With the severe weather warnings announced on the vhf channels during the afternoon of our Dublin call, I was getting grave concerns about our call at East Dunmore. The anchorage is quite open there to the elements and also because the anchorage area is so shallow, the waves tend to build up. With Westerly winds and swells you are ok but as soon as it becomes South West or South South West, it can be very nasty. Thus I started to formulate my plan B. I knew that there was a power plant further up the river where we had docked a number of years ago and I inquired if we could go there again in case that the tendering circumstances were not good enough. The Dunmore harbour master advised that the container dock just further up the river was available and that we were most welcome there. A container dock means plenty space for parking busses, so the answer was yes please.

We left Dublin in the poring rain and disembarked the pilot just after midnight. Then we sailed southwards along the Irish coast towards Dunmore East. I was a bit uncertain whether we would notice the inclement weather yes or no, as our route was sheltered by the coast with WSW wind but not with SSW winds and swell. In the end the direction was right in between and we moved about a bit during the last few hours of our approach. For anchoring my plan had been, to be there at 0630 to give the chief officer an hour to get everything properly set up but now we had to adjust our time for high water and so we aimed for 07.30 at the pilot station. When we neared the pilot station, just outside the port entrance of East Dunmore, we saw a 6 to 8 feet swell running, whipped up by 25 knots of South Westerly wind. Not exactly good weather to shuttle guests ashore. In fact it was so bad that I had to bring the Prinsendam almost broad side onto the waves and wind to make sufficient lee for the pilot to get onboard.

As soon as he was onboard, the ship swung back to course and with the rising tide we proceeded up river. The estuary is only 6 meters deep but the flood added another 3 to 4 meters and we therefore had sufficient water under the keel to go up river. The land to the South was now giving shelter; the clouds disappeared, the sun came out and things were looking up. Sun we had not seen that for a few days. With the sun shining brightly, the run up the river became very scenic and as I had made an announcement to the guests, most of them were up and about to see how green Ireland really was. It was really green. By 09.30 we were happily docked at the container terminal and all the tours planned, could go ahead. A shuttle service was available for those who were not on tour. It turned out to be a very pleasant location and the guests were quite complimentary about it. Although we arrived later than scheduled, we also departed later, so all remained the same. Docking up river depends on the tides to provide enough water and the departure time was therefore dependent on the next high tide which was at 8 pm. in the evening.

waterford-map The dock was located just past cheek point

The river Suir is not very wide and meanders around several high hills which are dotted with houses, cottages and bungalows and that makes it a very scenic affair. On the western river bank there is the village of Passage East, from where a ferry crosses to the other side and we passed by quite close; so for the locals it was quite dramatic to have the Prinsendam towering over the ferry landing. Just before the river exits into the estuary, you pass Fort Duncannon which is an interesting fortification that once guarded the land up river from invasions. We were back at the East Dunmore pilot station by 21.30 and then set sail for our next port of call Newport. There we have to go through a lock of the same size as in Leith last week so it is going to be interesting again. The docks behind the lock were constructed in 1905 and since that time, never a passenger ship or cruise ship has called there. The Prinsendam is once again a trailblazer visiting ports off the beaten track. I just wished that the weather would play along a little bit more.