Waterways Ireland have advised all owners and masters of inland waterways vessels that the Barrow Line of the Grand Canal between the 21st Lock at Ballyteague and the 22nd Lock at Glenaree, will be closed to navigation from 16th Nov 2010 until 17th Mar 2011 to facilitate Waterways Ireland's winter dredging programme.
William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.
Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.
At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.
After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.
Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.
The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.
Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
