Thousands flock to Maritime Festival

By Bryce McGarel
BBC News

Thousands of people attended the first day of the Belfast Maritime festival

For those who left early enough and managed to overcome the traffic and travel difficulties, the first day of Belfast's Maritime Festival was well worth the trip.

The event had a truly international feeling with ships flying flags from Brazil, Uruguay, the USA, France and the Netherlands to name a few.

The 40 vessels set sail for Belfast from Halifax in Nova Scotia last month as part of a 7,000 nautical mile loop which began in Vigo in Spain and took in Tenerife and Bermuda, as well as Charleston and Boston in the US.

The last tall ship race took place in 2000, but they have not stopped in Belfast since 1991.

Back on dry land after almost almost a month at sea onboard the Europa, Stephen Milligan, from Nutts Corner, said he volunteered to be part of the Tall Ship's crew after seeing an advertisement in a newspaper.

"They had about 250 people who applied to be crew on the ship and they had to whittle it down to 40, it was a tough selection procedure but it was worth the effort," he said.

Stephen Milligan and Corrine Heaney sailed across the Atlantic on the Europa

"There were so many highlights on the trip - from dolphins swimming alongside the ship to sailing the ship through storms.

"It was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone."

Stephen, who had never sailed before the Atlantic race said the ship's first experience of storms had been a quite a frightening experience.

"The crew were so calm, they told us what to expect when the seas got rough and they had us well prepared, we all had total confidence in them," he said.

'Adventure'

His shipmate, Corrine Heaney, was greeted at the quay by her parents Brendan and Barbara.

"I'm here collecting high heels and some clean clothes for the party tonight," she said.

Brendan and Beverly Heaney were glad to see their daughter Corrine back on dry land

Allthough Corrine explained that with seven members of the ship's crew having birthdays while they were at sea, the fact they were hundreds of miles away from the closest bar or club hadn't stopped the celebrations en-route.

"Birthday cakes were baked for every one of them and the crew made sure there were enough cakes to give everyone a slice," she said.

Asides from birthday cake, Corrine said the diet at sea consisted of more than bread, water and the odd lemon to ward off scurvy.

"Conditions on the ship were fantastic and the food was great, we had three good meals every day with freshly baked bread and even dessert after dinner."

Her father, Brendan, said he and his wife had followed the daughter's adventure across the Atlantic through the online and television coverage provided by BBC reporter Julian Fowler, who was a fellow crew member on the Europa.

Jim McGinlay, Joan Coyle and Anne and Pat O'Kane travelled up for the day from Derry

"Julian's reports were superb and really help us keep abreast of what was happening onboard, but the first time we saw Coleen on the news she was steering the ship through the middle of a storm," he said.

The quay at the Odyssey bustled with both locals and tourists who had come to see the ships, wander through the continental market and test their nerve at the fun fair.

Pauline Kelly, principal of St Davog's Primary School in County Tyrone, said she had brought her children to see the ships while her husband was on business in Belfast.

It is so nice to see so many people in Belfast from different parts of the world

"It is a fabulous event for Belfast, it is so nice to see so many people in Belfast from different parts of the world," she said.

Tourists

Jim McGinlay and Joan Coyle caught the early morning train from Derry along with their friends Pat and Anne O'Kane.

"It is just such a thrill for me to be here, I have always wanted to see tall ships," Ms Coyle said.

Mr McGinlay said he would also be making sure they had a "wee drink" before catching the train home.

Geoff and Gemma McFerran brought their new-born son Jude to see the ships

Geoff and Gemma McFerran from Belfast said they were there with their children, Sadie and three-month-old Jude, for a family day out.

"This type of event is what Belfast has missed in the past," Mr McFarren said.

"It has has a real international feel to it and is a real family day out."

Anna Ringrow, her brother, Oliver, and sister, Holly, from Reading, said they came to Belfast to see the ships after spotting them sailing up Belfast Lough from their holiday home in Bangor.

"We are here for two weeks visiting family and saw the ships, so we decided to come and have a look," Anna said.

"It's good to have the market here, although we were a bit disappointed that we were not able to go onboard the ships yet."

Piotr Przybysz, from Poland and his friend Zohar Shaul from Israel, said they had come to Belfast for a two day trip especially to see the ships.

Zohar Shaul from Israel and Piotr Przbysz from Poland came to see the ships

"I live in Dublin and my friend was over visiting from Israel and neither of us have ever been to Northern Ireland before so we decided to get on the train and come down to see the tall ships," he said.

The festival is running throughout the weekend with a range of free activities and entertainment all based around the docks area of the city.

Its finale takes place on Sunday when a flotilla of ships will leave Belfast marking the end of this year's event.

The organisers say the best vantage points to see the ships as they leave Northern Ireland waters will be along the County Down and Antrim coastlines.