A MINKE whale was sighted and a pod of dolphins swam joyfully at the bow as the yacht Celtic Mistsailed to its berth on the Shannon estuary at Kilrush, Co Clare.
The crowds who queued at the weekend to get on board were clamouring, however, to go below deck and see the memorabilia of its previous owner, former taoiseach Charles Haughey, who styled himself the “admiral” in its leather-bound log.
A neat longhand entry, dated May 15th, 1989, logged details of a trip undertaken from Arklow to Howth by Mr Haughey, his wife Maureen and friends, along with skipper Brian Stafford.
“The wind was southwesterly, five to six, with very big following seas. These, however, caused no problem and we had a very smooth and enjoyable passage.”
At the time of the trip, Mr Haughey led a minority Fianna Fáil government; the general election held a month later, on June 15th, 1989, resulted in the party entering a coalition government for the first time, with the Progressive Democrats.
This and other moments in the late Mr Haughey’s life were recalled in Kilrush as a small sea escort and a large party of people ashore welcomed the 52ft ketch, so called because of the arrangement of its two masts, to its permanent berth with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.
The winds on this occasion were fresher than on the 1989 sailing, west to northwest, force eight, sweeping the yacht up from Carrigaholt past Scattery Island and into the narrow Kilrush channel.
Skipper Fiacc Ó Brolcháin and his crew had an anxious moment as a bubble in the steering system affected navigation before the ketch was safely inside the basin.
Earlier this year, the Haughey family offered the motor-sailor to the marine mammal researchers, two decades, as it happened, after the late owner declared Irish waters a whale and dolphin sanctuary.
After it was surveyed, Mr Ó Brolcháin delivered the vessel from the Isle of Wight to Waterford, where the ketch participated as the sole Irish entry in the first leg of this year’s Tall Ships Race to Scotland.
On board for the voyage home from Scotland via Tory Island and Inishbofin were mate Garry Davis, Deirdre Slevin, Bernie O’Brien, Gerry Healy and Michael Andrews. The marine mammal observers spotted two sunfish and two harbour porpoises off Rathlin, and 20 dolphins near Achill. After they encountered a minke whale, they were accompanied by as many as 60 bow-riding dolphins for more than three hours.
Shannon Development offered the marine group a permanent berth for the yacht at Kilrush; the group’s co-ordinator, Dr Simon Berrow, said fundraising will be needed to pay for maintenance.
This may not prove to be too difficult a challenge, given the intense public interest in the vessel, with queues forming to inspect the mahogany and teak fittings and the double berth in the admiral’s cabin.
Former Fianna Fáil minister for the marine Brendan Daly recalled Mr Haughey’s love of the sea passage up the Shannon estuary from Loop Head.
“I remember he came here to Kilrush as minister for health and he saw the waterfront, then the town dump, and said that this was an ideal site for a marina. Then, after it was built, they sent down the Public Accounts Committee with a list of questions; but it’s a wonderful facility and it is still here,” he said.
The Celtic Mistwill undertake research locally in the next few weeks but has a mission to waters off Kerry next month when it returns, as its former owner did each year, to the Dingle Regatta.