Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Don't Hit Anything!


Just as "No Regrets" was leaving the town of Hamble in the south of England, Captain John Oldroyd yelled across the river: 



"Don't Hit Anything!"

What a send off message for my first solo as captain, and at the start of a 7 year voyage! 

Thanks John for all of your coaching, advice and support during the past 4 months, and for helping get me and my boat ready. And thanks for your dry British humor :))

My dad bought a 50' Q Class racing sloop when I was 18, and I jumped into sailing lessons and racing, and fell in love with Mother Ocean. Dave Croshere's parents had a boat nearby, and he was conscripted as part of the "Cotton Blossom II" crew, and we became lifelong mates. During one 3 year period, we raced our 20' Flying Dutchman 50 out of 52 weekends all across the country. We ultimately won the North American Championship in heavy air on San Francisco Bay, and placed in the Olympic Trials.

Dave was also with me to pick up my 41' trimaran sloop "Moon Shadow" in Morro Bay, which became my home while cruising in Mexico for 2 years at the age of 25. So when Dave offered to join this maiden voyage, I was thrilled. ""It'll be cold, and it will also be an adventure", he was promised. Equally exciting was that my lovely girl friend Nancy Schreiber and Dave's wife Anne also shared in the voyage.



Our Intrepid Crew

Portsmouth

3 hours away is the City of Portsmouth, harbor to the Royal Navy. This was our first stop and home to their Maritime Museum. What an inspiration it is to walk the decks of "Victory", Lord Nelson's flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar, Britain's most important navel victory! 

Built in 1765, she is the oldest commissioned navel vessel in the world, and weighs 3,500 tons. There is even a plaque on the deck where Nelson was shot and killed during the battle.



With 104 guns, she was a "1st Rater"



500 men ate, slept and fought on this deck. Headroom is only 5' 6"


The Solent, Cowes and Yarmouth

The Solent is the shallow body of water between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. This has to be the center of sailing and the Yachting Universe!

King Henry VIII kept his fleet at Portsmouth in the Solent, Queen Elizabeth I defeated the Spanish Armarda from the Solent, and much of the D-Day invasion fleet was assembled and sailed from the Solent across the English Channel to invade on the beaches of Normandy.

The Isle of Wight is slightly larger than Catalina Island, about 21 miles long by 12 miles wide, and is famous for the huge rock concerts held there. She was also the site of the 100 Guinea Cup Race back in 1851, when the schooner "America" won the around the Isle race, in what turned out to be the 1st America's Cup race. The sailing record for circumnavigating the Isle of Wight now stands at only 2 hours and 32 minutes!

Cowes is a small seaport town on the Isle of Wight, and holds the famous racing regatta, Cowes Week each year. It is also Home to the Royal Yacht Squadron, whose Commodore for several years was Michael Campbell, who was kind enough to sell me his flagship "Farragon". While the boat is 12 years old, she was lightly used (only 1,500 hours on the main engines and 500 on the generator). She had a full time captain, a no shoes please policy and is in Bristol Yacht condition. I call her a Show Pony! She has even entertained some Royals, including Prince Philip.



Cowes

We cruised up to Yarmouth, a charming little fishing village on the west end of Wight. Yarmouth is at the mouth of the Yar River (Funny how logical). This will make crossing the English Channel tomorrow the shortest distant across to Cherbourg, France at 74 miles. Since the ebb tide creates a 3 knot current going out past the Needles, a 5:30 am start is required and the sun doesn't come up until 8:00.

Or as Geoffrey Chaucer once wrote, "Time and tide wait for no man!"