An Irishwoman's Diary

So why do it ? "Well, nobody else will !"

Bern Cuthbertson has not been certified. He is not a rash or foolish man. Yet, almost 10 years after he was told by doctors to slow down and chew the fat, he is planning an extraordinary maritime adventure.

Why, fat-chewing is for grumblers - though the nautical term is now more often applied to any sort of chat. Bern, who was in Ireland recently, hardly talks, let alone moans. Next year, the seventy-something sailor with a stainless steel knee and six decades of sea time behind him intends to recreate the original voyage of discovery around Van Diemen's Land.

His adventure is called the Norfolk Project, and the craft in question is a 35-foot wooden sloop. The Norfolk was the original boat used by a British naval surgeon, George Bass, and his friend, Matthew Flinders, in 1798 when they sailed from Sydney to Sydney around the foot of Tasmania. The voyage confirmed that Tasmania was an island, and not an extension of the Australian mainland - and meant that ships en route between England and Sydney could take a shortcut and slash weeks off the trip.

It is not the first such venture for Cuthbertson, who went to sea at the tender age of 13 and became a professional fisherman. Now living in Hobart, Tasmania, he became a bit of a "yottie" - unusual for a fishing skipper. He earned distinction in the 1974 Sydney to Hobart yacht race, and in 1986 he and several friends rowed a replica whaleboat named Elizabeth around Tasmania, to mark the first circumnavigation in 181516 by a Captain James Kelly.

Now, amid "lots of banging and sawing and a fair bit of cussin' ", another replica is being constructed on a Tasmanian sheep farm in Ellendale. The design, based to plans provided by London's National Maritime Museum, the design is as true to the original as it can be. There are no metal fastenings, for instance; the bow is held together with dowel and glue. The use of tree nails, known as trunnels, instead of modern nails and screws is as much a part of the challenge as the sea trip itself.

However, for safety reasons the craft has to be more seaworthy than the original, Cuthbertson explained recently in Dublin. The sloop has been completely planked and splined, or reinforced with slats. The aim is to have it on the water by the end of next February, and the crew of 10, all dressed in costume, will weigh anchor and leave Sydney in October 1988. The purist approach extends to navigation - not by satellite, but by the regular stars. The skipper is taking quadrant and sextant and copies of the original charts; but he does not intend to check his longitude until he has reached the Bass Strait. The only modern aids allowed for are a radio and a stainless steel water tank, because wooden barrels are just too dear.

Emigrant trail

It was no wonder that Cuthbertson took a trip down to New Ross, Co Wexford, during his time in Ireland. There, in the Ross company dry-dock, the former Irish Times journalist Bill Crampton is among an international team of shipwrights involved in the construction of this island's largest tall ship, the Dunbrody. Modelled on a 19thcentury vessel, it is being built for an Atlantic crossing, to pay tribute to those forced onto the long and arduous emigrant trail.

As my colleague Dick Grogan recorded recently in his column, the £2.6 million project was initiated by the John F. Kennedy Trust, and aims to foster links between Wexford and North America. But don't be too fooled by the Kennedy connection; it does not mean that there is money for everything. The project has a shopping list of items for some friendly sponsor. That "wanted" list includes a mighty anchor of at least a quarter tonne in weight. And miles of mighty chain to boot. The ship also needs a 20-kilo generator; electronics; and yards of paint. Why, room might even be found on the 10,000 square feet of sail for a company logo. Those Aer Lingus wings, perhaps, Crampton suggests tentatively? The project director, Sean Reidy, at (051) 425329, he will be glad to hear of any offers of support.

Galway hookers

Shipwright Crampton already has an international reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. In these waters, he is best known for his masterly construction of Galway hookers which contributed so much to the traditional boat revival. These evocative craft will bee seen next weekend on the Liffey at the Poolbeg Galway Hooker and Traditional Boats Regatta.

Planned by Cian and Bairbre de Buitlear, who took their own leath-bhad, the Star of the West, to the Scottish island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides earlier this summer, the regatta incorporates a parade of sail by some 10 hookers at 12.30 next Saturday afternoon from Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club to Matt Talbot Bridge. This will be followed by a currach and skiff programme with a difference. Two currach teams from Connemara have challenged two Dublin skiff crews. Each will have to swap craft, and the winners will be decided on the fastest average time. That night, there will be a barbeque and a traditional music session. At midday on Sunday, September 14th, there will be three classes of hooker racing. This will be followed at 4 p.m. by the currach and skiff championship final between the capital and Galway. Pride and reputation are at stake here. Skin, hair, oars, knees and elbows are expected to fly. . .