Brendan Voyage

They were close to land now, and out of the ice. The Newfoundlands were surrounded by fog, so Brendan was 30 miles off of where she was estimated to be. The ship that met with them found Brendan quite by chance. Brendan was almost to her final port!

At 8:00pm, June 26th, Brendan landed in the New World, at Peckford Island, Newfoundland.
She had proved that it was possible to sail across the ocean in a leather boat.

END OF BOOK
Bell

Brendan Voyage

Brendan continued weaving through the ice, but it was not easy. At last, sliding over an iceberg, she sprung a leak. The crew used the pump to keep Brendan from swamping, but it was very tiring and they could not keep it up forever. They kept it up until morning, and then the captain found a leak. The tremendous pressure on the leather had burst a hole in one place, but they could fix it. George and and Trondur put a patch on it, which was something that they would not have been able to do if Brendan had not been made of leather.
That was the first and only time they let Brendan steer herself for a while. The crew was so exhausted that they just took down the sails and lashed the helm and went to sleep.

More soon!
Bell

Brendan Voyage

Brendan was just sailing along when she blundered into the remains of some pack ice that had been blown apart by a gale. She was in a lot of trouble, trying to keep off the ice and make sure that she wasn't squashed. The whole crew had to get up again and again, manning the sails to give more steering way or watching for ice ahead. They couldn't sleep anyway, with the ice knocking on the thin leather all around. The crew kept on in spite of this, but it was just not possible to avoid all the ice. It was all different colors, very pretty but you couldn't look at it without thinking what would happen if Brendan hit the ice, which rather ruined it. The colors would tell you what kind of ice it was, and if it was a choice between hitting one piece or the other, which one would be worse to hit. They kept on like this for a long time. At this point, the section ends.

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Bell

Brendan Voyage

Brendan was having some problems with waves. The captain was on watch, when a big wave came tumbling over Brendan and completely submerged her. It looked like she was going to roll over, but the air in her pulled her up to the surface. Nothing was broken or damaged except the captain's peace of mind. George had a similar experience during his watch but again nothing was damaged.

Brendan was supposedly well clear of the ice, but one day they saw floating chunks of ice. They thought that it was just an ice raft but they were wrong. They kept going, thinking that they would find the end soon, but it just stretched on and on. Then a ship came up, a Faroese ship. Brendan was almost invisible against the ice, but George had a brainwave. He used the signal mirror and Svanur headed over to them. She gave them some food, and pulled her out of the ice trap that they had blundered into. Not long after on that same day, an American ship came into view. They were very confused about Brendan, but once the Americans on board Mirfak understood they gave Brendan so much food that George had to give some of it back! Brendan sailed on, well away from the ice and provisioned in plenty.

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Bell

Brendan Voyage

The waves were swamping the boat. Every time a big or medium-sized one hit, it was back to the pumps quick and hope that you got the boat pumped out in time. The waves were getting to be a big problem, but they couldn't do much about it. If they tried to use some of the tarpaulin to cover the place the waves came in, that would just make another hole. Every time a wave came in it swamped the cabin. The radios were long-suffering, almost drowning every time. The journal that Tim was writing his notes in was soaked and the ink ran all over the pages. Tim was thinking about it when he remembered the spare pieces of leather that they had to plug leaks if needed. They used these to make a kind of shield around the helmsman, although it was very uncomfortable to steer. The waves quit swamping the boat now, and very seldom did one get in.

More later!
Bell

Brendan Voyage

Brendan has her crew back after their winter break. The weather was calm at first, giving them time to remember lessons learned the last year and get back into the swing of things. They had bird visitors as well as human ones.  Some fishermen stopped by and gave Brendan some of their catch.

But the good weather did not last forever. The bad weather struck, and the pack ice was not that far away. The winds were driving them towards the pack ice, the wrong direction for getting to North America. The stove stopped working, and the replacement parts didn't fit. Tim managed to make the stove work on one burner. Trondur caught seabirds often, so they had fresh meat.

The wind was still blowing them in the wrong direction, and they kept getting soaked by waves. They had to pump the boat out often or they would be waterlogged and the waves would sink them.

More soon!
Bell

Brendan Voyage, 1/2 Ch. 8

They were getting used to life at sea. It was interesting to see how their priories had changed from when they first started out. The skipper was making a pudding when a wave landed on top of them. Everyone dived to save the pudding and ignored everything else. The spatula had been washed clean across the boat but no one had payed any attention to it!

