volunteer - RNVR Yacht Club

VOLUNTEER
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE RNVR YACHT
CLUB
www. rnvryc.org.uk
Autumn 2010
By the Commodore
I have just returned from a vacation in
Canada and was privileged to visit two of
the countries leading yacht clubs including the prestigious Royal Canadian Yacht
Club in a beautiful setting on an island in
Lake Ontario looking over the magnificent Toronto waterfront. I was also able
to crew for a lifelong friend who races a
J105 on the lake in the last race of the
season. I was struck how well a well
worked up crew ( I was merely rail ballast!) was able to squeeze every ounce of
energy out of the wind. We crossed the
start line in the windward slot only 1 metre from the committee boat dead on the
start gun with the boat already at full chat
and were never headed thereafter.
What these clubs have in common with
the RNVRYC, is they are run largely by
volunteers without which they would
cease to function. I have been lucky in
my term as your Commodore in having
around me a strong bunch of volunteers
many of whom serve on the Committee. I
would like to take this opportunity to pay
tribute to this band and to thank them for
their unfailing support. One of the most
important roles of the Committee is to
represent the views of the membership
and to tailor the events and programme
accordingly. To this end, we have been
consulting many of our members who we
have not seen at club gatherings in recent
years to solicit their views. The results
were not too surprising with the most
common reasons for not participating
being advancing years, competing pressures of family and careers and geography. By and large we appear to be striking the right balance but do let the Committee know if the club is not meeting
your aspirations. Remember too that we
are a Club, and not an Association, which
also throws a responsibility onto the
membership.
After waxing lyrical in the last Volunteer
about the fine weather start to the season,
I very much regret having to call off the
Channel Dash to Cherbourg at the last
minute. The following week was beautiful and only Alana 3 was in a position to
make the most of it in Deauville. The
Chichester Rally too had its moments and
after a most enjoyable dinner at the
Susan Ayu (Peter Costalas) racing during Antigua Week
Chichester Yacht Club. On Sunday morning two of our yachts decided to ignore
the warnings in Macmillan‟s and chanced
their arm crossing Chichester Bar in a
SSE F7/8. More salty stories in prospect!
As winter approaches spare a thought for
the boat-owning members of the Canadian Clubs I recently visited, where not
only do all boats have to be hauled out
and winterised (shrink-wrapped is the
norm) but so too do all the floating docks
and pontoons if they are to survive the
harsh winters. The first snows usually
come around Canadian Thanksgiving
16/17th October and the lakes freeze over
December through to April. Brrr!
By now you should have had details of
our Annual Dinner on Friday 19th November at the Royal Thames Yacht Club.
I do hope as many of you as possible will
turn out to welcome our Admiral, Prince
Michael of Kent and our Guest of Honour, Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery,
the new Second Sea Lord.
I would be surprised if in
his speech, he does not
give the Admiralty
Board‟s reaction to the
impending Defence Review. The Christmas Party
on Monday 13th December
at the Naval Club rounds
off our year with a flourish
so put it in your diary and I
will see you there.
By the Editor
Following my impassioned plea for material to publish I am delighted to say that
for this issue I have an embarrassment of
riches to such a degree that I have added
a “Cruising Supplement” Some articles
have had to be abridged and I would particularly urge you to read on the web
Mike Price‟s account of being blown inside out in the Channel and Chris Fleming‟s full account of his Scottish trip.
Thank you to all who sent in contributions, especially those who have recounted their sailing stories. My “articles
to be published store” is now empty and
the next Newsletter will be pretty thin
unless some more of you put pen to paper
or fingers to keyboard!
I have not mentioned the other splendid
first this season, namely the picnic trip to
Osborne House. Picture postcards can be
bought of the House so by way of a
change I have included a photo of the
magnificent firework display, which was
remarkably tricky to photograph. Hope it
works when it is published!
Tom Cunningham Editor
Antigua Week 22nd – 29th
April 2010
Antigua Week is considered to be one of
the sailing worlds great regattas, as much
to do with the quality of the parties as the
sailing. So as part of the “Caribbean Adventure” Susan Ayu was entered into Antigua Week.
