3 beams, all Douglas fir. The left one was twisted & unusable. The 2 on the right we shortened to 24 ft. Each is 6" x 12". Glued together they will form the upper half of the main mast. To the right on the ground, the main & mizzen masts. Setting up. Nick Kottler here. I worked with him 6 & 15 years ago at Hegarty's Boatyard in west Cork. His skill & knowledge level was phenomenal. I asked him to lead the repairs, and he stayed with me for one month. We reversed the beams - hearts out. An effort to reduce the weakening impact of the knots. ...
We left Clifden on the 12th. Stopped in Bofin to sort a halyard problem. Anchored at Inishturk North for the night. In the evening a fisherman gave us a bucket of crab claws, in the morning another fisherman dropped off a large monkfish! Headed to Inishkea North, anchored off the sandy beach below the ruins of the abandoned village. No Brion Sweeney, the Hermit of Inishkea North. He had been here a few weeks earlier. I have not seen him for a few years. Found a curlew skull. The following afternoon we set sail for Djupivogur, SE Iceland, 660 NM north of Clifden. We had a lovely east wind the first three days. Teddy sailed herself 350 NM as we slept. After that, fickle winds, and we had to wake up. Some whales, all rorquals. We pased through a pod, three groups of two or three. Probably fin whales. Many interesting bi...
Jonina, Jon's wife, gifted Michael one of her home made sweaters. Last year she gave me one too. Here we are, in full royal panoply. We left Iceland & promptly got stopped off Papey Island by the Iceland Coast Guard who wanted to know every which way from Sunday all about my passport lapse & related issues. Eventually they let us go, and we raced off south into the growing darkness. Many lost songbirds on the way south. Most flew on from us, but one stayed on board and died in the cabin at the base of the main mast. Fin whales. Pilot whales. Dolphins. Skuas. Stormy petrels. Manx shearwaters. Great shearwater. Gannets. Puffins. The occasional freighter making its way to the New World, or from. Thunderheads, overcasts, blues. The Aurora Borealis and the North Star. The pelagic world. Not far from St Kilda the winds headed us, a friend sent me by satellite text an adverse weather report, and we bore off east for the Is...
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