Trilogy 3


My final Trilogy mural on the East Pier, located above my 'Sammy the Seal' mural, was created between July 2022 and December 2023. 

The Trilogy comprises:

- the 'AMS Adventure' (centre of mural) painted in the summer of 2022;

- the 'AMS Retriever' (right side of mural) painted in November 2023;

- and the 'Mairi Maree' (left side of mural) painted in December 2023.

Upon my retirement as a postman, and over this subsequent 18-month period following my painting of the first vessel, I retouched all of the existing murals on the pier after which I completed the second and third vessels of my Trilogy.

The 'AMS Adventure' is a lightweight, high-speed craft built as one of a series in 2013 by Sea Trucks Workboats in Ipswich, United Kingdom. Reaching a speed of up to 27 knots, she facilitates crew transfers to/from offshore platforms and wind turbines.

Her wheelhouse and crew seating area were constructed in modular form, thereby allowing them to be repositioned around the deck or removed from the boat altogether, as required. This is done via a set of little hooks on top of each of the modules that enable them to be lifted by crane or teleporter.

The 'Adventure' arrived in Wicklow port in 2022  under its previous name, the 'C Wind Adventure' and was renamed as the 'AMS Adventure' by her new owner, the Alpha Marine Company  which hires her out for various offshore works,  including surveying and turbine maintenance in the waters off 

The 'AMS Retriever' was an impressive-looking, multi-purpose tugboat built in 1997 in Damen Shipyard in Changde, China. She was one of a class of Damen vessels called Shoalbusters,  and was owned by a Dutch maritime family until 2002, sailing under the name 'Elizabeth'.

Designed for harbour works, she was equipped with a hydraulic, telescopic-folding crane that provided her with great versatility. Under new owners, she worked out of Dubai and around the Persian Gulf on harbour projects for a period of 10 years. 

In 2018, she was purchased by the Alpha Marine Company, having been collected from New Ross, and was based in Arklow initially. Simon Greenwood of the company then arranged for her crew accommodation to be upgraded after which she worked out of Wicklow harbour on surveying and dredging projects. Later in 2023, the company sold the Retriever on.

The 'Mairi Maree' is a fishing trawler built in West Cork in the mid-1980s. I developed a great liking for this vessel when she arrived in Wicklow several years ago to engage in fishing for whelks because of her stylish and sturdy half-decker design, viewing her as a "rare breed"!

The boat's present owner is Paddy MaCauley, locally known as 'Popcorn Paddy" as he manages a company called Irish Popcorn! He was elated to see the completed image early in 2024. He is an amazing character and would frequently engage in friendly banter with me, slagging me sometimes about my very colourful shorts!

One fascinating aspect of this boat was the crewmember Matt from Belmullet in Mayo, who always brought out his dog on board the fisher - hence his name Sailor! This faithful dog could spend up to 12 hours at sea and was an Akido, looking a little bit like a German shepherd.

He never failed to amaze me as he would always sit up on the bow of trawler like a figurehead when she returned to port after a day's work. If you look closely at the Trilogy mural, Sailor is included on the portside of the boat.

Since the middle of 2024, the 'Mairi Maree' has fished out of Dunlaoghaire.

                        

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