ICE RESCUE

JARLATH CUNNANE RECOUNTS A FRAUGHT ATTEMPT TO NAVIGATE THE ICE-STREWN NORTH EAST PASSAGE TO SAVE A STRICKEN YACHT

- JARLATH CUNNANE

Jarlath Cunnane’s book ‘Northabout’ is a must for anyone dreaming of ice navigation or who is fascinated by the history of the extraordinary people who have voyaged to the high Arctic.

In 2018, Great Seamanship featured ‘So Far, so Good’, the autobiography of the Irish sailor, Paddy Barry. In it, Paddy led us quickly through a journey around the roof of the world. This outstanding voyage was skippered by Jarlath Cunnane, who owned Northabout, the aluminium yacht he built with a group of friends and crew. Jarlath’s book tells the story in much greater detail.

They start with the North West Passage then, with true Irish inspiration, decide that returning from the Bering Strait via the Pacific and the Caribbean would be too ordinary. Instead, after a trip down the Pacific Canadian shore, these redoubtable adventurers steer north once more to press on through the North East Passage and home via Norway.

For this extract I chose a rescue job the Irishmen undertook in one of the world’s bleakest spots. It shows courage, resourcefulness, camaraderie and, above all, great seamanship.

Northabout was not the only yacht attempting the North East Passage in 2004. The Dutchman Henk de Velde had started from the Bering Strait in 2003 in Campina and got as far as Tiksi. Because of reports of heavy ice ahead he decided to overwinter in Siberia’s Tiksi harbour and was completing his last-minute preparations when we sailed in.