Trondur had a new trick for getting food. He put a piece of whale blubber on his fishing hook, and cast it out where a flock of fulmars were resting. They pecked at it and were soon squabbling over who should get it. One greedy fellow took the whole hook in his mouth. Trondur reeled him in, and cast the line back out. But soon the birds wouldn't fall for it. Then Trondur told Edan to reel the line in slowly. The birds followed it, trying to keep one eye on the bait and the other on the strange boat. When they got close enough, Trondur hit the nearest one over the head with the boat hook, breaking its neck.  They boiled the seagulls to make a kind of soup, and it was a success. It was a nice supplement to their diet of dried and preserved foods.

Brendan made it to Iceland safely. She landed in the harbor of Reykjavik without any trouble at all.

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Bell

Brendan Voyage--1/2 Ch. 8

They set out for Iceland with their new crew member, Trondur. He was a very good fisherman, and soon Brendan was wearing a new decoration: Fish. There were fish everywhere, and they were a good supplement to their diet. Some curious whales came up and investigated Brendan, but they didn't bother her.

The monks had a story about this: they said that a "sea monster" had been chasing their boat when another "sea monster" came up and killed the first one. It floated away to the beach where it made food for the monks. They saw a killer whale pack one day, and one of them came over to investigate Brendan. However, the killer whale didn't think that they would make a good meal, so he left them alone. Some whales came up later, and they were very disturbed. Trondur suggested that killer whales might be chasing them. The killer whale is well named, and for a good reason the Spanish called them "lobo del mar," wolves of the sea. They are ferocious as the tiger.

On July 8th they got a good wind, which was especially good because they were off the south coast of Iceland. This was a very dangerous coast, and if the wind was blowing wrong they would be smashed on the rocks.

More soon!
Bell

Brendan Voyage, 1/3 Ch. 7

They were suddenly hit by a gale that snapped the mast stay and sent them flying along at 20 knots. Brendan was breaking all the records for skin boats! George struggled to keep Brendan on course. Edan and Arthur moved out of the way of the mast, so that if it broke they would not be squashed. They missed one of the Faroes Islands, Vagar. They were caught right in the middle of the tide race now, and there was no getting out. Then the lower bonnet snapped and broke free. Edan grabbed it before it could sail overboard. They brought down the mainsail, and Arthur pounced on it. Before bursting, the sail had done its work. It had driven them almost the whole length of the Sound. Just then, a fierce burst of wind came along that flattened the waves. If the sail had still been up, the mast would have broken.
They managed to land on one of the other Faroes Islands. The Faroese were very interested in Brendan, as they grew up around the sea. Here they picked up another member of the crew, Trondur.
When Edan and Arthur showed a strange enthusiasm for doing the breakfast dishes, Tim and George followed them one day. They were tracked to a seaman's hotel, where they were eating a second (and free) breakfast while admiring Faroese girls did their work for them.

The Faroese had a lot of hospitality. They helped get Brendan ready for the journey to Iceland.

More soon!
Bell 

Brendan Voyage, 1/3 Ch. 7

Brendan was going lazily along. They got a position check from the Lord Jellicoe and later when they were listening to the news broadcast they heard the Lord Jellicoe ask if the leather boat had been carrying a crew of mad Irish monks. They didn't hear the reply because they were all doubled up with laughter!
The only worrying thing was that the skin near the H-frame was slack and not looking good. But Brendan was still holding up well. Most people had expected her to sink after just 5 days, and she had been afloat much longer than that! It was helping that the weather was getting colder. When it really got chilly, they put on wool clothes instead of their artificial fiber clothing they had been wearing. Their metal tools had already rusted, and had been replaced when possible by something made of a natural material.
The medieval sailors were much better equipped then many people think they were. Their things held up, and they could repair them without a lot of tools.

Brendan was going through the middle of the Faroes islands, when she ran into a gale off the Mykines cliffs. These were dangerous cliffs, and if Brendan ran onto them, she would be sunk. The wind was blowing them onto the cliffs, and they were going forward very slowly!

I'll stop here. Next time: How they got out of this hole.
More soon!
Bell

Brendan Voyage- 1/3 of Ch. 7

They started to get ready to sail to the Faroes, a group of islands that were a milestone in Brendan's journey. They had a Doubting Thomas who was sure that they were going to sink. He kept asking sea-wise questions, and always ended with "I wouldna want to sail with you."  Arthur mimicked him, his Irish accent turned Sots for a moment and uttered a mocking warning--"We're all doomed! Aye, we're doomed for sure!" Edan also banished any despondency. They were ready to take off when he said he had forgotten something. Almost an hour later he came back running. He had found the last bottle of Pimms in Stornoway.  He also tried to grow watercress seeds, but a wave washed it overboard. As for the Pimms, he accidentally knocked it over with his foot and spilled the contents into he bilge.

