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Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Sailing holiday

Good news for Irish sailors planning a Greek sailing holiday. Go-ahead UK firm Wildwind, based in Vassiliki and run by Simon Morgan, is now offering free supplemental flights to London and accommodation at the Hilton Hotel in Gatwick during the early weeks of the upcoming school holidays!

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from Scotland or Ireland to the local airport in Greece, Preveza. The bulk of Wildwind's charter flights are with British Airways on Sundays leaving London Gatwick at 8 am (arriving in Greece at 1 pm) and returning at 4.35pm (you'll leave from Greece at 2 pm). This means that most of the clients travelling from Scotland and Ireland need to stay overnight in London in order to make the morning outbound flight. Usually, you will have a convenient onward connection on the return portion of your journey.

There are very good low-cost flights to Gatwick from a number of regional airports including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin. Wildwind recommends to stay the night in London and have a night on the town at the start of your holiday. They have even made a deal with the Hilton hotel near the airport to offer Wildwind guests discounted rates.

During the period of June 30th to July 20th, Wildwind will pay for both your flight and your hotel accommodation at the Hilton or another hotel of your choice, up to a maximum of £200 per adult and £150 per child, on the basis of reimbursement of expenses for regional travel and overnight accommodation.

More information by calling the Wildwind booking team at 01920 444 091 or emailing [email protected].

Published in Aquatic Tourism
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A luxury 'glamping' holiday in France with a choice of watersports right on your door step sounds like an ideal mix for a family watersports holiday in the big sailing region of the Vendee.

Original Camping and Alain Dominique Perrin attracted many foreign tourists last season on the island of Noirmoutier with their concept of glamorous camping, Glamping with plenty of waterports on tap including: Kitesurfing, Windsurfing, Sailing, Jetsking, Kayaking.

The only sport that you can’t practice on the island is surfing because the waves aren’t big enough. 

Canvas and wooden accommodation facing the Atlantic ocean charms water sports enthusiasts as well as lovers of relaxation, beautiful landscapes and pampering.

The site also boasts a Teens and Children's Clubs with 'quadrilingual' staff that, the owners say, has won over parents and children of all ages.

The advertised price for four people for one week starts at €1,199

Published in Sailing Holidays
Tagged under

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