THE story of a West Cork couple who met on board a floating bookshop during Covid emerged after the MV Logos Hope docked in Cork.

It's a GBA Ship, which is part of a German-based not-for-profit organisation called Good Books for All, and it will be open to the public at Kennedy Quay, next to the Marina Market, until Sunday August 23rd.

AnaPaula, who is from Brazil but had lived with her missionary parents in Angola for 23 years, described how she joined the ship as a volunteer in August 2019.

She boarded in Brazil and was assigned a job working in the Book Fair, which has more than 7,000 book titles and welcomes visitors at each of the ports it visits globally.

AnaPaula explained that she was drawn to the work because in partnership with the organisation Operation Mobilisation, teams from the ship leave every day to partner with schools, or charitable organisations.

Depending on where they were in the world, they would donate books to local libraries, operate eye tests and donate glasses, or donate clothes or shoes that are called the 'Shoe that Grows' because they grow with the wearer over time.

Good Books for All is a charity, funded by people's generosity, and everyone who is on the ship is a volunteer from the captain down to the deck crew, the onboard doctor, dentist, and nurse, as well as those who run the café, and do the cleaning.

It was on board that AnaPaula met Isaac O'Shea, who is from 'up back of Leap.' He had already been working in the Book Fair for a year before she arrived, but different shifts meant their friendship developed slowly on their shared day off.

That's when. Covid, rather than Cupid, stepped in. 'We were in Jamaica, and the authorities shut down the entire country, so all of the volunteers were confined to the ship,' AnaPaula told The Southern Star.

'You are talking about 400 crew members stuck inside a ship, and that remained the reality for 122 days,' she added.

'During those Covid times we obviously didn't have as much work to do, so we got to spend more time together. It's not like the real world where you go off to your own homes and then meet each other at weekends.

'On board, you slept in your own rooms, but had your meals together, worked together, and spent your days off together. Isaac and I were literally seeing each other every day.

'The fact that we were friends first meant we knew the good and the bad things about each other before a deeper attraction developed.'

It was in September 2020 that the couple started dating. They, as well as everyone else, were obliged to remain on board until March the following year. By then, AnaPaula said: 'We'd had a lot of serious conversations about our future.'

Between March and October, Isaac went back home in West Cork and AnaPaula went to Angola, but they were in constant contact until she came to meet the family and check out West Cork that October.

Isaac proposed. AnaPaula said yes and then, during the ongoing pandemic, they planned one wedding celebration in Brazil in January 2022, and one in Ireland.

A family member rented them a house in Drimoleague and both found work at the local Centra. Today, Isaac still works there as the ordering manager, while AnaPaula now has a job in administration for her church, the Bantry Christian Fellowship Church.

It was in December 2023 that their son, Benjamin, was born. And the couple say there are 'absolutely happy' to be living and working in West Cork.

The couple are delighted that the Logos Hope has returned to Cork, its first visit since 2009. They would encourage people to pay the €2 admission charge to tour the ship, chat with the crew members about their own personal journeys, buy a book or two, enjoy the café, and discover how Logos Hope connects with port communities globally through knowledge, help, and hope.