SV Ulladh (ul-la): Sunday July 27, 2008

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sunday July 27, 2008

Low 80's F thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon.

Late morning sail with Katherine.

A slow departure with light winds 5 knots or less , out of the southwest, to Darby Creek, then winds pick up 10 to 15 for a speedy beam reach along the shipping channel side of Little Tinicum.

Storm clouds build over Delaware County and NWS on WX issues storm warning for Chester and Delaware County with 2" rain per hour.

Rather than take the long way around the island, come about and return to Darby Creek with building winds out of the west. The wind eases as we pass Piaseki, pole out the genoa, sail wing on wing with good speed.

The front approaches, drop the genoa, winds build to 30 knots out of the north in minutes, to close to the seaplane base slips to head into the the wind to drop the mainsail, so set a fisherman reef, mainsail against the spreaders and sail with the wind on port beam.

Boat speeds builds above 7 knots and we race to the marina.

Gusts develop to 40 knots (PHL reports 43), turn to windward past the marina and off the former Westinghouse sluice gate, mainsheet in as we come to windward, drop the main halyard and Katherine flakes the mainsail on the boom and secures with sail ties. Timing was good, the manoever was complete well clear of the mud flat.

Motor into the marina with 30 knot wind and 40 knots gusts.

Plenty of windage on the side of the boat. Hold the boat in the slip with motor on forward gear at idle, while we secure the dock lines, then the deluge begins.

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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)