02 September 2010; Dublin, Ireland.

This was the first crossing of the Irish Sea, as there are some more to follow. During the coming days we basically zig-zag from one side to the other several times. I have never seen the Irish Sea so gentle as today. Just a slight ripple indicated that it was not an enclosed pond but an open water area connected to the North Atlantic Ocean. These circumstances normally call for fog but as the temperatures are fairy low, visibility was excellent. Thus we could see the green undulating landscape of South Ireland moving by on the port side while sailing up the East coast to our next port of call Dublin. The capital of Ireland is located about halfway up the Island and that means we cannot make it during an overnight sailing (as we could do with Cobh or Cork) but we need just a little bit more time and thus we were scheduled for a noon time arrival. To compensate for this we stayed until midnight.

Dublin has a considerable harbour and is one of the main ferry ports for Ireland; and those ferries were the main traffic that we saw while we approached the pilot station. The Irish Sea is not very deep, on average 60 feet is quite a lot, and when coming closer to the port entrance it only gets less. The port is located at the mouth of the river Liffey which runs straight through the centre of the Irish capital. That river is not very deep either and thus the pilot worried about our draft, but as the Prinsendam does not draw that much, he was a very happy camper for the remainder of the transit. Thus we docked in glorious Irish sunshine in the cargo docks, as Dublin does not have a dedicated cruise terminal. In a way it makes it more interesting as every day you do not see ferries being loaded and windmill parts being assembled. Non tour guests were transported to town by means of a shuttle bus service.

Canned Music near the gangway.

We were doing things ourselves as well, by loading supplies. That took a bit of planning as the tide in the port is considerable and on low water our shell door was well under the pier. However as the tide pushed the ship up today by at least 12 feet, in the mid afternoon the door appeared above the dock side and the pallets could just be shoved inside. While this was going on we had a caravan on the dockside with an Irish folk music player inside. It gave a whole new meaning to “canned music”.

Behind us at the grain terminal we had the Princess Daphne alongside. She was with us as well yesterday in Falmouth but had to anchor due to her draft. Although she is about half the size of the Prinsendam, she has a much deeper draft as she was built in 1954 as the cargo ship Port Sydney for the British Port Line. She and her sister the Port Melbourne were converted in 1972/3 into two cruise ships for the Carras Line. Although virtually rebuilt on the upper decks, the strong cargo hull and engine room were maintained. The capacity is around 650, almost the same as the Prinsendam. Now being 55 years old he is sailing under charter for the German market. She left around 1800 hours in the evening and I believe she was delayed as approx 25 of her guests got on our shuttle bus and were thus deposited at our gangway.

They then had to run all the way around the port area, as with the current security rules there are gates and fences everywhere.

We sailed at midnight after the Irish Pub Dinner tour had arrived back onboard. Again a first for me, sailing out of the port; in dry, wind still weather, with the moon rising over the Irish Sea. Hopefully there will be a repeat next year. Tonight we make our first “zag” by crossing the Irish Sea again towards Wales. Tomorrow we will be in Holyhead, which will be a maiden call for the Prinsendam. The weather is again looking very good so the guests should be able to fully enjoy the awesome scenery of West Wales and enjoy the hospitality of the locals. No doubt there will be lot of singing involved. Where Ireland goes for Pub-Folk music, Wales is the land of the choirs and the more haunting Celtic songs.