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Sally Currin |
Sally is an RYA Yachtmaster with 26 years of offshore experience. She began her sailing career in 1996 with an early season delivery from Weymouth to the West Coast of Scotland in our first boat SHIMSHAL I - a Sigma 38. The boat was new to us but was in a fairly distressed state which meant that the trip was plagued by gear failure. She learned her most valuable nautical lesson rounding Portland Bill on day one when she discovered that it's better to go to the leeward when sea sickness strikes!
More at home in the mountains she tolerates the ocean but relishes wild and remote anchorages and the opportunity jump ship and explore the hilly bits on foot, bike, kayak or ski. In the day job she is a chartered account and and a former finance director of a major construction company. She was the Honorary Treasurer of the Ocean Cruising Club from 2011 - 2016.
Despite a susceptibility to sea sickness she has added a lot of miles to her sailing CV:
- 1996 Weymouth to Seil Island returning south to Pwllheli via the West Coast of Ireland
- 1997 Scotland to Alesund in Norway and back Wales via Shetland and Cape Wrath
- 1998 Menai Straits to St Kilda and back
- 1999 Caernarfon - Scilly Islands - Spain Portugal - Madeira - Gran Canaria - St Lucia
- 2000 Tobago Quays - Antigua
- 2001 Bare boat charter from Marmaris Turkey
- 2001 West Coast of Scotland to (Sutherland)2002 Azores
- 2006 Six weeks skippered charter on Pelagic with two crossings of Drake's Passage and a month in Antarctica. Launching Shimshal in May we sailed her from Orust (Sweden) - southern Norway - Fair Island - Cape Wrath - Holyhead (Wales)
- 2007 Holyhead - Cape Wrath - Orkney - Shetland - Lofoten Islands (northern Norway) - Norwegian Coast to Orust in Sweden
- 2008 Orust - Stockholm around the south coast of Sweden
- 2009 Oxelosund (Sweden) - Alund Islands - Gotland - Gdansk (Poland) - Denmark (Limfjord) - Inverness - Caledonian Canal - Craobh Haven
- 2010 Craobh Haven Mingalay - Barra - South Uist - Canna - Scavaig - Loch Sunart - Craobh Haven
- 2011 Craobh Haven - Knoydart - Skye - Torridon - Sutherland - Conwy (Wales)
- 2012 Conwy - Arduaine - South Uist- Shiant Islands - Ullapool - Arduaine - Belfast - Conwy(Wales)
- 2013 Conwy -Arduiane and 2 circumnavigations of Jura
- 2014 Ardfern to West Coast of Skye - Ardfern
- 2015 Ardfern - Lochinver - Faroe Islands - east, north & west coasts of Iceland - Reykjavik
- 2016 Spring, Reykjavik - Hornstrandir National Park - Isafjordur - Summer, Scoresby Sound -Milne Land and return to Reykjavik via the Forbidden Coast.
- 2017 April 2017 winner of the Vasey Vase awarded by the Ocean CruisingClub.
- 2017 May sailed from Reykjavik Isafjordur via the Hornstrandir National Park (north west Iceland). In late July we re-crossed the Denmark Strait making a landfall on Greenland's east coast where we awaited the opening of Prins Christian Sund. In August we transited Prins Christian Sund and sailed north to lay up for the winter in Aasiaat the capital of North Greenland at 68 42N
- 2018 rejoined Shimshal at Aasiaat, cruised Disko Bay before heading south down the west Greenland Coast to Nuuk from where we crossed to Labrador with a landfall at Makkovik. We then cruised south to Lewisporte in Newfoundland with stops in Black Tickle, Lady's Arm, Occasional Harbour, St Anthony, La Scie and Fortune Harbour.
- 2019 Launch Lewisporte, Newfoundland and sail via Exploits Island, Fogo, St John's, St Pierre, Bras d'Or Lakes. Later in the summer we returned in time to sit out Hurricane Dorian within the Washabuck River and then sail south to St Peter's, Jeddore Harbour, Halifax and Gold River in Mahone Bay Nova Scotia.
- 2021 After an enforced separation from Shimshal due to COVID we managed to fit in 6 weeks of Nova Scotia cruising during the autumn before a further winter haul out in Gold River Marina.
