Dear Fellow Cruisers,

A very happy New year to you all. I've had occasion to attend several meetings recently on behalf of the association and the cruising community. This is a short review of the bits and pieces which affect our sport and all cruising sailors.

Green Diesel

There was a concern that the government would abolish duty free Green diesel for leisure purposes under EU pressure. They would also increase VAT to the 23% rate. This might result in diesel costing up to 2 euro per litre. This did not happen in the recent budget but, it has not gone away. We will keep you informed.

Cruising sailors on the East Coast will know that the marina development at Greystones has been eagerly awaited by many. It has recently been announced that BJ Marine, a well-established Irish & International marine services company will take responsibility for the marina under the name "BJ Marinas".

Anyone interested in berths in the new marina should contact them either directly, or through the website http://www.greystonesharbourmarina.ie/ (click on the image above to go straight to the marina website).

The contact details on the new marina website are:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Below the Surface Presents: The second talk in our series of maritime stories on board the Jeanie Johnston. 

A reminder that our second talk in the series of maritime tales takes place on Wednesday December 5^th when Jonathan Shackleton, cousin of Sir Ernest Shackleton, will reveal the family life and early marine experiences of Ireland’s most famous Polar explorer and extraordinary “leader of men”. What influenced the young Shackleton to abandon his father’s aspirations and tread his own path? What experiences on his first polar expeditions moulded him to become such a courageous and tenacious leader? Jonathan, himself an accomplished polar explorer and guide, will delve into the Shackleton family history to answer these questions.

 Doors open 7.15pm. Tickets are €15, available from www.jeaniejohnston.ie. 

 For more information on the event log on to our website www.belowthesurfaceireland.wordpress.com 

Why not tune in to CRUISING.IE for an experimental online presentation on cruising from Brian Lennon of Skerries Yacht Club. This presentation covers Brian's cruise to Brittany in his Moody 29 and will be of interest to many. The presentation will be held online (a real-time interactive broadcast on the web) at 20:00 on Wednesday 21st November.

This is an exciting opportunity for an online web broadcast, and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions via a live online chat forum if they wish.

As this is an experimental presentation, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interesting in dropping in and we will email you a direct link. No problem if you can't make it on the night, but we will need to know an idea of numbers and who to send the link to. 

 Computer Requirements

You need a computer capable of playing video & audio - if you can watch youtube videos it should be fine. However you do need to ensure that your browser is up to date, and that it's compatible with the software. Click here for details of how to prepare for the presentation

This notice is intended to give users background preparation for online webcasts from Cruising.ie

These will be delivered via WiziQ presentation/broadcasting platform.

In order to ensure that your computer is fully set up to receive the broadcast session, please follow the instructions below well in advance of the scheduled presentation. It's spelt out in detail in the screenshots below, but it's really only a few clicks if you are familiar with website navigation and wont take long. Make sure your browser is up to date, and if you use Google Chrome take special note of the instructions.

Some more photos from Tall ships event...

The Tall Ships festival was a great success, well done to the organisers. Thanks to John for all the hard work on the Cruising Association involvement - the Dinner in Milano's went well, and the private tour of the Stavros Niarchos was well worth the time. Both had a great turnout (nearly 50 on the Stavros for the tour). Getting access for a small number of yachts into the Grand Canal Basin gives a taster for some future time : a likely future event? Hope you enjoy these photos.... taken by Oonagh & myself during the weekend.

The farewell to the Tall Ships was a spectacular event. Check our Facebook page for some images http://www.facebook.com/cruising.ie?ref=stream

TALL SHIPS Weekend -24th-26th August 2012

Hi folks

Summer Cruise report. Dublin to New Ross

It is now Sunday 22nd July and most boats have returned to roost. We set off last Saturday 14th , with 17 boats on the register. We arrived in Arklow on Saturday afternoon and were well received by the sailing club there - newly refurbished and very nicely done. Dinner in Christies followed with a few returning to the sailing club for night caps. An early start the next day to catch the tide to Kilmore Quay. The forecast was for westerlies for the next few days - not great if you are headed that way!

The Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club programme for the tall ships races is available now by clicking on the link below.

poolbegtellships-flyer.pdf

Malahide Yacht Club are hosting their annual Rockabill Rally on Saturday 23rd June 2012.

All sailors are welcome to join in the fun for this event.  Meet Malahide Safe Water Mark from 11.00 on Saturday. 

The format is for boats to sail from Malahide Safe Water Mark to Rockabill and back.  Communications on the day will be on Channel 77 and Rockabill should be left to your port side.

There will be a staggered start to allow boats to finish at approximately the same time.  This event is open to racing and non-racing sailors but use of spinnaker is not encouraged!

It's been reported in several sources recently that despite the encouraging attendance at the meeting in Greystones in March (see here) , and the stated intention to start work on the proposed primary care centre as soon as September... it looks like work on the Marina will be delayed yet again. 

From the Irish Times article on 31/May 2012... "With regard to the marina, Mr Keogh said while “we had hoped to progress the installation this year, there was a difficulty in that there are current legal proceedings with regard to the marina operation”."

The full Irish times article is available here:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0531/1224316989532.html

Dear Cruising member,

The Dublin Tall Ships  2012 event is just a few months away, and things are shaping up !

Our friend Cian Gallagher invited myself (John Leahy, commodore), and Aidan Coughlan (vice-commodore) to attend the opening ceremony of the Tall Ships event in the Dublin Docklands recently to encourage the Cruising Association to participate and contribute to the Tall ships event.

Cian is involved in the Tall ships event, and in efforts to provide a new tall ship for Ireland. We went along to represent your interests and to see how we could take part.

May 14th 2012

Dear Cruising Member

If you did not manage to get to the NYC on Saturday last it was a great evening and good value at 20 euro per head. About 15 boats turned up on the pontoons and almost 90 diners enjoyed a first class meal in the clubhouse. It was also our AGM which we kept mercifully short but nevertheless there was business to be done.

Note: The information below is not a forecast - just an interpretation (in consultation with John Leahy), a summary of forecasts freely available on the web (as of Thursday evening). Please do you own checking on the forecast, and let us know if we've read it wrong below !  

• It looks like being predominately fine weather over the weekend, though "a bit windy" on Sunday.
• "Lots of sunshine expected" on Saturday, with the exception of some rain on Sunday afternoon mostly dry over the weekend.
• Winds on Saturday W 10-12 knots, although potentially up to 30 knots SW on Sunday... if it does blow, at least it's an off-wind ride for the howth & malahide boats, but something to watch for anyone going south on Sunday.

I visited the event on Friday and it is well worth the journey to Belfast. It is a journey through the industrial development of Belfast that led in turn to the ability to build the finest ships in the world.

It is a moving and sometimes emotional journey. The event is massive - much bigger than you think it will be and with lots of excellent areas with different themes.

Who goes out in weather like this ?

The Cruising Association is affiliated to the Irish Sailing Association (www.sailing.ie)

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