Displaying items by tag: Arklow
Arklow Lifeboat Assists Stricken Sailing Vessel With Two Aboard
#RNLI - Arklow RNLI was launched yesterday evening (Tuesday 17 October) following a call for assistance from the crew of a sailing vessel reporting mechanical failure.
The volunteer crew on board Arklow's all-weather lifeboat proceeded to the reported position approximately 12 miles south of Arklow in Co Wicklow. Weather conditions were calm and dry at the time, 24 hours after Storm Ophelia passed over Ireland.
Once the yacht had been located, it was decided to put a lifeboat crew member aboard the 10m sailing vessel to assist the crew of two.
Once a tow line was established, the vessel and her crew were towed back to Arklow where all came ashore safely.
Following the callout, Arklow RNLI volunteer press officer Mark Corcoran said: “Thanks to all of our volunteers on this shout who are always ready 24 hours a day to drop what they are doing in their own lives to go to sea to assist others.”
Dukarska Wins Heat at World Coastal Rowing Championships
#Rowing: Monika Dukarska won her heat at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Thonon in France this morning. She qualified for Saturday’s A Final of the Coastal Women’s Solo. Two other Ireland competitors, Jessica Lee of Killorglin and Jeanne O’Gorman of Arklow, will compete in the B Final after placing 13th and 16th respectively.
The women’s coxed quadruple from Castletownbere finished ninth in their heat and made the A Final, while Cairndhu and Courtmacsherry will compete in a B Final. They finished 12th and 13th in their heat.
The Galley Flash men’s double of David Duggan and Mark O’Brien finished 11th in their heat and go to the B Final.
Dukarska is the defending champion in the women’s solo.
World Coastal Rowing Championships, Thonon, France, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)
Men
Double – Heats (First Seven to A Final; 8 to 13 to B Final) Heat Two: 11 Galley Flash.
Single – Heats (First Seven to A Final; 8 to 13 to B Final): Heat One: 6 Castletownbere (A Sullivan-Greene), 7 Arklow (J Casey). Heat Two: 10 Galley Flash (B Hooper). Heat Three: 7 Bantry (A Hurley); 8 Arklow (A Goodison)
Women
Quadruple, Coxed – Heats (First 10 to A Final; rest to B Final) Heat One: 12 Cairndhu, 13 Courtmacsherry. Heat Two: 9 Castletownbere; 13 Galley Flash.
Double – Heats (First 10 to A Final; rest to B Final) Heat One : 14 Arklow
Solo – Heats (First 10 to A Final; rest to B Final) Heat One: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska) 20 min 44.83 sec; 13 Killorglin (J Lee); 16 Arklow (J O’Gorman). Heat Two: 10 Arklow (S Healy); 16 Arklow (V Annesley).
Casey and Dukarska Excel at Irish Offshore Championships
#Rowing: The titles at the Irish Offshore Championships were widely spread. Only the host club, Arklow, won twice, through their women’s double and John Casey in the offshore single. Casey, though he rows for Arklow and now lives nearby, is from Sneem. The quadruples went to Courtmacsherry (men) and Castletownbere (women), while New Ross won the men’s double. Killorglin woman Monika Dukarska, who will defend her world title in the offshore single next month in France, was dominant in the boat at Arklow. Conditions were testing, with a strong wind and rain squalls.
Irish Offshore Championships, Arklow (Selected Results; Winners)
Men
Sculling, Quadruple, coxed: Courtmacsherry 18:52.0.
Double: New Ross B 20:14.0.
Single: Arklow (Casey) 21:24.0
Women
Sculling, Quadruple, coxed: Castletownbere 26 min 42 sec.
Double: Arklow 22:27.0
Single: Killorglin (Dukarska) 21:59.0.
Baltimore Lifeboat Launches To Boat Aground In Heavy Fog
#RNLI - Baltimore RNLI launched in the early hours of yesterday morning (Thursday 17 August) after a boat ran aground in heavy fog near the West Cork village.
The volunteer lifeboat crew were paged at 00.39am to assist the 50ft vessel with three people on board. Sea conditions in the area were calm, but visibility was poor due to fog.
Under the command of coxswain Kieran Cotter and with mechanic Cathal Cottrell and crew members Pat Collins, Kieran Collins, Don O’Donovan, Jerry Smith and Micheal Cottrell, the lifeboat reached the vessel within 15 minutes.
After assessing the grounded boat’s situation and checking the surrounding area for any navigational hazards, a tow was established and the vessel was pulled clear.
There was no apparent damage to the vessel and no injuries to anyone on board, so it was allowed to move under its own power Baltimore Harbour, where it arrived escorted by the lifeboat at 1.20am.
Speaking following the callout, Baltimore RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer Kate Callanan said: “With bad weather forecast for the next few days we would remind everyone taking to the sea to respect the water.”
