Sending your email...By Jim Winter
You never know what a simple trip to the supermarket may turn in to. Early last summer I was picking up groceries when I ran into my friend, Tom Harris, and the subsequent conversation lead to a 10-day sail from Long Pond, Conception Bay in Newfoundland, to Dingle, Ireland.
Tom had decided to sail his C&C 61-foot sloop to Ireland and have the boat there for some family sailing. His wife Doreen and their kids would fly over with her sister and mother, where they would show her mother around Ireland and fulfill that lady's longtime desire to see the country of her ancestors. Meantime, Tom and a couple of friends would sail the Sorcery across the Atlantic, and Doreen and the kids would come aboard for a sail around Ireland once her mother and sister were on a flight home. Tom invited me to join his crew, which so far consisted of him and his friends, John and Sue Garvey. I talked it over with my wife and then eagerly signed on...
Read the January 2008 issue of Downhome to find out how the crew survived the transatlantic trip, and even came close to losing the mast! Here are some extra photos from Jim's adventure:
Murphy's Pub in Dingle, Ireland, where we had our first pint.
John and Sue chow down on a chili supper
Tom doing the daily equipment check
"Otto" the auto helm doing its thing
Our bunk becomes our laundry room as our clothes are laid around to dry
The engine and generator maintenance shares space in the galley
John and Sue on a grey day at sea
Tom prepares to cook a turkey dinner (notice the roll of the boat, as the stove is vertical and the rest is not)
