14/05/2024
A massive thanks to Stella’s crew who sailed night & day to get her here in record time with absolutely no problems.
Captain John Dunne, Engineers Mick Barrett & David 'Flash' Gordon and Willie Alvey!
Stella wouldn't be here without these extremely competent lads!
Also, a big thanks & appreciation to everyone who helped along the way during Stella’s journey.
To mention some :
Dun Laoghaire :
- The Dun Laoghaire harbour master who was extremely facilitating the whole time we were in the harbour.
- The Irish Sailing Club who assisted us getting organised in the harbour to be ready to set sail.
- Mike Clinton who carried out a full technical inspection of the engine, gearbox and all running gear before we put to sea.
- Ultan the diver who undertook the mammoth task of polishing Stella’s propellor and cleaned the entire hull to remove all seaweed and mussels that would have slowed her down.
Limerick :
- Bogdan Kogut who cut off the wheelhouse with perfect precision in order for us to put it back on here at Lakeside Marina.
- John Hegarty, the owner of the Metal Recycling centre, who used his crane to lift the wheelhouse off and place it on the bow so we could continue up the Abbey River.
- Pat Lysaght, for his advice and pointing us in the right direction to get the wheelhouse lifted off.
- Darren Tydings, for ferrying our Captain up & down the Abbey River to keep an eye on the tides so we could move at the right time as the window of opportunity was very short.
- The Sarsfield Lock Master & Waterways Ireland who facilitated us getting through on a Saturday while the lock is closed to keep us on track.
- The Ardnacrusha Lock Master for getting us through in the very early morning hours to keep us on schedule to get back to Athlone before the Athlone lock closed at 6pm.
- The Meelick Lock Master (aka Victoria Lock) who opened during lunchtime to keep us on schedule.
- Athlone Lock Keepers, Ken & Timmy, who got the Athlone Lock up and running ASAP after a technical difficulty to get us on our last stretch home to Lakeside Marina on the inner lakes of Lough Ree!
Heres a picture of the crew (minus one) minutes after landing back to Lakeside Marina! Smiles all round!! 👍
