It was the 16th of May, Saint Brendan's day, the day that they were supposed to depart. But a full-blown gale was raging, and they weren't going anywhere. The whole boat was a jumble of supplies, food, and other things. They had not stowed it away yet. Each member of the crew was colour-coded, so that clothing would not get jumbled. Tim had yellow, Rolf Hansen had blue, Peter Mullet had red, George had orange, and as befitted the Irish member of the crew, Arthur Magan had chosen green. There were five crew members in all. Arthur was nicknamed Boots, because when he had showed up at the boatyard he had on size 12 boots. He was very brief, and did not volunteer information unless asked. Peter was Brendan's photographer. He had heard about Brendan, and had arrived at the boatyard with a large suitcase. He opened it, and it was divided in the middle by a partition. On on side were his cameras, and on the other was a carpentry kit. In his red sailing suit, he looked more like a cardinal than the London sparrow he was. May 17th dawned bright and clear, and Tim Severin asked Tom Leahy when it would be a good time to cast off on, and Tom said to wait until the tide was going out. All that morning, people gathered. At last, it was time to cast off. No one had time to be worried, there was too much to do. The anchor caught on the rocks, but with the help of a fishing boat it came off. The wind died down as if on cue, so they rowed out of the harbor. They were off!
More soon!
Bell
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