Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Mannanan

#ISLE OF MAN FERRY – This Easter bank holiday weekend marks the start of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co.'s seasonal-only Dublin-Douglas ferry service, with a sailing scheduled to depart this evening, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The wave-piercing catamaran fastcraft Manannan had departed the Manx capital this afternoon to form the inaugural outbound sailing, which takes nearly three hours to complete. The 96m fastcraft is the largest of her type in the Irish Sea and she was built by InCAT in Hobart, Tasmania. She also maintains sailings on the Douglas to Belfast and Liverpool routes.

For sailing timetables across the network of routes to the Isle of Man click HERE and for a guide about  the fastcraft and conventional ferry Ben-My-Chree click this LINK.

Published in Ferry

About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

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.