The 50ft sea-going raft which arrived in Castletownbere, Co Cork, on Thursday after a 63-day crossing from Newfoundland may take to sea again within four days because of concerns about the three dogs on board.
The four-strong crew said they made the journey purely for the sense of adventure involved. The ramshackle craft prompted one American tourist in Castletownbere to say that if it was a tree house, she wouldn't let her children near it.
But the crew have every confidence in the raft and believe it is practically unsinkable because of the amount of polystyrene in the infrastructure. In fact, their main fear was that it might go up in smoke, so some days before arriving in the west Cork fishing port they decided to quit smoking on board.
The crew has been feted in Castletownbere since the amazing craft arrived under a Naval Service escort two days ago. The plan was to enjoy a fortnight's stopover before setting out for France and ultimately India. Now that has changed because of the dogs, Thor, Sigfried and Willie, two Rottweilers and a diminutive Mexican breed.
Their masters have been ashore, but the animals are being held in quarantine, secured below deck on the raft. After the lengthy voyage from Canada, they, too, are pining to get ashore. According to the skipper, Mr Edward Garry (37), from Ontario, the dogs can sniff the land and want to stretch their legs every bit as much as the humans. But they will not be allowed to do so by Irish officials, and so the crew has decided to move on to France where they expect quarantine arrangements to be more lax.
Mr Garry said yesterday that he and his three colleagues were astounded by the media reaction in Europe to the voyage. For the past three summers they had been testing the makeshift raft along the east coast of the US, and despite its rather unusual patch-work appearance, the American media had not shown much interest.
Like their plans, that has changed, too. Irish and European newspapers as well as the BBC jumped at the story in the middle of the "silly season", and now newspapers in the US are running the story.
Was it a reckless adventure? "Not at all," said the skipper. "We had our plans made and we took no chances. We had tested the seaworthiness of the raft and believed in it. Right now we feel a sense of achievement and euphoria."
Mr Garry's Irish acquaintances in Dublin, Cork, Sligo and Clare heard the news on radio and have been making their way to Castletownbere to welcome him. "It's been an overwhelming reaction," said the skipper whose father, Dr T.V. Garry, is now living in Ontario but originally came from Kildysart, Co Clare.
The raft, Son of Town Hall, has been attracting numerous visitors to Castletownbere, but because of the strict quarantine rules, access has not been allowed to the curious tourists.
"When we made port it was a good feeling. I think it was the best night's sleep I had for weeks," he said, adding that he would like to meet and chat with another renowned voyager, Tim Severin.
Planning the voyage had involved working out all the possible dangers and taking steps to ensure they were ready for what ever eventualities might occur.
Also on board are Mr David Pearlman (65) and his wife, Betsy Terrell (45), both from New York. They prefer to be known as Poppino and Aurelia Neutrino, reflecting the fact that their daughter, Ingrid, is lead singer with the Flying Neutrinos jazz band which played Dublin last year. The fourth member of the crew is Mr Rodger Doncaster (44), a Canadian citizen.
It may take some months for the 18-tonne raft to reach India. And when this odyssey is over, there are murmurings that they may come back to Ireland once more, this time by hot air balloon.