Saoirse - Saoirse Diaries-17- Reflections from the cockpit

I was surprised at how little life we saw during the crossing. For the better part of the journey we were alone on this vast ocean, no other boats on the horizon. We had one small school of dolphins come play beside us, and another two enormous dolphins, the likes of which none of us had ever before seen, jump up once right beside the boat just to say hello as they passed and then dive never to be seen by us again. No idea what kind they were but they were huge. We also had a bird that circled us for a few hours one day totally sending Óisin into an excited frenzy. Ah birdie, birdie mama, birdie!! Cúisle named it Brave because it was so far out at sea alone. Sometimes when I was on watch sitting at the wheel and would look to the horizon, nothing but sea in all directions, I had the. read more...

Saoirse - The Saoirse Diaries -16- A dive in the Pond

It was my shift, 3am - 7am and I had made the executive decision to whack the motor on and power through the hole into which we had sailed.Moral has been low after all the breakages, the last thing I wanted was to slosh about all night with the sails banging so no one could get proper sleep only to wake up the next morning and find we are still exactly where we were when they went to bed.So on it went, course was altered to head directly to our way point, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia and I was powering through.It was all going swimmingly. Peak wind strength all night was about 9 knots so I was feeling very content with the decision.Óisin woke at 6am as usual, and as Wolf was still sleeping made his way himself in the pitch black up the stairs into the cockpit and with a big smile on his face,. read more...

Saoirse - The SAOIRSE Diaries -15- Warts and all

So I want to keep the Saoirse Diaries real, to authentically record the experience for posterity.The highs and lows, no sugar coating, no filter.So here it is, the ugly truth, warts and all......Today was rough.I thought about not writing until I felt inspired again, or until something really nice happened that I felt compelled to share but that’s not the real story is it?You can’t have the good without the bad, we here on board Saoirse are currently experiencing quite a spell of the bad.After the heartbreak and disappointment of Day 6, losing our butterfly and realising the whole journey would take much longer, we took a day to wallow, chill, accept.Day 8 dawned and we had rallied, well that is to say I had, Wolf and Heiko were still in a funk coming out with ‘ach man we will never get. read more...

Saoirse - The Saoirse Diaries -14- A royal ass kicking

Day 6 royally kicked our ass.It started off beautifully.I was on morning shift.Wolf came up to the cockpit shortly before dawn with Óisin who was full of fun, love and chat, absolutely dying for Cúisle (who sleeps in the cockpit when we are passaging) to wake up.When she did, it was still dark and the two of them sat cuddled with me watching the sun come up.A rare moment, they are normally both so active, they come for cuddles but jump back down again just as quick.Up down, up down, non stop little energiser bunnies.It was so nice to just sit there peacefully with them looking forward to what the day may bring.You will recall our strategy had been to head South to try to avoid the hole that was due to arrive further North within a few days.After the first night of sailing we were lying. read more...

Saoirse - The SAOIRSE Diaries -13- We shell have a Fishy

Day 3 at sea, I awoke, thanks to Óisin shortly before dawn and headed up to Wolf in the cockpit, handed the baby off to him and went back down to make some coffee.No sooner had I the coffee poured and I heard the shout go up......Dolphins!!!!Dolphins just make your soul rejoice don’t they?They are such joyful creatures, you can’t help but be present in the moment when you see them, when there is nothing more important in the world than watching them play.I rushed up to see Óisin jumping up and down and rocking from side to side as babies do when they are excited.His whole body displaying the joyful energy that dolphins inject into all of us.His eyes wide in his head, his little mouth open and tiny finger pointing, ooh, ooh, ooh, he says, fishy,oh wow!!!Absolutely mesmerised by the show. read more...