Boaters in the capital's waters celebrated a bright but cold New Year's Day with several sailing cruisers taking a tack on Dublin Bay yesterday, empty except for three or four Dublin Port bound cargo ships moored in the southern bay anchorages.
There was some small dinghy activity too in and around Dun Laoghaire Harbour with a number of single-handed Laser sailors enjoying the chilly but good sailing breeze of ten to fifteen knots.
Motorboats, including several RIBs and smaller sized runabouts, also took advantage of the winter sunshine and headed south from Dun Laoghaire Marina to nearby Dalkey Island for a quick spin, passing a steady stream of sea swimmers at the Forty-foot bathing place.
Boating Lockdown
New Level 5 COVID-19 lockdown measures mean all organised sailing activity nationwide has been stopped.
In Dun Laoghaire, this led to the cancellation of DMYC's Christmas Cracker event and even January's RS Aero training at the National Yacht Club has been scrubbed in line with Government guidelines.
Elite sport, however, is permitted and in sailing's case this is based at the Irish Sailing's High-Performance HQ but it is unclear how much training there will be at Dun Laoghaire with some of the squad scheduled for a critical winter camp in Portugal.
Live Dublin Bay webcam here