Off for Jan Mayen Land, 6 degrees 20 minutes north of this latitude or 380 NM of northing. Cold day yesterday, snowed on the upper mountains overnight, twas lovely in the morning. The low south of us passed away eastwards, and the NE winds of the last few days has backed to the NW. Opportunity, and time to go.
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Toilet door
We had a day of really rough conditions whi ch ripped the toilet door apart when a violent wave slammed into Teddy. The bi-folding door was made up of two heavy, solid wood panels with hinges holding them together. Broken door on dinning table Unfortunately the view from and to the toilet bowl is panoramic. The toilet is at the bow of the boat with direct view all the way to the stern and vice versa. View from stern to toilet View from toilet's cockpit We dealt with the delicate situation as best we could until we arrive in Iceland and was able to borrow tools from Nick's fisherman friend, Jon, to fix it. Jon goes offshore fishing alone on his fishing boat and can catch up to 2.6 tonnes of cod in a day. Using the bathroom at sea when in rough weather, behind closed door, is challenging enough without the added problem of not having a door at all. To be honest, I had my doubts if we could get it back to it's original condition, especially when I saw N...
Life on board from Ireland to Iceland
I don't think Arne Hedlund designed Teddy to be a racing boat but Josh wouldn't have any of it. He's determined to get Teddy going as fast as she can. Josh conjured up a makeshift spinnaker with the ganoa and staysail when the wind was behind us. When he's not tinkering with Teddy, or checking out the inside of his eyelids or sitting on the loo, he is busy multitasking while at the helm; studying, fishing, all three tasks simultaneously. Teddy never sailed like this before, until Josh got on board. Helming with his feet while studying and fishing. Nick, on one particular day, said he feels like he's a cuckoo bird, sitting at the cockpit while I keep bringing him food. The sea was calm and we were basking in the warm sunshine. Teddy was steady. Breakfast consisted of honey dew melon, followed by crepe with apricot jam and bacon, followed by left over lamb curry from the previous night, followed by coffee and tea. We didn't skip lunch nor dinner tha...
Got into Djupivogur, SE Iceland, yesterday. Splendid sail up. Neat to watch the night drastically fade away as we ran down the latitudes north. We timed two consecutive sunsets and the second one was half an hour later than the first. This was with over 2 degrees (120 NM, 135 land miles) of northing in 24 hours. Such happens when one is nearing the boundary between day/night and day only. Had a gale 2 days south of Iceland. As usual Teddy was overcanvassed through the night, making for a rough ride and poor sleep. When will I learn to reduce sail to keep things slow and easy? Josh says a lot of sailors make this mistake, and I know this to be true. After Clifden we went to Inishkea North, to visit Brian, the most gregarious hermit on the planet. He lives alone on Inishkea, the island all to himself. I first met him 3 years ago on a previous trip north; then his best friend was Babs the lamb. I inquired after Babs; she is doing well, and stops in every few days to say hello a...
The Irish West Coast - Baltimore to Clifden and the Inishkeas
Teddy in flight under main and genoa We left Baltimore at 0400 Monday morning, motorsailing out-towards the infamous Fastnet light, before heading west under four sails. The self steering, without tiller pilot or windvane, is based solely on the remarkable balance between main mast and mizzen. A sailing revelation for me, absolutely incredible. She wavers no more than 5 degrees off course at any moment, and course can be changed via sheeting in or easing the mizzen. Pure bliss! We sailed right through the day, passing through Dursey Passage before anchoring at Inishvickillane around midnight, under a brilliant full moon. The morning saw a few odd jobs on the boat before heading ashore for a wander. We were promptly asked to leave by a caretaker, so we slowly walked back, lingering on the cliff edge overlooking the Atlantic. This was an absolutely beautiful anchorage, and we were treated to seals and puffins all around us. Teddy at anchor; Inishvickillane Looking ...
A night in Baltimore
It was smooth 'motoring' down the river Ilen from Skibbereen to Baltimore. Josh and I now feel more civilised after a shower in a pub; our last wash was a week ago. The men are busy writing in their diary, log book and perhaps Messenger. We have the wood stove going to dry our laundry which was washed in another pub. Pierre, an ex-French chef, joined us for the journey to Clifden. He has never sailed before but neither did I three months ago. This is a taster voyage for him. The plan is to leave at 0400.
State of Teddy when Hue and Josh got on board
Teddy was mastless and riggless on our arrival at the Hegartys Boatyard. It didn't look like she was able to go anywhere, let alone sail all the way to Greenland. In less than 3 days it all came together and we are ready to leave for Baltimore, Cork.