ICY ADVENTURE
Scots seafarer gets set for his latest adventure.. making an Arctic journey that’s been done by fewer people than have climbed Everest HIT the iceberg or make a sharp turn and risk rolling the boat?
It’s not a decision many of us will ever have to make. For Andy Jamieson, however, steering a yacht while shards of frozen spray fly into his eyes and a hurricane-force wind shreds the sails is an essential part of any adventure.
Andy was on board Infinity, a 120ft 1970s concrete ketch captained by an anarchic German, when he stared down death and disaster over 48 hours.
Infinity was midway between the Pacific coast of New Zealand to Patagonia in Chile, on course to stop off in Antarctica, when they hit a storm in the Ross Sea.
He recalled: “It was hurricane force – that’s over 130mph – winds for 48 hours. We used a storm survival technique called running bare poles – all the sails were down and we went straight downwind. I had done it before, but only as a drill.
“The boat is big and heavy, sailing at 10-12 knots in iceberg-infested waters, in massive waves big enough to roll us.
“We had to keep at 90 degrees to them. At any point we could come to the top of a wave and see an iceberg. If we hit that at 10 knots, it’s the end.
“It’s a tough call. Do we hit the iceberg or risk turning hard and then rolling the boat? That went on for about 48 hours. It was scary.”
Andy, the captain and two other experienced sailors got Infinity through.
“Four of us took it in turns to hand steer the boat,” he said. “We could only do 20 minutes on the wheel because it was so cold. That went on for three days, with no sleep.
“Somehow the time went by pretty quickly. We were always busy, riding on adrenaline, focusing on the task at hand which is keeping 15 crew alive. If I’d messed up there, that was the end of it.”
He didn’t mess up and they made it to Patagonia. The international crew of sea dogs included Nico Edwards and his cameras and the voyage ended up as a documentary, Sea Gypsies, which has been shown at film festivals around the world.
It makes Pirates of the Caribbean look like a pensioners’ cruise to Rothesay. It was the iciest year on record in the Southern Ocean. While sailing through the hurricane of ice, the diesel got contaminated with sea water and threatened to freeze.
There is a shot where the captain holds up a jam jar of “diesel” that looks more like off salad dressing.
“It was horrendous,” Andy confirmed. “Everything – the engine, generator, heater, stove – runs on diesel. In one of the storms, sea water got into the diesel tank. They are not compatible.”
It was impossible to film outside
ANDY JAMIESON