So on completion of the RNVRYC cruise
we returned to Antigua at the beginning
of March. Before flying back to the UK
for Easter we completed the measurement
process for a CSA (Caribbean Sailing
Association) rating. This included a check
on the waterline length, freeboard, engine
position and physical measurement of
spinnakers. This rating system is used
throughout the Caribbean and was much
more thorough than I expected, taking
nearly 3 hours to complete. With rating
completed we left the boat in Baileys Cat
Marina in Falmouth harbour, looked after
incidentally by Mike Rose President of
the Royal Navy Tot Club of Antigua &
Barbuda of which and after diligently
completing the membership qualifying
tests Bernie Steed is now a full member.
It was not an RYA approved course (and
thus did not attract a Club subsidy Ed!)
but typical of the dedication of Susan
Ayu’s crew in improving their nautical
training and all round capability.
The intention was to return to Antigua on
the Tuesday before the regatta and get the
boat into race mode. Of course as it will
be recalled a certain Icelandic volcano
decided to reschedule air travel in the
second half of April. Suffice to say with
crew coming from Norway, Singapore as
well as the UK it was touch and go to the
last. Sue and I managed to get flights via
Barbados on the Thursday so what should
have been a 4 day prep period was now
compressed to 2 days. Although originally scheduled to start on Saturday, recognising the problems that were affecting
many crews the race committee decided
to cancel the first days race and commence the racing on the Sunday.
Friday morning saw us moving from the
marina to a mooring buoy in Falmouth
Harbour. This had been reserved for the
week to ensure we had somewhere to
berth and would be slightly cooler than
alongside. Once on the buoy we received
our first shock. Susan Ayu had been taken
out of the water in February due to a
failed transducer so we were expecting
some growth along the water line. The
amount of growth we actually found after
an underwater inspection, was considerable, the growth consisting of weed and
small barnacles right down to the keel. It
was obvious by then that the Saturday
schedule was now going to have to include a lot of hull cleaning.
However Friday evening was looming
and although we had a lot of work still to
do. The other, and arguably just as important part of Regatta week are the parties
and the Mount Gay Rum party beckoned.
Mount Gay don‟t mess about, with full on
music and generous amounts of free rum,
a great start to the weeks festivities.
Saturday morning came and brought us
down to earth with a recap of the outstanding work list. Fortunately Susan
Ayu carries dive gear. So two air bottles
later we managed to get the hull free of
our unwanted passengers. Because the
dive gear is specifically for clearance
work on the boat we carry 20 metres of
air hose. This means we can leave the
bottles on deck and allows the diver more
manoeuvrability under the hull. Preparation then continued with the removal of
all extraneous equipment including sail
covers and Bimini thus essentially converting the boat from an Atlantic cruiser
to round the cans racer as far as practical.
The rating rules require you to race “as
measured” so you cannot strip the boat
out. However, logical reconfiguration is
not going to get you disqualified and certainly serious racing with the Bimini
struts in place is not advisable. Although
we completed the transformation the intended sail training was going to have to
wait.
Saturday evening saw us tired, not a mile
sailed but ready for the reviving properties of the Nelson‟s Dockyard Galleon
Bar rum cocktails. Suitably revived we
checked to see what final amendments to
the sailing rules had been posted and
soaked up some more Caribbean culture.
Day one of the regatta was now the
Round The Island race. This is actually
round the island for the racing divisions
but the cruising divisions go about three
quarters round with the finish in Dickenson Bay. This gives a course of some 35
miles (compared to between 15-20 miles
for the other days). It is the only day
when both racing and cruising divisions
go from the same start line and share the
same starting sequence commencing at
0900. We slipped our buoy shortly after
0700 and left for the start area between
Falmouth and English Harbour and a
shortened programme of shakedown manoeuvres. The main evolution was a trial
spinnaker hoist and gybe (we carry both
Symmetric and Asymetric spinnakers).
With a crew of 5 all reasonably experienced sailors (one was in fact an ex member of the Kvaerner sailing team and our
“Gunnery Chief” for matters sailing)
which meant that we were all going to be
sailing flat out. So it proved. The winds
for this day were typical trade winds 1520 knots with fortunately a smallish swell
running at about 1 metre. As our start
time approached (0925) and although I
had promised myself (and Sue) I would
not mix it for the favoured position on the
line, that‟s exactly what we did. Fortunately we ended up in clear air and about
3 seconds behind the gun. The first part
of the course was a beat to the east. As
the classes start in reverse order (slowest
first) after about 45 mins you have maximum compression. It was really exhilarating, a bit like the Hurst Narrows on a
Round The Island Race but warmer.
