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Displaying items by tag: Passage East

#FerryNews - A popular ferry service between Waterford and Wexford is up for sale, as The Irish Times reports.

The Passage East Ferry Company, which runs car ferry services across the River Suir between Passage East and Ballyhack, is putting itself on the market due to the pending retirement of its founder and operator Derek Donnelly.

In continuous operation since 1982, the company – which employs 16 people full time and has turned over around €1.6 million per year over the last five years – experienced a 5.4% rise in passenger numbers in 2015.

Accountants Crowe Horwath expect the sale "will generate significant interest, not in the domestic and international markets". The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Ferry

#MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE - It took eight years to cross the Atlantic, but a message in a bottle sent by two girls from eastern Canada finally found a recipient - in Co Waterford.

As the Irish Independent reports, 10-year-old Oisin Millea found the letter encased in a 2-litre soft drink bottle more than a week ago among litter from the sea strewn across the beach at Passage East.

And thanks to the wonders of the internet, he was able to contact the girls who sent the message - and even see them on his computer screen via Skype.

RTÉ News says it got in touch with the two French-Canadians, who were aged 12 when they sent the bottle into the sea via the St Lawrence River in Quebec back in the summer of 2004.

Charlene Dalpé and Claudia Garneau, now 20 years old, told the Irish Independent that they have remained friends since, and described Oisin's discovery as "really exciting".

Published in News Update
Some interesting Irish waterfront property is on the market on the Shannon Estuary at Foynes deepwater port in county Limerick and also at Passage East in Co. Waterford. The properties will be of interest to those in the marine industry and anyone looking for coastal property in Ireland too.

A significant commercial and industrial facility immediately opposite the entrance to Foynes port is being sold on the instruction of Shannon Foynes Port Company.

A former Pilot Station Building, Passage East, Co. Waterford is being sold on the instruction of the Port of Waterford. The 1500 sq. foot building is located within the village and in close proximity to the pier.

Perhaps either property can be the basis of a coastal home? If you're looking for inspiration, look no further than Sailing champion Brad Butterworth's new $3.9 million Auckland hideaway has won an architects' design prize in New Zealand.

The winning America's Cup skipper also stands to win a national award for his taste in housing. His Waiheke Island hideout, dubbed the Rock House, originally annoyed neighbours, who nicknamed it "Brad's Pit".

 

Published in Waterfront Property

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

© Afloat 2020