Raft ends voyage from US in Cork

Transatlantic travel will never be the same again after four adventurers made what must be one of the most bizarre crossings of the Atlantic - on a 50-ft houseboat made from recycled plywood, logs and foam. Looking like a treehouse but tapering to a point fore and aft, the Son of Town Hall sailed into Castletownbere Harbour in west Cork at 1.30 p.m. yesterday to more than a few odd glances and sceptical comments.

"I wouldn't chance going across to Bere Island on her, never mind trying the Atlantic," observed local boatman Neilius Duncan, as Naval Service personnel in inflatables from the LE Ciara directed the sail-driven boathouse to a mooring some 100 yards off the quays.

On board were four intrepid adventurers - jazz musicians David Pearlman (65) and his wife, Betsy Tyrell (46), also known as Poppi no and Aurelia Neutrino, from the US, and Canadians Roger Doncaster (44) and Edward Garry (37), who skippered the vessel on its near 2,000-mile voyage from Newfoundland.

Also on board were three dogs - Rottweilers, Thor and Siegfrid and a Mexican poodle, Willie. "He's a desert dog so he's still getting use to the idea of living on a houseboat," revealed navigator Roger Doncaster.

The inspiration behind the voyage was David/Poppino who, since he was bitten by a rabid dog in Mexico several years ago, decided there must be more to life than just sitting about. Roger, from Nova Scotia, admitted: "No, we've never tried crossing the Atlantic before," adding that the lifestyle they left behind was one based on freedom to travel.

The Son of Town Hall left Ver muse near St John's in Newfoundland on June 15th and soon after leaving port encountered heavy storms. "It was blowing force 9 and the waves were about 25 ft high," said Roger.

"That storm lasted two days and that was probably our scariest moment but we had to test the boat sometime so when it stood up to those waves, we reckoned it would stand up to anything." Skipper Edward Garry - who has Irish connections including an uncle in Dublin - said they were intent on seeing the world, " but we are poor artists and couldn't afford any other transport".

Roger said the dogs - who were remaining on the boat - had got plenty of exercise keeping their balance on board the vessel but he said they never had any doubts about its ability to stay afloat. "The boat is made from logs and foam so it's unsinkable; even if it was hit by something and broke up, the pieces would float. The only thing we had to watch out for was fire which would burn the foam so we gave up smoking after a couple of days."

The extraordinary-looking craft was first spotted two days ago off the south-west coast by the LE Emer which supplied them with food and advised them to head into Castletownbere as it was the nearest and most suitable port.

The four sailors plan to spend two weeks repairing the Son of Town Hall - "we had to do some repairs en route but we ran out of nails" - before heading off on the next leg of their adventure into the Mediterranean.