Susan Ayu carries a big overlapping
genoa and disaster struck about 45 mins
in, when during one tack the sail ripped
on the leeward spreader after the leeward
sheet failed to fly. (This loss of concentration had nothing to do with the fact we
were close approaching the “Girls for
Sail” boat). The sails are Ullman Fibre
Path and as there are no seams in the
main body of the sail the damage was
considerable and not repairable onboard.
Nevertheless we got the sail down
quickly and initially hoisted the small
inner forestay jib whilst we got the old
genoa (which had been carried for the
transatlantic trip) out of deep stowage and
prepared. By the time we got going again
at full speed we were definitely last overall with an estimated loss of nearly 30
mins. However by about 1130 we were
round the most easterly mark of the
course and flying firstly our asymmetric
then the symmetric spinnaker. We then
started to reel in other boats. The course
was slightly shortened and we passed the
finish boat shortly after 1430. We assumed we were last in class but were very
surprised when we found ourselves
placed 4th on adjusted time. Which beggared the thought of what might have
been! However this and any other intellectual thinking was quickly dispersed
when we anchored off Dickenson beach
and (obligatory rum punches in hand),
joined in with what is reckoned to be the
biggest beach party in the Caribbean. (see
left)
Day two found us suffering from a lack of
sleep having been anchored a few metres
from said party! The race that day was a
course starting off Dickenson Bay and
ending off Jolly Harbour. After a really
good start including an adrenalin pumping 360 on the line about one minute before the start gun we had a disappointing
race due to gear failure on the second leg
(out haul block sheared at the mast) and
then getting stuck in the wind shadow off
St Johns. However another good evening
in Jolly Harbour meant we started day
three confident of better things.
Day three was a coastal race from Jolly
Harbour to Falmouth harbour. We were
doing very well after another good start
until sail failure struck again and the head
of the old genoa disintegrated. We were
left then with only our inner jib to complete most of the course. This sail is basically a small No 3 Solent which runs on a
self tacker. Great short handed in 30 knot
winds but not what you need in a regatta
with the wind dropping. We came in very
dejected, nearly the last boat to cross the
line and me realising that I was going to
need to talk very politely to the sail repairer! We were looking forward to the
Wednesday rest day but the remainder of
the afternoon was mainly spent getting
damaged sails bagged and ashore. Of
course, part of the skippers responsibility
is crew welfare so I also had to organise a
morale boosting cocktails and dinner that
evening. Obviously I did too well as some
my loyal crew eventually made it back at
about midday the next day.
Day four was a rest day most of which
(for those that returned the previous eve-
ning), was spent on tidying up. Overnight
the sail repairer had got the repairs well in
hand as well as an estimate of the likely
bill. I was then left wondering how I was
going to tell Sue her clothes budget was
now in negative equity. By rum punch
time the sails were back on board, other
minor repairs completed, and we were
ready to go again. My suggestion that we
eased off on the cocktails that evening
was vaguely listened to and fortunately
we did not meet the lovely “Caribe Girls”
again, (aka beer Incentivisation Officers
pictured here in Jolly Harbour) which
lessened the intake of other beverages.
Day five was a triangular course from
Falmouth Harbour out to the east and
back. The main problem that day was that
the wind died to nearly a force 2 at a
point when we were about 3 miles from
the last windward mark but with force 4
swells. So the race ended up being longer
than anticipated. However the wind did
rebuild and we scored another 4th place
after a great downwind sail to finish. Notably we had our first day with no breakages. That evening we hit the Shirley
Heights Reggae party and yes more rum
punches. Unfortunately that‟s where most
of the other teams ended up plus half the
island‟s population and so we baled out
early for a more relaxing dinner alongside
the water in English Harbour where we
could listen to the music from Shirley
Heights gently wafting down the harbour.
Day six, our last day was a windward/leeward course off Falmouth Harbour to the west. However it was going to
be slightly more taxing as by then we
were down to 4, as one crew member had
to leave due to business commitments.
All went well until we had a fouled spinnaker hoist on the last leeward leg and
due to lack of muscle power it took time
to clear it. One thing had became obvious
was that as time went on, not only were
we improving but so were the other
crews. This meant that mistakes were
punished much more than at the beginning of the week. Notwithstanding that
we still came 6th.
