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CRUISING LIFE
More than just a chandler
PHOTO: BOB AYLOTT
Carol Pearce sings the praises
of Helen Haynes, her favourite
chandler, nonagenerian and
and stalwart sailing guru
W
alking into the cafe at
Neyland Yacht Haven in
Milford Haven I stopped, as
is my wont, to pass the time
of day with Mrs Helen
Haynes, who manages the adjacent Brunel
Chandlery. The talk turned inevitably to
my favourite subject, gossip, and Helen
told me a lovely recent tale.
A couple came into the chandlery and
started to browse. Asked if they needed any
help, they gave Helen the condescending
look that so many people bestow upon old
ladies: ‘No thanks, we’re just looking’. At
this point maybe I should mention that
Helen, though sprightly, erect and bright,
is rich in years, having had her 90th
birthday mentioned in this publication
quite a few years ago. No doubt her new
potential customers presumed that she was
an old dear minding the shop whilst the
owner took a break. Helen, having acute
hearing, gathered that they were new yacht
owners. The conversation went as follows:
‘What boat have you bought?’, Helen
asked in a friendly fashion.
‘A trimaran.’
‘Ah. Do you know who the
designer was?’
‘Oh, it’s American.’
‘Would it be one of Arthur
Piver’s?’ Asked Helen.
The couple looked
surprised. ‘Why, yes.’
‘And what length is she?’
‘Thirty foot.’
‘Oh, then in that case she
would be a Nimble.’
There was a double thud as
two jaws hit the chandlery
floor. Helen continued: ‘My husband and I
used to build them’.
She then sold the impressed couple quite
a quantity of chandlery.
Helen and her husband Roy used to
manage Cox Marine at Brightlingsea where
they specialised in the production of the
trimaran designs of Arthur Piver, described
as ‘the father of the modern multihull’.
The fortunate new Nimble owners had
met the font of all Piver knowledge, though
not in the form that they might have
anticipated. Cox Marine was so famed for
its expertise that Donald Crowhurst
approached them to build his Victress class
Teignmouth Electron for the 1969 Golden
Globe round the world race, though his
story is a tragic one of a boat, unfinished
Helen, whose 90th birthday disappeared astern some years ago, keeps active by running the shop
and ill prepared, whose owner spent too
much time on electronic advances at the
cost of sound ocean preparation. Helen
describes Crowhurst as a ‘challenging
customer who needed delicate handling’.
His attitude is epitomised by
his decision to leave much
needed spare plywood and
fastenings on the quay whilst
taking an adequate supply of
electronic components to
finish his ‘computer’.
Mrs Haynes has had a
fascinating life. Married to her
childhood sweetheart, she
started work for the Post
Office in London in 1936,
moving to the Admiralty in
Bath whilst Roy did his
National Service. At the end of
the war he learnt to sail in Hamburg at the
Schleswig-Holstein Yacht Club.
On his return in 1946 the couple ran a
builder’s merchant for twenty years. Helen
recalls a lady customer who asked for a new
toilet pan. ‘S-trap or P-trap?’ asked Helen.
The lady thought. ‘I’d really like it for both,’
came the enchanting reply.
The Haynes’ nautical career started at
Robertsons Boatyard in Woodbridge on the
River Deben in 1967, fitting out the Tyler
moulded Wing 25 yachts before seeing an
advert to manage Cox Marine, where they
stayed till 1970. They then moved to
Pembrokeshire where they ran the idyllic
Lawrenny Yacht Station for five years until
the business was sold.
Unfortunately, Roy fell ill and died in
‘If there was a
prize for the
most senior
chandler
in Britain,
Helen should
surely win it’
1979 while Helen both cared for him and
worked at the chandlery at Jenkins Boats.
From the shop at Burton, under the
Cleddau Bridge, she could look across at
HMS Warrior which was then used as a
fuel hulk, although Roy had also used her
decks as a fishing platform. She stayed for
11 years before that business closed.
However, as one door closes another opens,
and Westfield Marina (now Neyland Yacht
Haven) was conveniently completed in
1986. Helen has run the Westfield
Chandlery (now Brunel Chandlery) since its
establishment 27 years ago.
If there was a prize for the most senior
chandler in Britain, Helen should surely
win it. Whilst there are some who can
‘boast’ (though she would never do that) of
46 years in their trade, those who have
already completed 30 years in other careers
are rare indeed. Helen is a lesson
personified that we must never judge the
contents from the packaging.
I gladly take advice from her and delight
in such all-encompassing nautical
knowledge emanating from a lady who
looks as if she would be just as happy
knitting the great-grandchildren’s baby
clothes. However, whilst knitting is one of
her skills, she far prefers the active role of
running her shop, which keeps her brain
working and involves her with the sailors
whose company she has so long enjoyed.
Use it or lose it, and long may she continue
to be my favourite chandler! W
Does someone near you deserve recognition
for services to sailing? Let us know.
OCTOBER 2014 www.yachtingmonthly.com 71