Earlier in the week, Baltimore RNLI launched on Tuesday night (15 August) after reports of a flare sighted at Gokane Point, near Toe Head.
However, the lifeboat was stood down en route when the Irish Coast Guard learned that the flare was actually a firework set off from land and not a boat in distress.
Elsewhere, Arklow RNLI’s volunteers launched yesterday afternoon following a pager alert to a call for help from a sailing vessel with engine trouble.
In moderate seas, the lifeboat Ger Tigchlearr proceeded to the reported position of the casualty vessel, some four miles north east of Arklow Harbour and with two people on board.
Once on scene, the vessel and crew of the casualty vessel were found be in good order, and a towline was established it bring the boat back to Arklow.
John Tyrrell, Arklow RNLI’s lifeboat operations manager, commented: “Our crew were able to get the casualty vessel in a timely fashion. We would like to commend the skipper of the boat for calling for help at an early stage.”
#Rescue - The Arklow lifeboat joined Courtown RNLI and the Irish Coast Guard in a multi-agency rescue on Friday evening (11 August) after a teenage girl fell from an inflatable ‘doughnut’ being towed by a jet ski in Courtown Harbour.
Once on scene, around a mile east of Ardamine Beach south of Courtown, the Arklow lifeboat volunteers assisted their Courtown colleagued who were already in the water dealing with the casualty, a 13-year-old girl with suspected spinal injuries.
Arklow RNLI worked to clear the area of other vessels to allow for a safe airlift by the Waterford-based coastguard helicopter Rescue 117.
In the process, they picked up three other casualties — kayakers who had entered the water to assist in the rescue but found themselves adrift.
Independent.ie and The Irish Times have more on the story.
36 boats have entered the first ISORA offshore race to take place next Saturday. The offshore race will be approximately 60–miles, depending on the weather, starting in Holyhead and finishing in Dun Laoghaire. See attached ISORA entry list list below.
The fleet is a great cross section, from classic to high tech and from small to large, demonstrating the range of boats that are interested in racing offshore. The newly adopted “ISORA Progressive ECHO” will ensure a greater spread of prizes for the race with prizes for six classes and trophy for overall as well as the famous “Race Winners Jacket”, says ISORA's Peter Ryan.
The gathering of such a large numbers of boats and their crew in Holyhead on the Friday evening and again hopefully at the NYC on Saturday evening will generate a great social atmosphere, adds Ryan.
After Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire, the ISORA fleet gather again for a new offshore race to Arklow on May 27th. Read more on that new race here.
Seal Pup Treated For Suspected Stab Wounds
#MarineWildlife - The Wicklow People reports that a six-week-old common seal is being treated for suspected stab wounds after being found in “very shape” by people walking on Arklow’s South Beach yesterday morning (Friday 18 November).
The incident is the second in three weeks in the Arklow area to involve a seal with wounds thought to have been caused by human hands. More on this story HERE.
#RNLI - Arklow RNLI was called out early this morning (Sunday 19 June) to go the assistance of a casualty in difficulty near Arklow Harbour.
Within minutes of a pager alert at 6.23am, the lifeboat Ger Tigchlearr and her volunteer crew was launched to a report of a man in difficulty in the water outside the harbour.
As the lifeboat arrived on scene, a local fishing vessel had also come to the assistance of the casualty and had been trying with difficulty to get the man aboard the fishing boat.
The man was shortly thereafter recovered from the water by the fishermen and transferred to the Arklow lifeboat.
Casualty care was administered aboard the lifeboat, which then returned to station immediately to transfer the casualty to a waiting ambulance.
Following the callout, Arklow RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer Mark Corcoran said: "We’re thankful to the skipper of the local fishing vessel for assistance in this rescue. Working together we were able to recover the casualty from the water. We would like to wish the casualty a speedy recovery."
When the report appeared here on Afloat.ie on Monday about the assistance given by Arklow RNLI to the “stranded” classic yacht off the Arklow pierheads on May 1st, warning bells rang writes W M Nixon.
For classic boat enthusiasts will have instantly recognised that the yacht in question is the 43ft ketch Maybird, built by Tyrrells of Arklow in 1937, and superbly restored in the heart of the classic yacht industry in Southampton between 2009 and 2011 by a team of all the talents in a job project-managed by owner Darryl Hughes.
Most folk on the classic yacht circuit will be aware that Maybird is entered for the Volvo Round Ireland Race from Wicklow on June 18th, in which she’ll be the oldest boat ever to have taken part. And those of us really in the know will have been aware that Darryl Hughes hopes that members of Arklow Sailing Club - and maybe even descendants of the men who built the boat back in 1937 – will be on the crew for the big race.
The Arklow maritime community being what it is, many members of the sailing club are also on the RNLI Lifeboat Crew panel, and thus some of them were on board Maybird when she set off from Cork Harbour to sail for Arklow early last Saturday as part of a programme to build up mileage experience in order to qualify for the round Ireland.