So the end of the
week‟s regatta came
and a feeling that it
was well worth doing but extremely
tough on both boat
and crew (most days
we were out for at
least 6 hours, racing
in temperatures well
into the thirties).
Out of our starting
group of 10 we
came 6th and 11th
out of 19 overall in
the cruising class,
not a very good result in pure racing
terms.
However given that we regularly beating
bigger boats on both elapsed time and
handicap (including two fifty foot plus
Oysters), satisfying nevertheless. The fact
as well that in this regatta the evenings
are spent partying under warm tropical
skies instead of a wet beer tent, sheltering
from horizontal rain is reward in itself. As
ever the most important thing was that we
started the week with fifty fingers between us and finished with the same number. By the Friday evening we were all
mentally and physically shattered so we
decided to give the prize giving dinner a
miss and eat at the restaurant in the Admirals Inn, no prizes for guessing what
the main pre dinner drinks were.
Would I do it again? Yes if the schedule
allowed but I would want to ensure more
preparation time. The downside of the
Antigua Regatta is the cost, getting crew
out there, preparation, restaurant bills, sail
repairs etc, not to mention the physical
cost in muscle strain, minor bumps and
scraps that we suffered. The upside is a
wonderful week of competitive sailing in
magical conditions, great shore parties
and a feeling of getting one of life‟s ticks
in the box. My thanks to my regatta crew
of Roger Van Baal, Peter Brandt and
Nick Josephy and of course to Sue
(above) who not only kept us fed and
watered but sailed the whole week as our
happy main sheet and pole trimmer!
Peter Costalas
The Club Summer cruise to the Heritage Coast 12 –20 August
2010 was the 75th anniversary year
of the Royal Naval Sailing Association and it was appropriate for the
RNVRYC, many of whose members
are “double hatted” to combine
parts of our cruise with some of
the RNSA celebrations.
Our week really started with the
Hog Roast supper at Hornet on the
Saturday. It was splendid to see
Hornet “en fête” and full to the
brim with members and guests, a
bit like a practical of “Friends Re-
Sunset. Yarmouth Pier from the Royal Solent Yacht Club
united” The hog is shown above immediately prior to carving. There
was plenty
for all with
seconds for
some. The
wine flowed
freely, particularly
for
dinner was held at one of our favourite venues, the Royal Solent YC
where we were well fed with a delightful fish dinner beautifully
served. James Hanratty, not trusting the staff, elected to serve the
Commodore’s wife personally.
Sylphe’s
crew, left)
as may well have been anticipated
considering the hugely attractive
prices that Hornet offer!
It was planned to be a gentle rally
and our first stop was Yarmouth
which is where we were joined by
several other of our members in
their boats. Yarmouth is always
pleasantly busy and this time was no
exception. During our free day
many Members, rather unusually,
ventured further afield than the
bar of the Royal Solent YC, the
King’s Head and the George and the
Bugle. Some on health kick even
went for a walk!
Our welcome
The weather Gods were planning not
to smile on us the next day for our
trip to Poole. However, they
changed their mind and given an
0630 ish start all duly arrived at
Poole Haven. Expensive it is, but it
must be said it is a hugely convenient berth with good facilities and a
Tesco Express adjacent. Poole has
smartened itself up considerably in
recent years and the Old Town is
now well restored and very pretty.
The walking route is marked by
brass cockle shell shapes let into
the pavement.
The highlight of our visit to Poole
was for some, a trip round the facilities of the Lifeboat College and
for all of us Dinner in the marvellous private restaurant which looks
out over the upper reaches of Poole
Harbour.
For those who have not yet visited
the College it is suggested that you
mark it down as one those things to
do before you die! The training facilities for the Lifeboat crews are
quite simply exceptional. Particular
mention must be made of the pool
into which trainee crew are tipped
in a variety of unceremonious ways
and invited to right and get running
their RIB lifeboat. The pool can be
darkened, lit only by laser simulated
lightning flashes, waves equivalent
to a Force 4 are available, which
together with sound effects make a
very realistic training environment.
The engine training room is particularly well set up with the inboard
and outboard engines used by the
RNLI rigged and ready to run. In
College accommodation is provided
for the crews to good commercial
standards equivalent to a Premier
Travel Inn. Dining is very reasonable and the whole of the Hotel
side is virtually open to all, certainly to RNLI members. Place setting cards are novel-see page 1.
