Happy New Year to all our members and visitors. It may be the quiet time of the year for boating but already the sound of angle-grinders can be heard. The end of last year was a very busy time for our association. As soon as the last boats settled into their Winter berths we held our AGM in November. At the end of November some HBA members flew the flag in Prague. December saw a very successful End-of-Season dinner held in Athlone. This was followed, the next day, by the traditional Start-of-Season brunch hosted by Jill and Giles on board Hawthorn. Many thanks for their hospitality.

The slide-show on the front of the website shows a number of the 'rescued' hulls. Some images from the past, some from the present and we look forward to seeing more in the future.

There is an updated article, in the Memories section of the website, on the raising of the Grand Canal Company's barge 45M, which sank off Lough Derg's Parker Point on 1st December 1946. Donnacha Kennedy describes the complex task, photos are by Sean Curtin and new is a video of the original cine film taken by Cyril Foster.

Added 22-01-2015
A draft calendar of events has been published. Please take a look. It is the committee's intention to encourage members to travel to places they might not have gone to in the past. We also wish to engage with local communities along the way. Feedback can be sent to any committee member or discussed on the forum (members only link).