We had the pleasure of having Capt. Michael Coleman aboard HARPY with us for some of the day. Now retired, he commanded - amongst others - two of Ireland's tall ships - the "JEANNIE JOHNSON" and the "ASGARD". Appropriately, as he was also a Cork harbour pilot it was fortunate that the Cork pilot-boat "SONIA" steamed into the view.

Some in Cobh will remember Michael building his steel yacht "Stella Maris" in the old RNLI boathouse (now Sea-scout hall) in Cobh between 1984-87. With her he sailed to Iceland, the USSR and many other places. Of course this well-loved Cobh man has sailed many a sailing boat to many, many parts of the world and has many stories to tell.

While it was never though that HARPY would be meeting and dropping the pilot off Cork, life is full of surprises! And I was very proud to be dropping this pilot off.