Displaying items by tag: safari

29th September 2011

Safari Boats Order Boosts Kerry Boat Building Firm

Kerry Boat-builder O'Sullivan's Marine (OSM) is bucking the trend in the depressed marine industry. The Tralee firm have a busy order book and report strong demand for its traditional lake boat marque but it also has interest in more exotic boats too for the emerging nature tourism market.

pionermulti

Tried and tested, the new Safari boats are ready for Lee Valley

The first of the orders processed in Tralee is the supply of four Pioner Multi boats with Motor Guide 24v Electric Outboards for the local Lee Valley Development, a new eight hectare (20 acre) eco-tourism development comprising a Nature Park. The four boats will be used for safari-style boat rides.

'We carried out water trials yesterday, all is in order and the fully fitted out boats are being delivered this week', says managing director Brian O'Sullivan.

Pioner_Multi_Launch_Day

OSM's Brian O'Sullivan with one of the new Pioner boats

OSM, a member of the Irish Marine Federation, is also supplying two lake boats to Creeslough Angling Association in Donegal. Six Irish built boats have also been ordered by Dunfanaghy Angling Association in Donegal. Five more lake boats are also going to Waterville, Co. Kerry. All orders are for November delivery! Recession? What recession?

OSM have a selection of used craft on the boats for sale website. See them here

Published in Marine Trade

Tagged under

Forty Boats Prepare for Liffey Cruise

Forty cruising boats will sail up the river Liffey to spend a night near the the replica famine ship Jeanie Johnston. The East Link bridge will lift and the Samuel Beckett bridge will swing open at noon on Saturday 24 September.

The boats are mostly modest sailing yachts with some motor cruisers, typically eight to twelve metres long with up to six people aboard. They come from ports on the East coast of Ireland between Arklow and Skerries.

The sailors will spend the afternoon visiting other boats, renewing friendships and comparing notes. Some will use the opportunity to explore the city centre from this unusual perspective.

There are organised visits to the Jeanie Johnston and the Guinness Storehouse. A special attraction this year is a guided tour of the docks in an inflatable boat, by Sea Safari.

In the evening the whole group, about a hundred people, will gather for dinner in a nearby hotel. Formalities will be limited to a review of the season in general and the summer cruise in Strangford Lough, but the party is likely to continue until late.

Most sailors will spend the night aboard their boats. On Sunday morning commodore Derek Harris will say mass aboard the Jeanie Johnston. The bridges will open once more at noon, and the fleet will disperse to their home ports.

This annual event is organised by the Cruising Association of Ireland with the co-operation of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and Dublin Corporation.

The Cruising Association of Ireland supports and represents the cruising community in Ireland, both power and sail (www.cruising.ie). Contact Derek Harris 087 6740334 [email protected], or Simon Parker 0872497859 [email protected]

Published in Cruising

Tagged under

Forty Foot Swimming Spot on Dublin Bay

The 'Forty Foot' is a rocky outcrop located at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove, County Dublin from which people have been swimming in the Irish Sea all year round for 300 years or more. It is popular because it is one of few spots between Dublin city and Greystones in County Wicklow that allows for swimming at all stages of the tide, subject to the sea state.

Forty Foot History

Traditionally, the bathing spot was exclusively a men's bathing spot and the gentlemen's swimming club was established to help conserve the area.

Owing to its relative isolation and gender-specific nature it became a popular spot for nudists, but in the 1970s, during the women's liberation movement, a group of female equal-rights activists plunged into the waters and now it is also open to everyone and it is in the control of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Many people believe that swimming in extremely cold water is healthy and good for the immune system.

Is it safe to swim at the Forty Foot?

The Forty-Foot is a great place to swim because there is always enough water to get a dip but like all sea swimming, there are always hazards you need to be aware of. For example, a lot of people like to dive into to the pool at the Forty-foot but there are submerged rocks that can be hazardous especially at low water. The Council have erected signs to warn people of the underwater dangers. Other hazards include slippy granite cut stone steps that can often be covered with seaweed and of course marine wildlife including jellyfish that make their presence felt in the summer months as do an inquisitive nearby Sandycove seal colony.