Amid rain, and occasional shine, brothers dinghy around Ireland

Two young brothers were last night celebrating being back on dry land, having circumnavigated the country in an open deck dinghy to raise awareness for a good cause.

Nathaniel and Fergus Ogden claim it was the first time such a vessel had circumnavigated the island of Ireland.

The pair set off on their Drascombe Lugger sailing dinghy from Baltimore, Co Cork, on June 6, but a combination of the poor summer weather and the vessel’s limited speed delayed the brothers’ homecoming until late yesterday.

Nathaniel, 23, and Fergus, 16, took on the lengthy expedition to raise funds, along with awareness, for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

They were inspired by a tragedy that unfolded last summer, when a retired teacher drowned after his own Drascombe Lugger capsized in August 2014.

While Douglas Perrin lost his life in the accident off Cork, two others on the boat survived the tragedy and were found following a search by the RNLI and Coast Guard.

The brothers sailed, ate, and slept in the 5.5m-long lugger, stopping off at various coastal towns along the way.

Despite having set off nearly two months ago, the Ogdens have spent just 28 days at sea because of the poor summer weather.

When they did get out on the water, the brothers spent an average of 12 hours a day sailing. Twice they sailed through the night to reach their next destination.

The journey started in Baltimore and continued up the west coast, around the north of the island before coming down the east coast and back to Cork this week.

Nathaniel said they were grateful for the hospitality they received along the way. “The RNLI along the west and north-west coast in particular were really helpful, they welcomed us to their lifeboat stations and let us use things like their cooking facilities,” he said.

“As well as raising funds for the RNLI, we really wanted to raise awareness of the great work they do which I think can go unnoticed, particularly in inland counties.”

The brothers aim to raise €5,000 for the RNLI and are over halfway towards their target. They plan to hold further events over the summer to reach their total.

Nathaniel said there was no fraternal fighting on board the dinghy, despite being confined to such small quarters for two months. “We were too tired for any of that,” he said.