- 2022 We launched in Mahone bay on 5th May 2022 and had some early season (cold weather) south and west. We cruised to Cape Sable, Yarmouth and then crossed the Bay of Fundy to Grand Manan. We checked into the USA in Eastport, Maine and then cruised gently westwards through Maine to Portland. In mid June we left Portland for the Cape Cod Canal, Long Island Sound, New York, Cape May, the Delaware Bay, The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the Sassafras river and onto Annapolis where we hauled out on 1/7/2022.
We relaunched in Annapolis in October 2022 and cruised in the Chesapeake until the end of the hurricane season allowed us to venture south. Too deep and too tall for the Inter Coastal Waterway we stayed offshore most of the way but were able to visit Charleston, Moorhead City, St Augustine, Fernandina Beach, Cape Canaveral, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Marathon and Key West.
2023 In the New Year of 2023 we crossed to Cuba and cruised its north western and south western shores to Cayo Largo.
From Cuba we crossed to Cayman and from there to Providencia and onto Bocos del Toro, Panama.
We transited the Panama Canal in November 2023 and sailed from Panama to Galapagos in 2024.
2024 After 5 weeks in Galapagos we crossed to the Marquesas, Tuamotu and Society Islands where we cruised for 3 months before hauling out on Raiatea in July.
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Simon Currin |
In 2004 together with Sally they commissioned Shimshal II drawing on the many lessons they had learned and in 2006 she was launched in Henan on the Island of Orust in Sweden. Shimshal II was customised ready to take them around the world in comfort and safety.
- 1989-1995 Charters in New Zealand, Whitsunday Islands, Scotland including two Scottish Island Peaks Races
- 1996 Weymouth to Seil Island returning south to Pwllheli via the West Coast of Ireland
- 1997 Scotland to Alesund in Norway and back to Wales via Shetland and Cape Wrath
- 1998 Menai Straits - St Kilda - Menai Straits
- 1999 Scottish Island Peaks Race (all rounders division). Caernarfon - Scilly Islands - Spain Portugal - Madeira - Gran Canaria - St Lucia
- 2000 Windward and Leeward from Tobago Quays to Antigua
- 2001 September, Bare boat charter from Marmaris Turkey
- 2001 West Coast of Scotland
- 2002 Caernarfon - Scilly Islands Faial (Azores)
- 2003 Cruised the Azores to Ponta del Guarda setting off in the return leg of the AZAB but returning due to crew sickness
- 2006 Six weeks skippered charter on Pelagic with two crossings of Drake's Passage and a month in Antarctica. Launching Shimshal in May we sailed her from Orust (Sweden) - southern Norway - Fair Island - Cape Wrath - Holyhead (Wales)
- 2007 Holyhead - Cape Wrath - Orkney - Shetland - Lofoten Islands (northern Norway) - Norwegian Coast to Orust in Sweden
- 2008 Orust - Stockholm around the south coast of Sweden
- 2009 Oxelosund (Sweden) - Alund Islands - Gotland - Gdansk (Poland) - Denmark (Limfjord) - Inverness - Caledonian Canal - Craobh Haven
- 2010 Craobh Haven Mingalay - Barra - South Uist - Canna - Scavaig - Loch Sunart - Craobh Haven
- 2011 Craobh Haven - Knoydart - Skye - Torridon - Sutherland - Conwy (Wales)
- 2012 Conwy - Arduaine - South Uist- Shiant Islands - Ullapool - Arduaine - Belfast - Conwy(Wales)
- 2013 Conwy -Arduiane and circumnavigations of Jura -
- 2014 Ardfern to West Coast of Skye - Ardfern
- 2015 Ardfern - Lochinver - Faroe Islands - east, north & west coasts of Iceland - Reykjavik
- 2016 Spring, Reykjavik - Hornstrandir National Park - Isafjordur - Summer, Scoresby Sound -Milne Land andreturn to Reykjavik via the Forbidden Coast.
- 2017 April 2017 winner of the Vasey Vase awarded by the Ocean CruisingClub.