Edan and the Skipper divided the cooking, so Arthur and George did the dishes. No one bothered to shave or wash, because it would have been a waste of fresh water and there was no need. The leather and the sheepskins smelled far worse than they ever would.
Each person had his own area of responsibility. George made regular inspections of the sailing gear, and they were constantly needing to repair ropes that had gotten frayed or mend a tear or sail. Every piece of cordage needed constant adjustment, because the flax ropes stretched slack when dry and shrank into iron rods when wet. It was best to stretch them taut when dry, then keep them wet with sea water. Arthur was the photographer, and he had a way with them, keeping them working in spite of the salt that clogged the shutters. The skipper had charge of navigation and radio communications. He would try to establish contact every 24 hours, and he often succeeded. The radio was amazing, holding up under much abuse. It was powered by car batteries, which were recharged by Lucas solar panels that only gave a small charge. The radio operators were also helpful, listening for Brendan at a time when the airwaves weren't cluttered by other traffic.

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Bell  

Brendan Voyage-Ch. 6

Peter, the injured crew member, couldn't stay with Brendan. He had strained the muscles on the side of his chest, and if he did that again, it would be more serious. Besides, they might not be able to get him to a hospital. So, sadly, Peter packed his bag and left. They had a temporary replacement for him, Wallace Clark, from the Irish Cruising Club. They took Brendan over to Iona, one of the Hebrides Islands.  On the way, a rope broke that held up one of the sails. The whole sail came crashing down, but no one was under it at the time. When Wallace went back to his office after a long weekend, he sent some much better flax rope.
In Iona, they got a replacement for Wallace. Edan joined them and soon became Brendan's live wire and joker. He needed a couple of days to settle his affairs, so they took Brendan over to another of the islands with only 4 people. There was a fog, and they got stuck in a bay and had quite a time getting out. Then Edan joined them, and they got some new flax rope from Wallace. It was of much better quality then their old stuff. They got out into clear water, with a good wind blowing. They put up every scrap of canvas they had, and Brendan fairly flew over the water. She was making 12 knots, going as fast as many modern yachts. After two hours, they took down the extra canvas and sailed into Stonorway as if they had been sailing medieval boats all their lives. The lifeboat crew was disappointed, because they had expected to get a bit of exercise rowing them in. But it was thought that they would get it later.

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Brendan Voyage, 1/2 Ch. 5

They were in the Aran islands, and everyone seemed determined to help them. The curragh men brought more lobster and crabs, and the local wives took it in turns to bake more scones. A volunteer flew out and installed their radio. They had not had time to apply for a license, so they came up with the call sign Curragh Brendan. When they set out, school children were out to watch for Brendan and to report her progress. All the people were very helpful!

Then they set out and had clear seas for a while. They caught two fish and cooked them. They also caught a young seagull and managed to set him free unharmed.  Then they ran into a storm, and lost radio contact because of an electric storm. Then the storm let up, and they discovered that many of their stores were ruined by the water. The next day they were able to tidy up the cabin some and make sense of the mess. The tried rowing some, but seemed to get nowhere. Then Peter called the skipper and told him that his arm was hurting. He took some pain killer, but an hour later the pain had spread to the side of his chest and it was hurting him to breathe. They called in and a fishing boat towed them into port, where an ambulance came and took Peter to see a doctor.

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Brendan Voyage-Ch. 5 1/2

They had set out, and now have to arrange their stuff so that five men can fit in Brendan. Boots and Rolf were on each side of the foremast, and the other three were in the center shelter. There was just too much stuff in the center for three men to have space to lay down in. George had an idea: Throw out some of the buoyancy foam, and put the extra stuff there. They did so, and then tackled the cabin mess. It was 6 x 6 feet, and somehow they had to fit three men, the radio, the cameras, and the navigation equipment. They put the radio on a makeshift shelf, and heaped the kit bags to make a partition across one-third of the shelter. It was Tim's privilege as the skipper to occupy this space, but it was very small, so small that you had to lay on your side to fit. George and Peter had the rest of the space, but if George turned over in his sleeping bag, he was sure to kick Peter, and when Peter got up, it was almost impossible to avoid stepping on George. They also found out that only Tim could really cook well, so he did all the cooking. They landed on the Aran Islands, and they had a dinner of lobster, donated by some fishermen. They had covered 100 miles in 36 hours.

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Bell

Brendan Voyage: Ch. 4: Departure

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! 