Chesil Beach, Weymouth Bay, Portland Harbour, Portland Marina and
the National Sailing Centre viewed from the Bill
Above is shown the view from the
private dining room balcony on the
3rd floor.
May we take this opportunity to
wish our member Paul Boissier the
CEO of the RNLI every success in
his huge task.
In the morning it was time to transit via Anvil Point to Portland. A
morning departure with a good sailing breeze saw us on our way. Going
down the buoyed channel we were
at one time thinking of putting in a
reef when all of a sudden the wind
died away and all motor sailed to
Portland-some via the ranges from
which they were promptly told to
depart by the range safety boat.
The Marina at Portland is large and
well set up with generously sized
pontoons and fingers. There was
also one incredibly smelly trawler
from which Alouette was just down
wind!
Portland brought back memories
for some. Ed Horne remembered
his old office which was still there
in the now boarded up control
tower, others have fond or less
than fond memories of the home of
Flag Officer Sea Training, the
Thursday War, endless inspections,
sea riding staff and being generally
chased around. Now it is very much
given to the National Sailing Centre
and the provision of accommodation for the 2012 Olympics for
which very many budget houses are
being built.
Marina Facilities are somewhat limited in that although the ablutions
etc are very good and there is bar
and restaurant, there is no victualling of any meaningful sort which is
The Commodore and Sue Costalas
pain as there is only a small CoOperative in Fountains Well which
means a hike to Weymouth to shop.
We dined on our first night in the
Marina restaurant, the “Boat that
Rocks”-shades of Radio Caroline of
the 1950/1960s era. Pictures of
her adorn the building.
We enjoyed a good evening with
lovely views across Weymouth Bay
which included the sight of two
spare Mulberry harbour sections! In
these days of financial stringency
perhaps MoD could sell them on e –
Bay!
The RNSA were using Portland as
the end point for some of their
75th anniversary sailing celebrations and had organised a Buffet
Dinner on our second night there.
It was most pleasant event ,if
something of a crush. The food and
ambience was good, trophies were
distributed including the RNSA
Bruce trophy to our double hatted
member Peter Stonestreet. The
weather that evening turned decidedly cold and those who had started
out sitting on the balcony in shirt
sleeve order were forced back into
the bar area and found seats where
they could.
And so our Rally ended. Boats that
had taken part in whole or part
were:
Skua,Alouette,More Madjik, Alana
3,Enigma,Woodlark,Matawa,Lioness
Blue Rider,Kiwi Venturer,Sylphe.
The following morning our boats
returned home, or in the case of
Alouette across the Channel to
Alderney and the Brittany Coast.
A Club First, a visit to Littlehampton
nations to the local taverns, those of a
cultural disposition toured the impressive
and picturesque castle ancestral home of
the Dukes of Norfolk Earls Marshall of
England. The original Norman keep remains but the turreted battlements are a
late Victorian extravagance that sits quite
happily with the medieval port and its
Gothic cathedral.
The cultural theme was elevated to an
altogether higher plane when, purely in
the interests of research and enlightenment, the entire company mustered at The
Silk Road restaurant in the beating heart
of beautiful downtown L.A. (Little
This was a new port of call for everyone
and the vanguard arrived on Friday‟s tide
in the shape of Sylphe and Kiano, leaving
Alouette, Lioness, LynxVI and Mikara to
brave Saturday‟s unsporting weather. It
was cold, grey and wet but a reasonably
fast passage with the following breeze.
Matters improved considerably in the evening as twenty-seven members enjoyed a
splendid three-course dinner at Arun
Yacht Club. The Commodore Nick Clare,
and his wife Sandy were our guests, burgees were exchanged and heroic efforts
were made to replenish the bottle bank
until the club bo‟sun ferried the last of the
sailors back to their ships.
„ampton). The Turkish cuisine was delicious and plentiful but our noble Commodore‟s duet with the resident belly-dancer
(left) was, surely, the highlight of the
cruise.
