednesday evening when preparing for its evening race.. "The whale was just astern of the committee boat which was anchored, said one official.
"The whale remained in close proximity to the boat for about 20-30 minutes and came to within touching distance of the boat," he added.
The mammal has been photographed within metres of the Cardinal marker off Howth Head, between Ireland's Eye and Howth harbour.
The photographer, Seán Pierce of Shearwater Sea Kayaking told reporters: "It stayed around Cardinal Mark off Howth for over two hours . . . lolling about pushing [its] head into trailing weed and perhaps scratching itself." he told the Irish Times.
The mammal has a preference for shallow coastal waters.

Graham Smith wrote in the March 2009 Afloat: "Clontarf and Skerries are the two promoters of the E-Boat and between them have 27 boats which race competitively at both club and open level. That number includes two boats which returned to the fold after restoration following bad damage during a storm two years ago.

Eighteen boats – effectively 70% of the national fleet – contested the National Championships in Clontarf and after six tight races, Pat O’Neill in OctopussE of the host club emerged victorious.

The other open events went to other skippers, with Pat Gilmour winning the Howth Lambay Race and John Denham winning the third Annual Liffey Challenge, an entertaining addition to the class’s racing calendar where the course boundaries are determined by solid quay walls.

The same events will feature in the E-Boat schedule for 2009 with the addition of a separate start at the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

National Champion: Pat O’Neill, Clontarf Y&BC"

Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club – MaryRose Curran, tel 086 384 1936

Skerries Sailing Club – Ray Wall, email:[email protected]

Background

The E-Boat, designed by Julian Everitt, went into production in 1976 and to date there are in the region of 250 E-Boats around the world. She was designed to comply with IOR rules and is basically a 22 feet, four berth trailer/sailer. For the full story look at The E-Boat Story.

Specifications

Length Over All (LOA) 6.7 m                             Sail Areas

Length at Water Line (LWL) 5.5 m                      Mainsail 8.5 m²
Beam 2.8 m                                                  No.1 Genoa 15.6 m²
Draught (Keel locked down) 1.4 m                      No.2 Genoa 12 m²
Draught (Keel fully retracted) 0.25 m                  No.3 Jib 7.4 m²
Displacement 975 kgs                                      No.4 Storm Jib 2.5 m²
Ballast 318 kgs                                               Spinnaker 32 m²

The E Boat Class Association currently has a membership of around 100 worldwide, but with the majority of members living in and sailing around Great Britain, Ireland, The Netherlands and Denmark.

(Above information courtesy of the International E-Boat Class Association)

International E-Boat Class Association (UK) 

There is a space for Irish boating clubs and racing classes to use as their own bulletin board and forum for announcements and discussion. If you want to see a dedicated forum slot for your club or class, click here