- 2017 May sailed from Reykjavik Isafjordur via the Hornstrandir National Park (north west Iceland). In late July we re-crossed the Denmark Strait making a landfall on Greenland's east coast where we awaited the opening of Prins Christian Sund. In August we transited Prins Christian Sund and sailed north to lay up for the winter in Aasiaat the capital of North Greenland at 68 42N
- 2018 rejoined Shimshal at Aasiaat, cruised Disko Bay before heading south down the west Greenland Coast to Nuuk from where we crossed to Labrador with a landfall at Makkovik. We then cruised south to Lewisporte in Newfoundland with stops in Black Tickle, Lady's Arm, Occasional Harbour, St Anthony, La Scie and Fortune Harbour.
- 2019 Launch Lewisporte, Newfoundland and sail via Exploits Island, Fogo, St John's, St Pierre, Bras d'Or Lakes. Later in the summer we returned in time to sit out Hurricane Dorian within the Washabuck River and then sail south to St Peter's, Jeddore Harbour, Halifax and Gold River in Mahone Bay Nova Scotia.
- 2021 After an enforced separation from Shimshal due to COVID we managed to fit in 6 weeks of Nova Scotia cruising during the autumn before a further winter haul out in Gold River Marina.
- 2022 We launched in Mahone bay on 5th May 2022 and had some early season (cold weather) south and west. We cruised to Cape Sable, Yarmouth and then crossed the Bay of Fundy to Grand Manan. We checked into the USA in Eastport, Maine and then cruised gently westwards through Maine to Portland. In mid June we left Portland for the Cape Cod Canal, Long Island Sound, New York, Cape May, the Delaware Bay, The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the Sassafras river and onto Annapolis where we hauled out on 1/7/2022.
2023 In the New Year of 2023 we crossed to Cuba and cruised its north western and south western shores to Cayo Largo.
From Cuba we crossed to Cayman and from there to Providencia and onto Bocos del Toro, Panama.
We transited the Panama Canal in November 2023 and sailed from Panama to Galapagos in 2024.
2024 After 5 weeks in Galapagos we crossed to the Marquesas, Tuamotu and Society Islands where we cruised for 3 months before hauling out on Raiatea in July.
Simon is a retired Rural General Practitioner having worked as a partner Montgomery, mid Wales, from 1996. He has been a mountaineer for most of his adult life and associated with mountain medicine for 25 years after organised and leading the successful British Mount Everest Medical Expedition 1994 and four subsequent Himalayan medical expeditions. He, along with Sally, founded Medex which supports mountain medicine research. He was the Commodore of the Ocean Cruising Club from 2019 until 2024.
Guests on board Shimshal II
- 2018 Joe Jollands joined Shimshal for the 2 month passage between Aasiaat (Greenland) and Lewisporte (Newfoundland) including a Disko Bay cruise. Michael Young joined Shimshal for the leg from Nuuk to Lewisporte having arrived in Greenland on board Kiwi Roa direct from Dingle, Ireland.
- 2017 Spring Heather Bone and Tim Farmery from Reykjavik to Isafjordur via Hornstrandir National Park (Iceland). Denmark Strait to east Greenland followed by a cruise north to Aasiaat at 68 42N.
- 2016 Summer Rod Kirkwood and Denzil Broadhurst. North Iceland to Scoresby Sound and back with a partial circumnavigation of Milne Land
- 2016 Spring Helen and David Holden Reykjavik to Isafjordur and the HornstrandirNational Park.
- 2015 Michael Schupp Kyle of Loch Alsh to Torshafn
- 2015 Ronnie Robb Torsahvn to Reykjavik via north coast of Iceland.
- 2014
- 2013 Geraldine Boocock, Denzil Broadhurst, Mark Howarth, Jill Sutcliffe, Tony Davies and Mary Morrell
- 2012 Chris and Lynne Comerie, Michael Schupp
- 2011 Chris and Lynne Comerie, Sandra Green, Haydn Meredith, Julie Weller, Richard Weller
- 2010 Michelle White
- 2009 Carol Darwin, Joe Currin, Chris Smith and Neil Onyon
- 2008 Michael Schupp
- 2007 Rick Atkinson, Tony Davies, James Anholm and Carol Darwin
- 2006 Carol Darwin, Sandra Green and Peter Suthers
Overview of cruises