To overcome one‟s natural reticence in
the interests of international relations
shows the highest traditions of the Service. The (blonde) eastern beauty, possibly from as far east as Worthing, was
clearly impressed. Britain‟s got talent all
right!(Including Adrian Anstey! Ed)
Sunday dawned warm and sunny and half
the company enjoyed a run ashore to
Arundel. While some made generous do-
Kiwi Venture was, nominally, the host
ship but as she is only twenty-three feet in
her socks and now lives at Emsworth, a
pontoon party took place on Monday
forenoon. During the proceedings we
were delighted to receive a phone call
from Martin Alexander, who had meticulously masterminded the entire exercise
but was struck down by illness on the eve
of the cruise.
Many thanks Martin for providing such a
great week end for us.
Tony Sutcliffe
The RNVR Still Honoured
and Remembered in Hong
Kong
Rick Atkinson
On our return from a visit to Australia
and New Zealand at the end of April this
year, Jacky and I stopped off in Hong
Kong for a few days and visited the
Royal HK Yacht Club (where we have
life absent membership). Much to our
surprise and delight we were spectators
to the HKRNVR Trophy race. The Commodore, Gareth Williams and his wife Di
were intrigued to hear that we were actually members of the RNVRYC and laid
on the hospitality in true RHKYC style.
Needless to say we had a wonderful time
and somehow, through all the revelry of
the prize giving party I managed to operate my camera in an effort to record the
great event. Gareth regaled us with the
history of the
trophy and its
present day significance - The
HKRNVR Memorial Vase was
presented to the
Club more than
40 years ago by
the local Royal
Naval Volunteer
Reserves with
the proviso that
the course
should take
participating
yachts into waters patrolled by the
HKRNVR. Despite this proviso, nowadays the course for the race has to be set
to take into account Marine Department
restrictions on sailing and towing boats
through the congested central harbour
area. The difficulties this imposes for
holding a race in the Western Approaches, where the HKRNVR Race has
traditionally been held in past sailing
seasons, have dictated the format in recent years. However, this year‟s format
still fulfilled the proviso to some extent
and the race was a pursuit race with staggered start times, held over a course out
through the harbour to the eastern approaches and back. The trophy continues
to serve as a reminder to Hong Kong
yachtsmen of the time when the volunteer sailors played their part in the security of Hong Kong. The trophy was won
this year by Joachim Isler (he is HK born
and bred, Vice Commodore of the
Club). He owns a 40' boat Ambush in
partnership with Drew Taylor. They
went on to win the Top Dog Trophy
which is made up of the HKRNVR Trophy, the Lipton Trophy and the Tomes
Cup and the Round HK Island Race.
exploring, before returning aboard for
lunch and the start of our return trip.
Some more photographs before finally
leaving the islands and heading for an
anchorage in West Loch Tarbert, Harris
and more basking sharks off the entrance
to greet us.
After passage through the Sound of Harris, this time using the north channel, our
next stop was a mooring in Loch Maddy,
North Uist, where the only fuel supply
was by can from a local garage.
An 0620 start and a twelve hour passage,
Village bay Hirta, St Kilda
south of Skye, took us to Malaig and a
fuelling berth at the fishery pier. A well
deserved evening meal ashore in preparaOn the16th of June, I joined the owner of a and the conditions were good so we contin- tion for another early start. South, this
charter company (Crystal Yacht Charter
ued through the Sound of Harris, accompa- time east of the „inner isles‟, round Ardbased at Craobh Haven) to collect a new
nied for a time by a basking shark. Clear of namurchan Point, and through the Sound
Jeanneau 44 at Largs.
the Sound, we had a further 43 miles, due of Mull, south again past Oban and on to
After brief sail and motor trials, we left
west and now in the Atlantic, to reach VilLargs mid afternoon to sail the 110 miles lage Bay at Hirta, (above) the main island
round the Mull of Kintyre and north to
of the St Kilda group with its ruined cotHirta East Coast
Ardferne, arriving at 7.30 next morning.
tages (below). As darkness fell, we picked
Dinner ashore and an early morning start up the leading lights on the far shore of the
for St Kilda.
bay and anchored at 1130 near the pier. A
A F7, on the nose, greeted us in the Sound well earned sleep, breakfast and then dinof Mull before an overnight stop at Tober- ghy ashore to explore.
morey – new shower facilities have been Island habitation now consists of a warden
built here in the last year. Another early
for the National Trust for Scotland and a
start to sail round Ardnamurchan Point,
the most westerly tip of the UK mainland,
and then north to the west of Muck, Eigg
and Rum, east of Canna to Loch Harport
on the west coast of Skye. A small bay on
the north side provided a good sheltered
anchorage for the night. In calmer condiCraobh Haven with 407 miles sailed.
tions we sailed north west, with thoughts few staff at an MOD establishment. build- After years of planning, the weather had
of a possible stop at Rodel on the SW
ings. The place seemed quite alive.
finally let us complete the trip to St
corner of Harris. We had made good time A pleasant morning, photographing and
Kilda.
