A meeting between Andrew Weatherall and a fisherman named Gerard Sheehy is the focus of a new short documentary, Sail We Must.
The 10-minute film explores how Sheehy unknowingly inspired Weatherall, who passed away on February 17, 2020. The two met in Cork, Ireland in 2008 when Sheehy, who appears in the film, drove Weatherall to the Cork X Southwest Music & Arts Festival. During a conversation about taking a trawler out to sea in difficult weather conditions, Sheehy had said the phrase "fail we may, sail we must," which went on to become Weatherall’s motto that he later had tattooed on himself.
The film, which you can watch above, also includes archival footage of Weatherall and anecdotes from friends and collaborators, such as his A Love From Outer Space DJ partner Sean Johnston. The project, which came about after broadcaster Cian Ó Cíobháin initiated a search last year to track down Sheehy, is the work of Dublin-based creative agency The Tenth Man, while GRIZZLY, AKA filmmakers Trev Whelan and Rua Meegan, took on the director role.
