Mark Shiner and Arctic Whaler
Mark Shiner of Orkney has written to tell me that his cruising dinghy Arctic Whaler is having a definite 15 minutes of fame.
It doesn’t happen like this to many small boats!
It all began when he took his poet, novelist and musician friend Andrew Greig sailing to the abandoned island of Cava in Scapa Flow a few summers ago. On his return, Andrew wrote a book length sequence of poems and this in turn has become a stage play in the the hands of the Traverse Theatre Company, which opened at the Edinburgh Festival and is now touring in Scotland together with an art exhibition by Michael McDonnell from Shetland.
Mark says the book tells of how two ordinary guys, one approaching, one leaving middle-age, set out on a slightly mythologised micro-odyssey. It’s also got some good saily bits, he says. There are reviews here and here.
Photos from the play and (if you scroll down) a bit of video of Arctic Whaler sailing can be found here.
Btw… Mark’s beloved Arctic Whaler ’the ultimate pre-RCD cruising dinghy’ will be up for sale in the coming winter, as Mark has decided to go up a boat size so that he can undertake some bigger adventures. If you’re interested, contact me at gmatkin@gmail.com and I’ll pass your message along to Mark.
