Sailing to Iceland in a steel self build - Andy Baldwin - Scary Mary - remarkable

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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www.keepturningleft.co.uk
So there I was on the pontoon at Scarborough and I I saw this remarkable red painted steel yacht

half submarine - half folk boat

it was for sale for £2,000

the owner was a bloke called Andy Baldwin - he had just been to Iceland (the country) in it and was on his way home.

While in Iceland his plan was to fit wheels to the boat and drive around the coastal road before removing the wheels and sailing home.

he had no cooking stove

andrew_baldwin-578x384.jpg


120713_scary_mary-578x462.jpg


The man has a track record for doing remarkable things - he had also made a boat that walks

I did a little interview with him

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/scuttlebutt/so-there-i-was-on-the-pontoon/
 
Nothing wrong with sailing to Iceland, but, why, would you fit wheels to the boat? How was he going to propel it? I do believe they have cars etc in Iceland.
 
I really enjoyed that.

Here is another bloke just getting on with it (apologies as I have posted this before and it is not quite in boaty mode):


No fanfare, no bull.
 
prv said:
I assumed he was going to live in it, as a caravan. Hitch it up behind a Land Cruiser or whatever and away you go.

Pete
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3 tonnes is a lot to pull around

I think he waqs going to try to power it in some way....

as I said.... so many queastions

I did not know much of him until today when I started chasing him through the web

I would have asked different questions

D
 
dylanwinter said:
3 tonnes is a lot to pull around

I think he waqs going to try to power it in some way....
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I am quite sure that pulling three tons behind one of those big obnoxious builders' Nissans or similar would be much easier than trying to make those same three tons self-propelled!

(Of course, he's clearly a loony in the best possible tradition, so who knows what he was thinking of doing :) )

Pete
 
Some years ago the wife and I spent a lovely ten day holiday driving round Route One, Icelands coastal highway. Most of it is single track and it is compacted volcanic ash rather then Tarmac everywhere except the few major towns. We hired a 4x4 and it was an exciting drive in places. I really would not fancy towing a three ton load over the eastern fiords or the highlands. At times the snow was up to the wings of our car. I fell in love with studded tyres and traction control!
 
I keep on thinking about what he was saying

the fact that he decided that he did not have time to sort out a stove for hot food

Iceland with no hot food

and sleeping inside an uninsulated steel boat

a few years ago I did a long canal trip in April in a steel canal boat

it was bloomin cold

hard man

and he first took the helm of a wayfarer in 2012

apparently he started with cameras all over the boat - but there was no sign of them by the time I met him

I assume that the tv company had withdrawn their support

he must be one heck of a good welder though - to pull off the walking boat stunt was amazing - and his little yacht looked well put together

the self steering worked well too

drawings2.jpg
 
I was surprised that he seemed completely unaware of Roger Taylor. Probably a go-and-do-it type rather than a sit-and-look-it-up-on-the-internet type.

I son't think I could have done what he did without a source of hot cups of tea...

Even Frank Dye had cooking facilities.
 
PabloPicasso said:
Wow. That's the kind go British eccentric that put the word great into Great Britain. Awesome
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What an excellent post and excellent man. Thanks to Dylan for all the video links.

"Discovery is seeing what everyone sees and thinking what no one else has thought".

Andy is quite a man. Great sculptures too!
 
Certainly quite a character and when you consider what he has accomplished in such a short time after first learning to sail only a year or two ago, he deserves great credit for undertaking an adventure such as this.
His bright red 'Scary Mary' is now out of the water at Sandwich Marina in east Kent, almost next to my Sadler 26.
 
snaps

doverpilot said:
Certainly quite a character and when you consider what he has accomplished in such a short time after first learning to sail only a year or two ago, he deserves great credit for undertaking an adventure such as this.
His bright red 'Scary Mary' is now out of the water at Sandwich Marina in east Kent, almost next to my Sadler 26.
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I would love to see some snaps of the underwater profile and the trim tab

D
 
dylanwinter said:
I would love to see some snaps of the underwater profile and the trim tab

D
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Will get a couple for you Dylan - 'Scary Mary' very much reminds me of a Trinity House lightvessel (not just the colour) - but in also having the nicely rounded stern section. An interesting little yacht nonetheless.
 
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