By Brian Cunningham (Nephew and OCC Member)

Dr Joe Cunningham, a Founder Members of the Ocean Cruising Club, died on the 15^th November 2009 aged ninety-three at his home in Victoria, British Columbia.

The fifth of six children, Joe was born and brought up in Portrush, Northern Ireland. He read medicine at Queens University Belfast, obtaining his degree in 1938 at the age of twenty-one. When the Second World War broke out he joined the Royal Navy Reserve and saw extensive action as a doctor on destroyers in the North Atlantic, on the infamous North Russian Convoys and in the Mediterranean. A few days after the war ended and at great personal risk he went into an exploding ammunition dump at Flensburg in Northern Germany to save the lives of his former enemies. His heroism was rewarded with an MBE (Military) which he received from King George VI.

After the war Joe worked as a GP in the wilds of northern Manitoba, Hudson Bay, Resolute Island and Newfoundland eventually becoming a Canadian citizen. In Newfoundland many of the remote villages could only be visited by boat and it was here that he hatched the plan to buy a yacht, sail it across the Atlantic and return to Newfoundland where he could then use it to ‘do his rounds’.

Returning to Northern Ireland he commissioned Aero Marine to build Ice Bird, a Laurent Giles designed Vertue. Bearing in mind the stormy conditions he’d already experienced in Newfoundland Ice Bird had several critical modifications to the original Vertue design. Mindful of the knockdown damage sustained by Humphrey Barton in Vertue XXXV on his epic transatlantic voyage in 1950, Joe added an extra strake to Ice Bird’s topsides. He removed the vulnerable doghouse and extended the coachroof further aft. He also reduced the rig and converted it from a ‘slutter’ to a cutter. She had no engine or electrics of any description.

In 1952 he made his departure from Dunmore East in Ireland and sailed Ice Bird single-handed, without incident, to Barbados via the Madeira. These were the days before self-steering wind vanes had been invented and on one stretch in the trade winds he sailed under goose-winged jibs for seventeen days without having to touch the helm. Joe made his landfall at Barbados and then cruised through the West Indies to the British Virgin Islands where he served for a while as the local GP on Tortola. The islanders begged him to remain as their GP but Joe was bound for Newfoundland and couldn’t stay. He voyaged north via Bermuda, Newport and Halifax, eventually arriving in Newfoundland at Hermitage where he was welcomed back again as a GP for the remote communities in the fiords around the coast.

When the opportunity arose to work as a doctor on the DEW line (Distant Early Warning) Joe set off again in Ice Bird and sailed her up to the remote construction site in Labrador where he had her lifted out for the duration of his assignment. In 1957 he got itchy feet once again and after relaunching Ice Bird he sailed her down to Bermuda. Within a few miles of the island he was becalmed in thick fog for several days. Being unsure of his position and always in danger of running aground it was a harrowing experience. Unsurprisingly, when he eventually made port he decided to fit an inboard engine. Once this work was completed he set off on the return trip across the Atlantic, eventually returning to Portrush to a hero’s welcome via the Azores and Dunmore East. Within days of arriving he took up his post with the Canadian Embassy in Vienna where he met his future wife, Edith.

After spells with the Canadian Foreign Service in Helsinki, Holland and Glasgow, Joe was eventually assigned to Victoria BC. By this time he and Edith had their hands full with a family of four sons. While living in Helensburgh he had bought Swan of Moyle, a Bill O’Brien designed Oceanic 30 Catamaran, eventually shipping her out to Victoria where he used her to cruise the beautiful Inland Passage.

Joe Cunningham was a remarkable man and an inspiration to many. His passing brings to an end a wonderful chapter of sailing history.

FOOTNOTE

I was thirteen years old when my uncle sailed into Portrush harbour in Ice Bird back in 1957. I will never forget that day. Ten years later, inspired by his amazing voyages I sailed Ice Bird up to Iceland and back. This stormy passage gave me ample opportunity to put his incredible achievements into perspective.

Ice bird is currently undergoing a major rebuild by her new owner, Mark Zygadlo, a highly skilled cabinet maker who lives near Dumfries in Scotland.