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Dutch Barge ’Confiance’ arrived safely in Belfast on November 3rd 2006 after her sea voyage from Holland.
The arrival of M.V. Confiance on 3rd November 2006 was greeted with great sighs of relief by the members of Lagan Legacy!
The purchase and transport of the vessel from Holland had been a tortuous and torturous process!
Confiance in her previous life, on European River.
Dealing with the Dutch legal system in the purchase process could be best described as 'leisurely'.
Whilst eminently polite and courteous, the Dutch notary that we were dealing with didn't seem to understand the concept of urgency... as in completing the purchase in time to get the vessel back before winter weather made it impossible.
Finally, after excessive fingernail chewing and an above average number of anxiety attacks, the purchase was completed and permission was given to begin the transport to Belfast with the possibility of still a few weeks of decent weather to effect the crossing. Confiance was to be sailed across from Holland under her own power despite being a flat-bottomed barge designed for inland waterways!
Lagan Legacy had contracted a highly experienced skipper from England's Medway Estuary to sail Confiance across. The skipper was confident that with the right amount of ballast for stability and reasonably fair weather there should be no problem ... after all he'd been making similar journeys in similar vessels for over 40 years!
The ballast was a tricky issue at first... sand was the obvious choice.. but what were we going to do with 300 tons of sand when we arrived in Belfast? It had no resale value and couldn't be simply discharged over the side into the Lagan. So, the redoubtable Derek Booker, skipper of the Lagan Boat Company's M.V. 'Joyce Too' (and sole Lagan Legacy member with the nerve to make the trip as a crew member!) hit upon the bright idea of transporting coal for a local company (Kingsberry Fuels) which would effectively remove the problem of discharging the cargo in Belfast and serve the interests of Kingsberry Fuels and Lagan Legacy.
Great idea!.. right? Well... yes and no..
Because the weather forced an unscheduled stop for a week in Falmouth, the Confiance had to 'bunker' in Falmouth i.e. shelter in Falmouth Bay until the weather changed. Apart from incurring extra costs, this enforced stop was almost the undoing of us. A misunderstanding at Falmouth over the nature of the cargo and the legality of its transport almost cost us the valuable window weather we desperately needed to make the final leg of the journey.
The cargo was, in fact, perfectly legal and we had the sales and customs documentation to overcome this hurdle but an initial misunderstanding over the potentially 'hazardous' nature of the cargo almost resulted in the vessel being impounded!
Fortunately our skipper's formidable experience (he was off transporting dynamite elsewhere while Confiance was laid up in Falmouth!!) and the help of the Maritime Coatguard Agency back home in Bangor helped resolve this potentially disastrous situation and Confiance set off again around 'The Lizard' and across to the Irish coast.... only to run into more bad weather!... they made a run for Carlingford Lough and managed to weather the storm there overnight before setting off next day to sail into Belfast on the most glorious sunny winter's day imaginable!! Home safe at last!!!!
The coal was unloaded the following morning at Sinclair Wharf and the following day Confiance made her final short journey to her mooring at Lanyon Quay.
Job done!?.... well.... no... not quite!
There was the little matter of the Lagan Weir and two bridges (Queen Elizabeth 2nd Bridge and the older Queen's Bridge)to negotiate yet.
Our intrepid crew member Derek Booker, and another of our Lagan Legacy directors Gerry Murphy, had taken a number of critical measurements (a number of times!) before settling on the purchase of Confiance to ensure that the vessel would actually fit underneath the bridges. These measurements were the cause of many a sleepless night for Messrs Booker and Murphy between purchase and arrival!
Their anxiety was borne out when the time came to sail under the bridges. Confiance had just about made it under the Weir (with a little scraping of superstructure.... see below) but the bridges looked pretty formidable... especially the Queen's Bridge which looked almost impossible!
Confiance just scrapes under the Weir!
Laganside's river manager lowered the level of the river by judicious and skillful manoeuvering of the weir gates and it only remained for the skipper to guide her through the arch.
Only?.... 
Only, this is the biggest barge in the history of the River Lagan ever to sail under the Queen's Bridge!
The skipper then justified his considerable reputation by guiding her unerringly under the arch (after several exploratory approaches) with barely a whisker of room to spare! An onlooker commented that it barely looked possible to insert a cigarette paper between the bridge of Confiance and the inner apex of the Queen's Bridge... and it was a fairly accurate comment...
A crew member attempts to lift the Queen's Bridge
to allow the Confiance sail underneath!!
Confiance now lies safely moored alongside Lanyon Quay awaiting the commencement of phase two of the project; the conversion of a working barge into a mulitfunctional Arts and Heritage Centre which will provide Belfast and the province with a unique and exciting new educational resource, tourist attraction, community facility and environmental monitoring station.