SV Ulladh (ul-la): June 2012

Monday, June 11, 2012

June 2012

June 30, 2012
Mid-day sail at Essington, 5 to 10 knot breeze out of the SW with some gusting at Darby Creek. Yesterday the temperature was 101 F at the Essington fire house so no sail yesterday, today it was a cool 97 F and felt more comfortable with the breeze.

Stern with Autohelm Mark II holding course

June 23, 2012
Day sail on the Delaware River

June 8 -June 11, 2012

Essington to Chesapeake City
Depart Essington at 7:00 AM and sail/motor sail with an ebb tide to Reedy Point and the C&D entrance early for the flood in the canal. Motor against the last of the ebb tide then ride the flood to Chesapeake City

Off Newcastle approaching Pea Patch

Fort Delaware on Pea Patch from main channel

Chesapeake City Town Dock

Chesapeake City

Chesapeake City to Maryland Yacht Club on Rock Creek Baltimore
Depart Chesapeake City at 5:30 AM, for a mixed gusty wind sailing and motor sailing to Rock Creek. Secure the dock lines at MYC at 4:45 PM after a short detour taking me to Bodkin Creek rather than Rock Creek.
Meet up with a group from Sailnet at the yacht club pavilion overlooking the Patapsco and Chesapeake Bay.

Leaving the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal at sunrise

Maryland Yacht Club on Rock Creek

Rock Creek to Delaware City
Depart Rock Creek 5:30 AM at sunrise on a long hot motor sail/sail in the upper Chesapeake to the C&D then ride the end of the ebb current through the canal to Reedy Point and dock at 5:00 PM at Delaware City.

Early morning departure from Rock Creek

Delaware City Marina, Hunter 27 with electric drive in background

Delaware City to Essington
Depart Delaware City 4:15 AM dark before twilight, on the last hours of a flood tide then ride a slack or minimal current to Marcus Hook just as the anchored tankers begin to swing, than against a building current to Essington. Secure in a flood tide at Essington at 10:45 AM.

Sunrise over the NJ side of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, last pylon up river on the Pea Patch Dike

Deployed life boat on the MV Angus?

MV Angus anchored off Wilmington

Ulladh

Ulladh pronounced "ul-la" (null lad).

Uladh the gaelic spelling for the territory of the U-Nail chieftains in the ancient Irish province of Ulster (English/Norse), originally the counties of Down and Antrim, but now including Derry, Armagh, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, also referred to as Ulidia (Greek/Roman),.

Uladh was the home of a pre-celtic, cruithne (crew-en-ya) pictish tribe, who may have been descendants of prehistoric tribes indigenous to the British Isles since the retreat of the last ice age.

Evidence from cut marks on deer bones from more than 30,000 years ago found in the karst formations of the Burren probably from hunters suggest a homonid precence. Archeological finds date first inhabitants (DNA evidence suggests dark or black skin and blue eyes) to about 6,000 BC and trade goods from Rathlin Island, County Antrim off the northeast coast of Ireland made from porcellanite stone appearing in Egypt and Crete by 2,500 BC.

The early tribes of Ireland where displaced by later waves of migrants from mainland Europe; about 1700 BC by bronze age tribes, celtic tribes about 500 BC, and in the past two millenia; Roman trading posts, Viking settlements, English plantations... and in the 21st century a welcome increasing diversity from the European Union and the world.

SV Ulladh (for vhf clarity I use "sailing vessel ul-la") is named for the territory of the first peoples to settle in Ireland after the retreat of the last ice age.

Fisksatra

Since 1949 Fisksatra Varv in the coastal town of Fisksatra Sweden, built fiberglass boats from dinghies to a 300 ton minesweeper for the Swedish Navy.

The Havsfidra 20's were built between 1968 and the late 1970's to Swedish Navy and Lloyd's certification standards.

The Havsfidra 20 and a larger version the Storfidra 26 where sold in the United States by Continental Yachts and Trawler Agency of Atlantic City NJ.

Havsfidra; sea-feather?
(fidra; to touch or tickle with a feather -Icelandic-English Dictionary, Clarendon Press 1874)