Abbeyfeale -> Listowel -> Ballybunion BOAT PUSH - Sat 22 Sept

RiderOnTheStorm

The Ballybunion Sea & Cliff Rescue Unit is pushing a rescue boat (on a trailer!) from Abbeyfeale to Ballybunion (about 23 miles) on Saturday 22nd.


This is the boat we will push. Its one of two D Class boats we use, and a real workhorse. The Ballybunion inshore rescue unit is a local volunteer service, funded through donations and charity collections like this one. We do a Bingo night and Church gate collections from time to time too, but this year we are trying something new.

The unit responds to local(ish) emergency calls, and over the years has rescued countless swimmers, fishermen (from shore & boat) and sailors. Not to mention numerous searches for missing folk. No matter what the weather, circumstances, time of day/night, or whoever is in trouble, the BSCR will always respond if called. As long as we have a working boat! Even if the call goes along the lines of 'I saw a couple of people go for a walk along the cliff / beach / etc and I didnt see them come back.........' then the unit will assemble. Thankfully this has been a quiet year, with only a handfull of call-outs (perhaps due to poor summer weather!) and in recent years there were dozens of calls.

Enough of the PR pitch.............here is the gist of the post:

We reckon it will take 7 hours to push the boat all the way. We will have our rescue jeep and our ambulance in our little convoy, so we can rotate people from pushing, resting, shaking buckets at cars. There may be a Guarda escort too.

This is Listowel race week, so we are hoping for a great turnout.

If you see us on the road, please be generous and patient. We will try and not hold up traffic too much.

Thank you.

snow scorpion

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

The Ballybunion Sea & Cliff Rescue Unit is pushing a rescue boat (on a trailer!) from Abbeyfeale to Ballybunion (about 23 miles) on Saturday 22nd.

RiderOnTheStorm

The Boat Push went very well on Sat. Thankfully it was a lovely day.

Thanks to everyone that helped / pushed / collected money / made tea / made sandwichs ..... and especially to all the cars & people that gave money.

And for those 4 Americans I met on Thurs night that asked for a web-site to see the results......... here are some pics from the day!

snow scorpion

So how much does that thing weigh?

RiderOnTheStorm

a lot! (takes 4-5 men to drag it on the ground)

thankfully we were only pushing it in a trailer. The downhills were easier than the up's!!!!

I saw your video in the Ballyb' thread, Snow. When did you take that? Were you in Ballyb over the weekend? The Listowel races were on and the town was jointed! Its all downhill from here until Easter... :-)

snow scorpion

I was in Ballybunion for a week in July. I think I had a smile on my face for every minute of it.

One thing I didn't get a chance to do was go down to the Virgin Rock when the tide was out. In my entire life, I've still never seen the rock with the tide out.

Maybe next year I can get over there for the Races.

There's a few more videos to come.