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#CoastalNotes - An unusual vessel that washed up in Co Sligo at the weekend has been traced thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic – to Cuba.

According to BBC News, Gordon Fallis was walking his dogs on the beach near the famous surfing hotspot of Mullaghmore when he discovered the dilapidated boat on the shore.

It appeared to be improvised from a metal frame and plastic bottles for buoyancy, covered in a yellow tarp, and powered by a repurposed car engine.

After posting photos of the strange boat to the Facebook group Lost at Sea, which attempts to identify such coastal finds, he was advised to take another look at the labels on the plastic bottles – which said they were from Cuba.

Such jury-rigged boats, nicknamed ‘chugs’ due to the sound of their straining motors, are commonly used by Cubans hoping to cross the Florida Straits for a better life in the United States.

It’s not the first unique find to wash up in the North West in recent months, following the Canadian houseboat that beached in Co Mayo this past November, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

But never before has an improvised vessel from Cuba been discovered on this side of the Atlantic — a journey that could have taken anywhere from months to years.

BBC News has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Coastal Notes
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About Warrenpoint Port

The Original Port of Warrenpoint was constructed in the late 1770s and acted as a lightering port for the much larger Port of Newry.

Following the demise of Newry Port Warrenpoint Harbour Authority was created as a Trust Port by legislation in 1971. The modern Port was completed in 1974 when it covered 28 acres. Since then the port has expanded to its current size of approximately 53 Acres. The Authority has just completed a £22 Million capital infrastructure project (under the terms of a Service of General Economic Interest with the Department for Regional Development) that includes, the construction of a 300 Metres of Deep Water Quay (7.5 Metres C.D), new Ro-Ro berthing facilities, additional lands and covered storage facilities and a new 100 Tonne mobile crane.

  • Warrenpoint Port is the second largest port in Northern Ireland and the fifth-biggest on the island of Ireland.
  • Warrenpoint Harbour Authority was created as a Trust Port by legislation in 1971.
  • In 2018, the value of goods moving through Warrenpoint Port was £6.5 billion. The Port handled 3.56 million tonnes in 2017, increasing to 3.6m in 2018.
  • The port employs 70 staff directly and supports over 1,500 in the local economy.
  • In addition to serving the markets in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, the Port deals with imports and exports from countries and regions across the world including to Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Ukraine and the Americas.