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Spring clean at Sweet Nellie’s
30.06.09
By Linda McGrory
A MOVILLE mussel man took advantage of a recent
spring tide to give one of his dredgers a makeover.
John Steele's vessel, Eendracht, turned a few heads
at Sweet Nellie's beach in Greencastle last week
when the huge boat was taken ashore for its annual
facelift.
"It's a tradition going back a long time and it's
something ourselves and other boat owners do in the
spring tides," said John.
John and his team of seven had to work quickly on
the Dutch-built dredger as their window of
opportunity would last only five to six hours.
"We brought her in to Sweet Nellie's on the high
tide around 9am on Wednesday morning. The tide had
gone out by about 11am and that's when the work
started. |
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"Some of us were
painting, others were cleaning, some were welding
and we also had to fit new anodes," added John from
Gulladuff, who is better known for his charity work
with wife Martha.
"We knew the tide would be coming in again around
4pm so we had to work fast to get it all done within
the five to six hours. Thankfully, it was a lovely
sunny day and we managed to finish it. We took the
boat back to Greencastle pier around 7pm.” John
explained the long-standing maritime tradition.
"It's easier to take dredgers onto the beach for
painting because they are flat-bottomed unlike
trawlers,” he said, adding that 20 gallons of green
paint were needed to cover the Eendracht.
“Spring tides occur with a new moon and a full moon
and there is one every two weeks. With a spring tide
you have a full high tide when it’s in and then it
goes very far out, which suits the boat painting
job.”
John, who owns several vessels with his family, also
takes the dredgers to a slipway, every other year,
to have their underbellies treated. |
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