Shimshal had been blessed with some fine crew over the years that she has been nodding her way around the frigid waters of Iceland and Greenland. They have all come dressed for the part.
Ronnie came armed with his mountaineering fleeces but still froze on watch as that was the year the auto helm failed north of Iceland. In 2016 Rod and Denzil came brilliantly prepared for the high latitudes and sported the same dashing kit as the skipper and his mate. Four shapeless teletubby Weezle suits on deck all in Shimshal’s team colours (black) certainly frightened away the polar bears! None of us froze and the self steering behaved itself.
Things were different in 2017. Heather borrowed Denzil’s Weezle which he had borrowed in turn from Carol. So she was sporting a tried and tested bit of kit that had been to Antarctica, Arctic Norway and reached 71N in East Greenland. Tim, however, preferred Stoats to Weezles and he too defied the cold although, it has to be said, he seemed to prefer his off-white overalls for most boat jobs. Apart from the overalls all Arctic wear was in team colours (black) and even the overalls were heading that way by the end of the trip.
This year we once again have excellent crew. Resourceful, appreciative, eager and someone definitely not daunted by Shimshal’s complex, and sometimes quirky systems. What’s different about Joe is he has brought a dash of colour to Team Shimshal. It’s a Weezle but not as we have known it. Canary yellow with matching beanie he is completely prepared for the bone chilling cold. So much so that he never tires of visiting the foredeck to set up a time lapse photo shoot or record the myriads of icebergs that litter our route,
Thanks for joining us Joe, it’s great having you on board - particularly when the fresh aero press coffee and the Balerina Biscuits are about!