Harbour Master Sailing Challenge March 2019 to September 2023

Waterford

Ian Moriarty

September 22, 2023
Ancient Waterford

Waterford has a proud boast, as the "oldest city in Ireland" with Viking settlements dating back to 856 AD. Reginald's Tower on Waterford quay dates to 1003 - that is over 150 years before the Normans arrived in Ireland. The local rivers, Barrow, Nore and finally Suir on which Waterford sits, are known as The Three Sisters and form a large fjord running down to the sea. "The great port of Waterford" is mentioned in the city's charter of 1215 with records showing, as with so many Mediaeval ports, that the largest import back then was ....wine! By 1930 imports were the more traditional ones of any port - coal, fertiliser and cement while exports have always been what Ireland is famous for - agricultural products.

In 1992 Waterford established a new commercial port at Belview on the north side of the fjord, a few miles down from the city. It was there I met Captain Ian Moriarty, Deputy HM. Unlike most HMs he is a keen sailor, and like most Irish HMs he attended the National Maritime College of Ireland in Cork. His career included most types of offshore shipping - containers, cruise, offshore oil and he ended up the Captain of a supply ship working out of Aberdeen.

He did a lot of GeoTech drilling while surveying for wind farm locations and his most remarkable ship was able to drill at 2000m deep. It used a "moon pool" which is a large open area of sea water, right in the centre of the hull of the ship, through which everything is deployed. His most recent "unusual" job, as DHM has been designing and building a new pilot boat for Waterford Port - a rather critical bit of kit for guiding large ships up a winding river.

The port seems to be booming with a new 250m quay for Wind Farm support vessels and a thriving export trade of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). However it is one that the public will probably never know exists due to its out of town location.

Thank you Ian for meeting me, and I hope one day to sail up the Suir and into Waterford City where a new marina is being planned.

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