Relay crew row around Ireland in aid of cystic fibrosis

A team of 20 relay rowers and a dog will complete a circumnavigation of Ireland on Saturday when they ply their craft into Bray Harbour in Co Wicklow.

The 4.5m (15ft) skiff Nama left on its northabout course around the island just short of five months ago to raise funds for cystic fibrosis.

The relay crew of two at a time – male and female – averaged about three knots on the 1,000-mile trip as the crow flies, with Joey the mascot hound sitting in the bow.

“Joey, while a good cox and inspirational character, tended to be absent at some of the more tricky treacherous roundings,such as Antrim’s Fair Head and Galway’s Slyne Head,” his master and skiff-builder Ger Crowley explained.

“However, he never seemed to miss a photo call or a fine Sally O’Brien retriever in any of the many ports we visited,”his master said.

The skiff was built in 2006, and is named Nama after Mr Crowley's mother Nancy, wife Angela and daughter Meghan.

He and his sons Fionn and Niall put the 20-strong team together to raise funds for cystic fibrosis, a condition which his 38-year-old nephew has. Up to €80,000 of a targeted €100,000 has been raised to date.

Mr Crowley constructs skiffs with local youth clubs in Bray, and says that there has been a revival in ocean rowing around the coast.

No support boat

The relay crews had no support boat for much of the journey, and “never exchanged a cross word”, he says – even during the longest and one of the most testing stretches at sea around Loop Head,which took more than seven hours.

Mr Crowley paid tribute to the "extraordinary generosity" of people in many coastal communities, with one woman giving free use of her holiday home and lighting a fire for them while they were in the local pub in Kilcar, Co Donegal.

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition that primarily affects the lungs. Ireland has one of the the highest rates among developed countries.

Earlier this month, kayakers Pearse O'Toole and Ruairí Leddy paddled into Spiddal, Co Galway, completing a circumnavigation in aid of suicide awareness charity, Console, while brothers Nathaniel and Fergus Ogden sailed a Drascombe lugger around the island in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).