Aislig Bheag - Land Hola!

Start with a terrible joke, end with a terrible joke that’s what I say!Well, no more fenders to rescue unfortunately, at least not ones we should berescuing (attached to fishing pots).  In the last two nights however we’vehad a couple of encounters worthy of Our Man in Havana reporting.  Thefirst was the appearance of a strange warship on the horizon which looked like afrigate from a Navy of unknown origin.  Out of that warship two hovercraftwere zipping around with lights flashing like something out of an early 90sHarrison Ford movie.  Our dedicated duo on watch, the mother and daughter‘borrowers’ swore blind the next morning that the warship was seen recoveringwhat looked like a capsule from Out of Space, “there were little green men andeverything” Alison recounted. read more...

Aislig Bheag - Through the eyes of Gaetano...

It was suggested by various members of the crew that our 71 year-old,computer illiterate, Italian, Gaetano, should write a blog post of hisexperience aboard Aislig Bheag. True to form, Gaetano accepted the challengewith open arms and gave it his best shot, spending over two hours sitting at thenav station, laboriously typing his post. Please excuse the occasionalspelling/grammatical errors as he describes the process of taking down thecruising chute and erecting the twin head-sails. While Gaetano requested that Iedit and correct his post, I felt that to avoid detracting from the true essenceof his experience, I would, with his permission, post his blog exactly aswritten. – EilidhMidday a hot midday. All of us ready on deck around the math: the sailschute must be hoisted no matter two. read more...

Aislig Bheag - Tender is the Night

Despite having next to no wind and being forced to use the motor for 30+hours, Thursday was certainly an unforgettable day for multiple reasons...   Glorious sunshine and a totally smooth sea, other than a gentle rollingswell from the East, allowed the crew a day of pure relaxation. After manydiscussions over the course of the trip, the weather finally allowed 5 of thecrew the opportunity to tick “mid-Atlantic swim” off of our bucket list. Atlunch time the engine was stopped and in turn we each dived off the stern andinto the refreshing sea, only to then rapidly dash back to the boat in fear ofwhat may be lurking below, apart, of course, for our brave (or mental?) ItalianStallion, Gaetano, who drifted further and further astern as he filmed the boatwith Owen’s GoPro camera. With the. read more...

Aislig Bheag - An Introduction to The Crew (In rhyme)

I must go down to the sea again on a yacht called Aislig Bheag, Seven aboard since Bermuda, To the Azores on the second leg, And all I ask is a gentle breeze, Maybe 10-15 knots, and a hearty meal, and a steady wind, and a crew awaiting rum tots.   I’ll introduce first John the skipper, A salty old seadog indeed, He rules his ship with a clear command, Unless he spins up in his “heid”, And all he asks is a peaceful night, with the helmsman steady, and a full sail, and a good course, and a great crew ready.   So back we go out to the sea again, To meet the next in command, Aiison’s found in the galley, at the wheel, up the mast, cloth in hand, And all she asks is a comfy bed, and to cook in an upright position, and a quiet sleep, and a sweet dream, and a working toilet to pish. read more...

Aislig Bheag - Be careful what you wish for...

So after fatefully asking Neptune for ‘a bit of wind’ in our last blogentry and Gaetano even more  dangerously saying to Alison during dinnerthat “he’d like to see a storm very much!” we sailed straight into a bit ofweather.  Luckily it wasn’t a storm, but it was still a pretty drearytwenty four hours of strong squalls, grey skies and heavy rain. Clearly oursacrificial offerings to the Gods had not worked or more likely our cheek had tobe aptly rewarded!  But despite a wet day and night for most of the crew we managed to havesome fun with silly principal among them was how we’d missed a trick by notgetting Pringles to sponsor us.  During bad weather it turned out to be thefavourite snack (lunch) of choice for the crew on watch.  Owen wasdelighted to discover that. read more...