A boat’s natural home is on the water but in this case Loveen, the 97 year old Galway hooker, will embark on a journey of her lifetime! Along with 40 Galway Sea Scouts, their leaders and families she will travel via road and ferry to represent Irish traditional nautical heritage at NaWaKa, the Scout International National Water Kamp that's held every 4 years in the Netherlands with over 7,000 participants from all over the world.
Scouting Ireland is the largest youth-based organisation in Ireland, with 45,000 members. Once a youth member joins scout groups, they will join over one billion other Scouts. Port of Galway Sea Scouts (24th Galway ) is a vibrant, energetic scouting group that has youth members ranging from 6 years to 18 years. They follow an exciting programme based on the national adventure skills framework, including sailing, paddling, hillwalking, pioneering, backwoods and camping. At the heart of scouting is youth empowerment.
At the heart of this story is Loveen, a gleoiteog originally built in Galway in 1925 and gifted by the Dolan family in 2011 to become a sail training vessel for the Port of Galway Sea Scouts. But the sea scouts needed help to make her seaworthy and so the Galway Hooker Sailing Club and it’s numerous volunteers came together to bring back Loveen to her former glory. In October 2021 she was launched and today you can often catch a glimpse of her sailing in the Claddagh and on Galway Bay.
In August Loveen will join a flotilla of other national sailing vessels during Nawaka, between the 8th and 17th August. During Nawaka, Sea Scouts from all around Europe will gather in Landgoed Zeewolde (40 Km east of Amsterdam ) in the Netherlands. Nawaka is a fantastic event because of the large number of participants and the scouting ‘vibe’ throughout. The activities in which the groups can participate make the camp an unforgettable experience.
Sea Scout groups are encouraged to bring their own national sailing vessel to the 10-day festival, so it can be part of the water-based programme, a shared learning experience & a vibrant cultural exchange for all participants. Port of Galway Sea Scouts are bringing 40 children and the Galway Hooker Loveen. 10 support crew from the Galway Hooker Sailing Club, will also attend to assist the scouts, and also use this trip as an opportunity to showcase and promote Galway's marine culture and heritage in Europe.
Galway Hooker Sailing Club and Port of Galway Sea Scouts, would like you to join them, as we bid fair winds to our Loveen before she departs for the Dutch waterways.
Loveen will be on display in 3 locations across the city on Friday August 5th. This gives you and the public the opportunity to come and take a photo, chat to the crew and bid fair winds to Loveen and crew.
Salthill Prom: 10am - 12 noon
Claddagh Quay: 12 noon - 1:30pm
Galway Bay Seafoods: 1:30pm - 3pm
As it is a Friday, Galway Bay Seafoods will be having fish and chips on from 12 noon to 3pm so it’s a great opportunity to come along and support local business also!
