More from Jarlath Cunnane

                           

In our next issue we interview Jarlath Cunnane, the 2005 recipient of the Cruising Club of America’s Blue Water Medal.For more of the interview see our November/December issue.

ON: Did you take any course or seminars to prepare for voyaging in the Arctic?

JC: We didn’t take any courses or attend any seminars &mdash are there any available? We read all the books on polar exploration: Nansen, Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton and others. We studied ice charts over a period of years and spoke to people with arctic experience, both on land and sea. In the event we learned as we went along, being cautious as we learned how ice behaves. This knowledge can only be acquired on the job.

ON: Do you use alternative power sources, such as solar or wind generators?

JC: We didn’t use solar or wind power, mainly from a cost consideration. If our budget was larger, we would have benefited from both solar and wind power. For crossing the Pacific we installed a Monitor wind vane self-steering equipment, which performed well. As soon as we entered ice it became vulnerable to damage, so we removed it altogether and stored it below.

By Ocean Navigator