--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "PaliGap" <compost1uk@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" > <authfriend@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "PaliGap" > <compost1uk@> wrote: (snip) > >> A decade or so ago a friend of my Mum's went on such a trip > >> and had a fabulous time. She is the town's ex-vicar's ex- > >> wife. Following her divorce she discovered a love for the > >> sea and for many years sailed a 26' yacht around the > >> English South West coast (where the Spanish Armada began to > >> get unstuck) and around the Med. > > > Now, that's what I'd *really* like to do. Sadly, a 26-foot > > yacht ain't in the budget. Motor or sail? > > Sail. Her boat "Kate" was I think a Westerly Centaur 26. Such > as this: > http://goo.gl/F4BJJ
*sigh* I've never been on a sailboat, except a Sailfish on a lake once many, many years ago. > They were sturdy boats built in the seventies. Many are still > seeing action and trading hands for not such big bucks. > > For an inanimate object, Joan had a pretty profound > relationship with Kate. I believe failing health finally > forced her to sell up in the end; but that was just a few > years ago in her eighties. I'm sure she was gutted. > > Memories of Kate... > > On one occasion Joan took Kate out for a day trip from her > home port of Salcombe with a few friends (including my mother). > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salcombe. Unfortunately a thick > sea fog descended just as they were heading back. In those > days no one had GPS - you had to plot your course on a chart > and use "dead reckoning". Everyone had the utmost confidence > in Joan, who was both highly experienced and proficient in > navigation. But even so they all got a bit of shock when the > fog lifted slightly and revealed that they had just inched > through an extremely narrow gap between a large rock and the > headland. You can just make it out here: > http://goo.gl/tXU4q Aieeee! Did she do that deliberately, or by very lucky accident? If deliberately, why?? And this is just a fabulous story, PaliGap; I enjoyed it immensely: > In my student days I would return to Salcombe to work in the > local hotels and sail (dinghies). One day the call came from > Joan - would I like to join her for a three day trip around > the coast to Teignmouth? As per usual she had a couple of > English language students staying for the summer. One was a > Dutch guy, whose name escapes me. The other was a French girl, > Sylvie, whom I remember somewhat better (funny that). Both > would be on the voyage, but neither had had any sailing > experience. How flattering to think I may have been called up > for my expertise! So I accepted without a seond thought. > > We set off in the evening to 'catch the tide'. And as I recall > it was a beautiful, calm night with a full moon as we crossed > the Salcombe bar and headed out to sea. The bar here is not > the kind that Sinatra sang about in "One For My Baby"; it's a > sand spit lurking close to the surface at the harbour entrance > where waves can break at low tide (and turn very ugly in a > strong southerly). > > If my mind had been on higher things, instead of trying to > impress Sylvie, some words of Tennyson might have come to > mind - a poem inspired by the Salcombe bar, at least if we are > to believe the local tourist office: > > Sunset and evening star, > And one clear call for me! > And may there be no moaning of the bar, > When I put out to sea, > > But such a tide as moving seems asleep, > Too full for sound and foam, > When that which drew from out the boundless deep > Turns again home. > > Twilight and evening bell, > And after that the dark! > And may there be no sadness or farewell, > When I embark; > > For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place > The flood may bear me far, > I hope to see my Pilot face to face > When I have crost the bar. > > Maybe the climax of our little voyage was less sublime, but > our spirits were restored just the same by some fish and chips > and an overnight stop in Teignmouth. > > Coming back the weather turned against us. It was chilly and > grey with a bit of rain. The wind had freshened a bit, and was > now against us, meaning that we had to tack back (perform a > series of zig-zags) with the sails sheeted in as hard as > possible to get Kate to sail as close to the wind as she could. > > All went well until it came to getting around the final > headland - Start Point: > http://goo.gl/VJMbh > > Of those on board, only Joan knew that it was going to get a > bit fearsome as we stood out to sea the necessary few miles in > order to make our final turn for home. This is because with > the outgoing tide, all the water in The English Channel piles > up at Start Point in order to escape to the Atlantic creating > a tidal "race". With wind against tide you can get a sea > forming that's out of all proportion to the weather > conditions. And that's how it turned out to be, as plucky Kate > with Joan at the helm tossed and pranced out towards the > horizon like one of Ann's stallions with a thistle up its > derriere. > > When she judged that we'd finally got ourselves into position > to make our turn, Joan called out the time-honoured command > "Ready about, lee-ho" and put the tiller hard over. That was > my cue to release the forward sail (jib) and then haul in on > the other side, all the while attempting to look as cool as a > cucumber under the watchful eye of my comely French shipmate. > But as sod's law would have it a most improbable thing went > wrong; as the jib blew across, a shackle managed to hit and > snap itself around a shroud. A freakish event, but one which > made our boat temporarily unsailable. > > "Richard", for it is I, "Would you mind just popping forward > and freeing the sheet?" said Joan calmly, but in the > authoritative manner of the officer class that had sent men > 'over the top' in the trenches. > > What was that look in Sylvie's eye? Was it that of a damsel in > distress whose grattitude could only be imagined? Or perhaps > "get on with it English boy. If my 6'6" French boyfriend were > here Joan would not even have had to ask". > > Be that as it may, I struggled forward and did the deed: > http://youtu.be/TIzEebWdrB0. Surprised myself really. But when > I think back it was a little reckless. I know for a fact that > I was not wearing a harness. And I'm pretty sure none of us > were wearing lifejackets. Quite unthinkable in this day and > age. > > Nowadays I sail a boat not unlike Kate: > http://goo.gl/wXSsi - just many, many notches down on the > derring-do scale. A few hours sailing around the bay or nosing > around the creeks, find a nice spot to anchor and watch the > sun set with a G&T. Bliss. > > La Mer: http://youtu.be/fd_nopTFuZA >
