Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Wetsuits

CH Marine has the latest stylishly cool Typhoon wetsuits and shorties from the budget-friendly Swarm range, designed with the novice in mind.

Choosing Swarm is the way to go if you are new to the sport or just get on the water occasionally. And the new Swarm3 wetsuits are available in adult, child and infant sizes to kit out the whole family.

See the full range of Typhoon wetsuits available on CHMarine.ie

Published in CH Marine Chandlery
Tagged under

Old wetsuits aren’t recyclable, with thousands dumped in Irish landfills each year — but as RTÉ News reports, one woman has found a way to ‘upcycle’ them into something new.

Lynn Haughton, a designer based in Co Wexford, has been repurposing the durable neoprene fabric wetsuits are made of into a variety of accessories such as bags and pencil cases.

And what’s more, a tenth of the profits from Haughton’s Neo Collection goes to the aid of local marine wildlife charity Seal Rescue Ireland.

For other recent efforts at upcycling marine-related materials, see the outstanding work of two Cork schoolgirls entering this year’s Junk Kouture contest.

Published in News Update
Tagged under

#SillySeason - If you've been around either of Dublin's canals in the past couple of weeks, you may have seen some excited groups of young people gathered around the locks clad in wetsuits and launching themselves into the water.

The Irish Times has a video report on this latest trend that some city kids are making into a summertime sport - made possible thanks to the ready availability of inexpensive wetsuits from the likes of Aldi and Lidl.

As that paper's Ronan McGreevy writes: "They serve a dual purpose: keeping out the cold of the icy canals and helping to protect against the bugs that inevitably arise in an urban waterway."

Meanwhile, across the border some bathers have been taking things to the other extreme - as the Irish Mirror reports on two men arrested for skinny dipping in Belfast Lough.

The daring duo were reported by officers from Holywood PSNI for indecent exposure and, according to the Belfast Telegraph, they could even face inclusion on the sex offenders' register for their antics.

Published in News Update
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