Joe Wright
A voyage to St Kilda
spent Sunday ashore, taking the opportu- built on a step cut into the rocky hillside.
nity to look round. I came across a church, The church doorway was faced by a very
A friend put me in touch with the owner of
attractive shrine (left) with the rock cova Bavaria 46 Cruiser, short of crew, for the
ered with wax offerings.
passage from Gibraltar to Gosport. I was
Monday looked promising so we sailed
unable to join at the start and planned to
at 0600 (BST). The wind was still on the
join the boat at La Coruna on the NW coast
nose but had decreased slightly. The
of Spain. A friend, who had made the St
coast vanished from view astern, we
Kilda trip came with me. We spent the
sailed west of the shipping lanes off
first day ashore, exploring, shopping and
Ushant and the first sighting of land was
waiting for a fourth member to join us.
Bolt Head and Prawle Point. We arrived
We set out to sail north, with strong winds
alongside the fuelling barge at Dartmouth
on the nose. When we received a forecast
at 1415 on the Thursday afternoon, a
of increasing overnight wind strength we
passage of 473 miles.
returned to La Coruna. Next day we made
Between the fuel barge and Dart Haven
some progress north by east, sailing round
Marina we lost all prop drive and reto Viviero. The wind didn‟t change so we
quired help from the marina tender. My
friend donned mask, snorkel and flippers
and removed a large piece of netting
from our prop!!
After a day ashore at Dartmouth, we
stopped overnight at Weymouth before
pressing on to Haslar Marina at Gosport.
I had covered 686nm, making 1093 for
the season so far.
Joe Wright
The Town Square Coruna
….and then a return from NW Spain
New CEO for the Naval Club
Letter from Lt Col Richard Hills RM
Following the retirement of Commander
John Pritchard, the CEO of the Naval
Club is Commander Phillip Ingham RN.
Phil Ingham arrived earlier this year after
a full career in the Royal Navy as a
Warfare officer followed by 4 years in
the Ministry of Defence facilitating the
work of the London based Foreign Attaché community.
He spent 16 years at sea in a variety of
ships including HMY Britannia and HMS
Brilliant. Shore appointments included
the Ministry of Defence, Commander
Britannia Royal Naval College, USNA
Annapolis, NATO HQ Brussels and the
Kuwait JCSC. His hobbies include skiing, sailing and golf.
We wish him every success and look
forward to meeting him at the Christmas
Party.
I have known Lt Col Hills for many years. He
is a contemporary of our member Lt Col
Justin Cunningham RM (Ret’d) Ed
Obituary
I thought I would take this opportunity to
write to you briefly regarding my recent motorbike trip to Ocracoke and the British
Cemetery. (below)
My family have been living in Virginia Beach
now for a year whilst I have been working for
NATO, and after a couple of long weekends
to the Outer banks and Cape Hatteras I
had become intrigued by the history of Ocracoke (particularly the Battle of the Atlantic
and the shipwrecks etc) - anyway , the situation presented itself and I decided to ride my
motorbike (KAWASAKI 900cc Vulcan Custom) down and back to the British Cemetery
in one day in June.
The trip down was fantastic - clear weather,
blue sky and open roads (I left at 0500) and
was actually in Ocracoke itself by
1000hrs (with a brief coffee and croissant
stop in Kitty Hawk of Orville and Wilbur
Wright fame).
Derek Silk 1931—2010
The Club regrets to announce the sudden
death of our member Derek Silk in August
whilst on holiday in France.
Derek was at one time an Instructor Lieutenant RN who, amongst other things, was involved in teaching sailing. In time past he
owned his own boat sailing regularly on the
South Coast and West Country.
