Dismantler's Yard

Something a little more experimental today. Down at the harbour there are many old sheds in which boats were built in days gone by. Sometimes they were nothing more ambitious than local fishing smacks but there were enough skills on hand to build just about anything. The sail training vessel Asgard II which was unfortunately lost in the Bay of Biscay a couple of years ago, was one of the finest and probably the last of her type to be attempted either in Arklow or indeed anywhere else in Ireland. Men with the necessary skills are simply not around any more.

Guys who were true craftsmen have been reduced to dismantling boats of all sorts in recent years in tiny yards like this one. They call it progress.