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05 - She is finished
After a hectic six days the Jolly Sailor is finally finished, including all the sponsors’ logos. Every little part of her has been thoroughly examined, and another sea trial today went very well. Yesterday we were baking in 28 degrees with no wind - today it’s been blowing like mad, but still very hot.
The new reduced size windscreens and wipers work well, but the hatches still leak a little bit, (we found this out when a wave came over the coach roof).
We had our first weather briefing today from Bertie Ramsey, our brilliant octogenarian weather forecaster, who informs us that a big front is coming in which will cause a lot of fog and strong south-westerly winds a little bit further north. A huge pack of icebergs has been reported 100 miles east of Newfoundland, but reports from the Canadian ice breaker up in Thule (Greenland) say the ice is very light with all routes passable. Mind you, their idea of light and ours is probably somewhat different!
Fortunately for us, one of Egbert's friends works on the ice breaker, and he will be giving us daily updates on the situation from Friday onwards. That’s backed up with information from our Greenland contact in Nanortalik, so fingers crossed we should be OK.
And just in case we come across an unfriendly polar bear, Egbert has organised a shotgun for us to keep on board. The one thing we’re mindful of is that if we have to make an unscheduled land stop in Greenland away from a harbour or settlement, we could just become an enticing snack for whatever may be roaming around.
Clive Tully
© 2003 Clive Tully
Jolly Sailor, ready to go:
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