Article featured in Sep/Oct 08 issue of Afloat magazine - ISA cruising feature.

After recovering from a serious operation on his back, which almost left him paralyzed, my Dad Tony said that he wanted to take up an active sport, something he had never tried before. So for his 60^th Birthday in 2007 I decided to buy him some sailing lessons. I logged onto www.sailing.ie and found details for South East Cruising School run by Charlie Kavanagh.

We boarded the “Saltee Dog” in Wicklow town for 6 days (3 weekends) sailing up and down the east coast of Ireland. Our main aim was to get an introduction to sailing but it soon became much more than that.

In our first few hours at sea we were tacking our way up the east coast, past Bray, Killiney and Dalkey, across Dublin Bay and on our way to Howth Marina.

My Dad finished the course with a Competent Crew Cert while I went on to receive the I.C.C certification.

Completing this course with Charlie gave us the passion and confidence to take new found love of the sport to the next level. In August last year we made the decision to purchase our own boat “Shamrogue”.

We are now full members of the Arklow Sailing Club and just this summer we competed in the Kilmichael Challenge and won our first race on board Shamrogue. This should prove to everyone that, even at 60 years of age, it’s never too late to take up sailing. Just book yourself on a course and GET OUT THERE!!

            – Ken & Tony O’Toole, Jul 08

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