MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falklands Voyagers Turn for home.
The Falklands couple and their young baby, on their voyage of a lifetime from the Falkland Islands to the far north, have turned for home after a fascinating tour of the Norwegian coast.
The two Stanley residents, Andrez Short and Alison Davies, and their baby, Tom, born early in their voyage in Trinidad, are all well, making new Norwegian friends and enjoying the hospitality and help they have spontaneously encountered. It is now more than two years and two months since they set off in their boat from the Falklands
In a progress report, datelined Henningsvaer, Lofoten, 68 degrees North, they say: "This is as high as we are going to get. We are now cruising the Islands before heading the 12,400 miles down hill and back home. It should be quicker downhill......
"We crossed the Arctic Circle on 6th July at 10 o'clock and we can be so precise because there was a signpost !!! The little island we passed also had a sculpture of the globe, so we stopped and took Tom's picture next to it." Baby Thomas is thriving and full of fun. He's been so long on the boat, his "sea legs" cause him to wobble when he goes ashore!
Exploring Norway's fords, they have enjoyed spectacular views of cliffs, mountains and glaciers, with twenty-four hours daylight each day. and mixed weather of sunshine and snow.
They made the fishing village of Henningsvaer their base for some weeks, enjoying a reunion with two Norwegian friends they had met earlier in Trinidad.
Their travels were curtailed to rid their computer of a virus with the help of a Norwegian expert. Their journey back home is taking them straight down the coast of Norway, outside the islands and inner passages, to save time andmiles, and take advantage of stronger winds.
Andrez Short, 44, who worked in Stanley Power Station, and school teacher Alison Davies, 38, who taught for several years in Stanley Junior School, departed from the Falklands in 1999 in their thirty-feet (10-metre) long boat Alpha Carina -- named after the brightly shining Southern hemisphere star.
They aim to arrive home in the Falklands on June 12, 2002, exactly three years to the day since they set off, in time for the 20th anniversary of Falklands Liberation Day, June 14th.
Harold Briley, London
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