So when the photo appeared on Monday showing Maybird about to be taken in tow on Sunday evening by the Arklow lifeboat after her engine had failed right in the entrance to Arklow Harbour, at first all we could think of was the embarrassment of those on Maybird at having to be “rescued” by their colleagues.
But then we remembered that May 1st, May Day, is a great lifeboat fund-raising day, and particularly so in Arklow. So then cynical thoughts took over, thinking that maybe this was a cleverly-planned fund-raising stunt: Maybird, Mayday, May*rs* we thought.
There are times you can be just too hard-bitten. Turns out the whole story is absolutely kosher. Prior to leaving winter quarters in Crosshaven, when servicing the engine Darryl had noticed the bleed screw on the secondary fuel filter did not seem to be making an airtight fit. But the engine started with no bother, and motored the boat without trouble from Crosshaven to the Custom House Quay in Cork to meet the Arklow crew, and then took Maybird, with full complement aboard, down to Cobh on Friday evening to prepare for departure towards Arklow last Saturday morning.
They’d a fine sail round to the east coast, going outside the Tuskar to simulate round Ireland conditions, but then off the Glassgorman Bank an engine start test failed. There was air in the fuel system, but Darryl solved the problem with plumbers’ PTFE tape on the bleed screw, and they were back in business with a fading breeze, motoring the final miles and stowing sails with the engine performing well.
But just as the pierheads came abeam, the engine cut out. Fortunately Maybird’s multiple-sail rig provides almost instant hoisting of the staysail – “always the last sail to be stowed” – and they were able to sail clear and keep the situation under control while the Arklow lifeboat leapt at the chance to carry out a rescue.
As it happens, Jimmy Mylor, who organises the Arklow Sea Scouts in addition to being on the Lifeboat Crew, had meant to be on Maybird, but work commitments had caused him to drop out. Yet it was he who handed Maybird’s crew the lifeboat’s towing warp amidst much banter, banter which went on for some time.
But now the Arklow marine industry have rallied round to make sure that a new bleed screw on Maybird’s secondary filter is getting a proper seal, and all being well, Maybird will race this Saturday in Arklow SC’s weekend event. We don’t know how much extra RNLI fund-raising was done as a result of this “stunt-for-real”. But the message yet again is that you can only have three problems with a good modern marine diesel engine – fuel, fuel, and fuel.
Maybird as she looks when all is as it should be
Arklow & Bangor Lifeboats Have Busy May Day Weekend
#RNLI - Lifeboats from Arklow and Bangor were out on the water for separate callouts on May Day yesterday in what made for a busy weekend for the RNLI crews.
In Arklow, RNLI lifeboat volunteers were alerted by pager around 7pm on a fine Sunday evening (1 May) to a call for help from a vintage sailing vessel.
The lifeboat Ger Tigchleaar was launched within minutes to the classic boat, which has suffered engine failure and was stranded just east of Arklow Harbour.
The Arklow RNLI volunteer crew established a tow line and proceeded to tow the vessel safely back into Arklow. The five experienced crew members on the casualty vessel remained aboard during the tow home and all hands came ashore safely at Arklow.
Speaking after the incident, volunteer lifeboat press officer and community safety officer Mark Corcoran said: "On this, the RNLI’s Mayday fundraising weekend, our fundraising team and boats crew have been busy with all kinds of fundraising events.
"Even after a long day of fundraising our dedicated volunteers turned up this evening en masse to go to the aid of the crew of this stricken vessel.
"We’re all very proud to be involved with the RNLI, so please give generously to the Mayday campaign to help keep us doing what we do, which is saving lives at sea."
Elsewhere on the same evening, Bangor RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crew launched to the aid of a RIB with engine failure just off Royal North Yacht Club in Belfast Lough.
Although not in immediate danger, a strong breeze was blowing the vessel, with one person on board, offshore. Thankfully the Bangor inshore lifeboat was able to tow the RIB in to Royal North without incident.
Bangor RNLI volunteer helmsman Gareth Whan said: “The crew and I are delighted to have been able to return this vessel safely to shore. Engine failure can happen in the best-maintained boat, and we are pleased to have been able to help.”
This was Bangor RNLI’s second callout of the weekend. On Friday evening (29 April) they were asked by Belfast Coastguard to assist Lagan Search and Rescue and other emergency services in a detailed search of Belfast Harbour for a person in the water.
Sadly, this callout did not have a happy ending. The search was called off after three hours, and resumed on Saturday morning. However, it was only yesterday (Sunday 1 May) when a body was found by police divers.
Bangor RNLI extended its sympathies to the family of the man and all involved in the attempted rescue.
“It is sadly appropriate that both of these launches happened during the May Day weekend, a key fundraising time for the RNLI, and highlight the importance of the work our volunteers do,” said Bangor's deputy launching authority Bryan Lawther.