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Bell 

Brendan Voyage, Chapter 2, Part 2

He asked some leather scientists about ways to make leather water-resistant, and they ran some tests on the leather. Oak-bark leather was the best, coated with wool grease. Everyone was putting leather in water, and saying that the boat would not last for more than 5 days. But Tim was lucky and found several men that would help him: John Waterer, Harold Birkmin, Dr. Sykes, and Colin Mudie. Dr. Sykes ran the leather tests, John Waterer and Colin Mudie helped with leather tips and drafts of the boat, and Harold Birkmin helped in the construction. The Croggon brothers, leather tanners, supplied all the oxhides for Brendan, and worked painstakingly with them to make sure they were of the finest quality.

More later,
Bell

Brendan Voyage Ch. 3 1/2

Only in Ireland is it possible to walk into a boatyard and say, "I'm building a medieval boat, and I want you to build the frame. I'll cover it with ox hides myself." Tim Severin went to the Crosshaven boatyard, were it was said that they preferred never to build two boats in the same style, because it was "too dull." This was the place where the Irish lifeboats were sent for rehauling. This was also the place where Sir Francis Chichester build his record-breaking Gypsy Moth V. Pat Lake was the head shipwright, and he helped build it himself. They used ash for the boat frame and stringers, and heart of oak for the double gunwales. Pat Lake didn't like the choice of ash, because it rots if you keep wetting it and it keeps drying. But Tim was certain that it needed to be ash. He was lucky and found Glennon's timber yard, a family business. Paddy Glennon ran the yard, supported by the Glennon family. He found the right trees for Brendan, and gave them to the project.  The boat was built gunwales first, finishing with the keel. He experimented with different knots, and managed to find one that worked. He and his friend, George, with a little help at times from other people, tied the whole frame together with leather thongs. No metal was used in fastening the frame.

Next part soon!
Bell

Brendan Voyage Chapter 2 First Half

There was just one major problem: Leather rots in water, so it is not possible to make a leather boat. But it was tested, and the scientist found that leather tanned in oak bark would float! All the other kinds absorbed water and sank, but this leather was two to three times more resistant. So it was true that the boat was leather! But the problem was, how did you get a boat that would be sturdy enough? Tim Severin went out on a walk one day, and found four curraghs, small canvas boats with a wooden frame and tarred to make them water-resistant. He was able to get some men to take him for a sail in this remarkable boat, and found that it was just the same as a skin boat but with canvas instead of leather. It was very maneuverable. He went to see the curragh maker, and learned all he could about this type of boat. He was told that once, when a steamer was in danger on the coast. The lifeboat was not able to do anything because of the heavy sea, and then two of the curragh men took their boat out and helped. That frail-looking little boat made it where the lifeboat could not! Some of the legends sounded impossible, but when you looked at them carefully, they made sense. The monks landed on a whale's back, thinking it was a rock, and lit a fire. That woke the whale, and it dove back into the sea, giving the monks just enough time to get in the boat! They saw a floating pillar of crystal, and at one island, were pelted with burning rocks! These are just a few of their adventures. More soon! Bell

A note on Brendan Voyage

For a while, I am going to split the chapters in half, because they are rather lengthy. Bell

Brendan Voyage, Ch. 1

Tim Severin and 4 companions, Peter, Arthur, George, and Rolf, set out to cross the Atlantic in a leather boat. Why? Some old manuscripts had been found, dating back to at least A.D.800. They told of how Saint Brendan and some monks sailed across the Atlantic in a leather boat. People doubted that these authentic, well researched Latin texts were true, and the idea of a leather boat settled it. Leather rots in water, so that was not even possible! To prove that it could be done, these five men set out in a boat made of of ox hides, made very much like the boat that Saint Brendan was supposed to have sailed in. The Latin texts told how the boat was made, and they were certain the boat was made of leather. So Tim Severin and his crew set out on May 17th, from Brendan Creek on the Dingle Peninsula, in one of the strangest craft ever seen. Not more than two weeks later, here they were, caught in a bad storm. After a long and frightening time, the gale let up. They were not more that 35 miles off the coast of Ireland, and all navigators gave that coast a wide berth. Many ships, with better steering than Brendan(she lacked a keel)had been wrecked on this coast. If the wind had blown towards the coast, Brendan would have been smashed on the rocks. Brendan flexed with the sea, almost as if she were breathing. This storm was the first one of the voyage, and it had been especially fierce. After they made it through the storm, they were almost run over by a trawler. Brendan, as they were to find out, was invisible to radar. The leather did not reflect the beams, and the metal reflector was drowned out by the waves. More later, Bell