Daragh Muldowney

We have a hammock in the Galley with an extraordinary quantity of carrots and celery. We have all accepted our responsibility to eat them all before they turn bad. Consequently all our meals contain celery and carrots and the race is on…us versus the carrots. As the hammock swings away it is not uncommon to find a carrot in our bunks or for one to land on the head!

So.....24 hours on and we are still stuck approx 600 miles from Greenland, 400 miles from Iceland and 500 miles from Ireland.

50 mph winds direct from the west make it a very uncomfortable experience. So much so that our famous 'Jordan's Drogue' which was used on North of Disko I was deployed last night at about 9pm. This 100m of rope with about 150 little parachutes attached. The whole thing is tied off the aft and hugely stabilises the boat. As the giant swell rolls through all tension is taken up by the drogue lines. They creak and groan under the strain until the wave passes....and then the next wave arrives and so on.

Watch system has changed as we are going nowhere and it is now 1 hour on alone and 5 hours off. This is a watch to make sure nothing goes wrong with the Drogue.

Now, although the Drogue steadies the boat a bit we are still being tossed about the place and being smashed with waves over the deck. These one hour watches became known as 'The Death Watch' by Claire on the last expedition. Basically all hatches are closed and you go out on deck on you own while everyone else sleeps. Appropriate name....I was on my 2am one last night, winds howling and shrieking through the rigging. I was sitting on the deck of the cockpit when a giant wave smashed over the entire cockpit soaking me from head to toe. This has happened to all of us at this stage.

Nothing we can do but bob around at the mercy of the weather gods.
Adam has the flu which has possibly now being passed to Jamie.....oh the fun of an Ocean crossing!

500 miles in 72 hours….and here come the head winds. Yes indeed, we've done extremely well but the grib files (on-line weather maps that we have downloaded from our satellite phone) are
indicating some pretty hectic weather over the next few days. Strong head winds for 2 days. We’re delighted to be still on route though as earlier we had a big scare as our engine didn't start. Flat battery and suddenly smoke from the engine. Not good 500 miles from land! We thought our starter motor was gone but after a couple of hours charging the battery from our trusty little Honda generator she kicked into life again. The dream is still alive.
The storms have arrived and although Jamie was convinced his luck had to change we are lying a hull and probably will do for the next 24 hours. This means that all sails are down, engine is off and we are waiting out the storm. This began with the stay sail halyard coming loose in the middle of a gale…..in the middle of the night. All fun stuff.

On the North of Disko 2013 expedition we had plenty soups and falafel mixes vacuum sealed.
There were a few left over that magically appeared on board fro North of Disko II.
I felt it was a soup day and emptied the contents of what I thought to be a chicken soup into a pot…..turned out to be a falafel mix. I would heartily recommend falafel soup with corned beef…..it went down well today anyhow!

40 hours in after our restart and we have travelled an incredible 300 miles. Talk about making up lost time. We had some great northerlies as soon as we were past Inis Turk and they kept us going for about 16 hours. The engine came back into play then as winds became very slack. Luckily it has been purring along like a kitten….a noisy one… maybe!
We’re 3 hours on watch and 6 hours off. This is luxurious as last time around we were 2 hours on and 4 off. 6 hours off is amazing. Sure, it’s like a holiday camp! Not really….Always something to do on board……. Fixing, lashing, cleaning, cooking, snapping, reading, chatting, plotting (our route that is, not against each other!) and so on!
Morale is great….I feel our wee engine mishap was good for us and we have pulled together as a solid crew.
No major casualties to sea sickness yet…one small speed bump with Josie but all good now. Our well stocked provisions are going down a treat. Big thanks to Maire and Mairead for sorting all the food out. Maire’s flapjacks with a quality cup of hot chocolate from the ‘Cocoa Bean Chocolate Company’ are hitting the spot for those cold night watches!

4:30pm 9th of June…..The scene was set, the crowds had gathered and we were on our way. Months of preparation and training and finally we had cast off.


The send off party


Ciaran at the Helm


Not long after clearing Killary Harbour we had some force 3 northerlies which enabled us to head West at about 7kts. Watch systems established….Andy & Ciaran, Jamie & Josie and Adam & I…..3 hours on 6 hours off. Our first watch was 9pm to 12pm and was a stunning one….great sailing and a fiery sunset.


Perfect conditions, a fine chorizo and pasta dinner, delicious chocolate and banana cake by Ma Muldowney, a spectacular sunset……what could go wrong?

The winds eased throughout the night and by the time Adam & I came on watch for our 6am watch the winds had died completely. We were 100 NM from Killary. An easy decision to bring the engine into play as we had slowed right down. After a few minutes it sounded wrong so we shut it down and started looking into it. A leak in the gearbox almost all all the transmission fluid had leaked. We had spare but we had lost about 2 litres. This was critical and could leave us with out the engine. So….a hard but easy decision…..about turn and return to Killary. Initially we had slack winds meaning it could be days returning home but luckily our fortune changed and we got perfect winds. We lost wind along the Killary and Shane, Jamies son, came out and towed us in to anchor.




So, currently we are at anchor and the gearbox has to come out. Until we have this problem resolved we cannot continue on route……….Watch this space!!!