Joe Humphreys reports on a tall ship which spent the weekend bringing people around a part of Dublin which many have not seen before
Tall ships like the Earl of Pembroke are all about romance. Even the captain, a burly bearded man, best known by his nickname, Topsy, has a fairytale quality to him.
"I would love to have sailed into this port at a time when boats like this first sailed," he says dreamily.
Standing at the helm, with a misty Dublin Bay ahead of him, he looks like he has just stepped off a film set for Treasure Island.
Fresh from a seven-month stint in locations off the coasts of Morocco and Turkey, he and his ship are the stars of, among other things, a soon-to-be-broadcast serialisation of the tales of Horatio Hornblower, the late 18th century/early 19th century English navy captain as created by C.S. Forester.
Compared to that, a weekend jaunt past the Poolbeg sewerage works and the never-ending container parks which flank Dublin Port must have seemed like a come-down.
But Capt Topsy wasn't complaining, and nor were the people who flocked to City Quay to claim a place on board his ship.
The trips have been organised by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA), which invited the Earl of Pembroke and a second tall ship, Kaskelot, to the capital for the weekend.
For safety reasons, Capt Topsy was prohibited from raising the ship's square sales which provide it with its main source of speed but also make it more difficult to manoeuvre. "With the square sales up and the right wind we can do about 15 knots," he says.
In their absence, the ship, powered by a motor with the aid of fore and aft sails, does a much more leisurely pace. So leisurely, in fact, that the crew slackens, not noticing that the sails are facing the wrong way. Capt Topsy barks some orders to get them corrected.
Once upon a time, the Earl of Pembroke had a more active life, serving on northern European trading routes up to 1979.
Built in Sweden in 1945, she was one of a dying generation of three-masted sailing schooners whose value to shipping diminished as new boat designs emerged.
After ceasing trading, the ship was purchased by a British company, Square Sail Ltd, and redesigned as the 18th century-style wooden barque she is today.
One of the reasons behind her invitation to Dublin was "to bring a bit of life on to the river" and to showcase the redevelopment of the docklands area, said a DDDA spokeswoman.
To that end, it seemed to have worked, judging by some of the passengers' comments.
"It was lovely even just walking down the quays this morning. It's not somewhere I'd normally go," said Ms Catherine Carroll from Carlow, who had been first in the queue on Saturday.
"It's a credit to the development authority. The whole area has vastly improved," said Mr Charles Cullen from Harolds Cross, Dublin.
He had gone to Sheriff Street by accident the previous evening to purchase tickets for the sailing, and was "amazed to see continental shops and foreign banks" lining the street. "That used to be a no-go area a few years ago. Now there's a good mix of things there."
Ms Marie Cullen, a native of Co Westmeath who has been living in Los Angeles for the past 40 years, was even more complimentary.
With a bit more money, the docklands could eventually become the San Pedro of Dublin, she said, in reference to an affluent LA suburb known for its yachts and restaurants.
Sailing back into harbour, past another derelict site, she corrected herself. "Actually, it will need a lot more money."
Today's last two sailings on board the tall ships have been booked out. However, the ships will remain open to the public at City Quay. Tours cost €5 and tickets can be purchased on board. The ships are to sail to their base in Cornwall tomorrow.