Derek joined the Club relatively recently in
2004 and he and his wife Merna regularly
attended our shore functions on both sides of
the Channel. Derek sailed as crew occasionally. Last year, equipped with new foulies, he
crewed on Suvi and Alouette where he had a
very bumpy ride from Brighton to Gosport.
Derek and Merna had arranged their holiday
so as to be able to join in the Channel Dash
shore events. The photo above was taken in
Les Fuchsias restaurant in St Vaast where he
was lunching with the crew of Avalon a few
days before he died, the weather being so foul
there was little else to do.
We shall all miss Derek, a great supporter of
the Club and always fun to be with.
The Club extends it deepest sympathy to
Merna.
The National Seashore park is as wild and
beautiful as I imagined (although seen only
fleetingly through a visor at 80 mph!) and the
little towns along the way seem to cling to the
banks in a desperate bid to fight off the ever
encroaching sand dunes. The ferry ride to
Ocracoke Island from Hatteras was quite
stunning and I was surprised at the amount of
boat traffic between the two islands. The
wind howled across the inlet and what
seemed to be a dangerous tidal area was full
of fishermen, surfers and people driving 4X4s
and out onto very low lying isolated sand
dunes in the sea!! (above) Even at that time
of the morning!
Well I hope you find this brief email of some
interest - I was truly delighted to be able to
see your fathers resting place. It remains
very well cared for, as do the three other
tombstones - no doubt the sinking of HMS
Bedfordshire and the other ships that
were torpedoed along the coast remains
very much in the Islanders’ memory.
Rich Hills
Historical Note
HMS Bedfordshire was a converted A/S trawler
built in 1938. She was sent with about 20 others to
escort American Merchantmen up the East Cost of
America to Halifax, she was torpedoed and lost
with all hands on 11 May 1942. Father and three
of the crew lie in the British cemetery. Ed
Moody Blue battles the
Channel !
This is an abridged report (full article on the web)
sent in by Mike Price of his hairy escapades in the
Channel this year in his Moody 27, Moody Blue.
The phrase “plucky ship gallant crew” comes to
mind! Ed
I have been a member of the Newhaven YC
for 5 years which is where I keep my boat.
I was not able to do both the NYC Summer
rally and the RNVRYC Channel Dash as the
NYC rally was extended-and became rather
more stretched as described below.
We all left Newhaven am 12th August to
anchor and watch the Air Display from right
over our heads just off the pier. We were
treated to a three and a half hours show including the amazing Red Arrows. We sailed
overnight to Eastbourne and slipped at 0500
with clear skies and a breeze on Friday 13th
for Dieppe.
At about 1100 the NYC Commodore radioed
that his engine had overheated, was nervous
of carrying on to France and returned home.
It turned out it was seaweed which was the
culprit which this year is rife and had blocked
the inlet. The next thing we heard was that he
was hit by a freak squall - was spun 90 degrees and had his sails blown out. He did not
get much further without RNLI help and we
never saw our Commodore again as the
weather went nasty and stayed that way.
We were ourselves stuck in Dieppe, the
winds and rain hardly eased up. The morning
of 17th we sailed to St.Valery-en-Caux,
stayed overnight then onto Fecamp- again
stuck for 3 nights as the weather was still not
good. Thence to Deauville where we stayed
prior to sailing to Honfleur where we were
for another 2 nights. As we went in an English yacht suggested we turn around as he had
heard bad weather coming in again soon!
In Le Havre the weather we were warned
about arrived and kept us there for 3 nights.
On the fourth morning we decided to go back
to Fecamp. It took us 5 hours to reach turning point at Cap d'Antifer when we were hit
by winds gusting 33 knots coupled with
heavy rain and reduced visibility We heard
on VHF was that one of the other yachts had
sucked in loads of seaweed and was going to
attempt carrying on with sails only. It was not
long before all hope of getting anywhere fast
so she called up for French lifeboat service.
What none of us realised was the cost of
calling them out-£1,000 for a 3 hour tow into
Fecamp; not too sure whether UK Insurers
cover such a callout?
With the NE winds and rain not easing up
we decided to turn back to Le Havre We
whistled home to Le Harve in just over 2
hours; on Saturday 28th August we left Le
Havre once again for home arriving at 0230
on Sunday.
In Deauville we were all badly bitten by
midges-I am now told taking Marmite everyday is a deterrent against being attacked.
Mike Price
Cruising Supplement
Highland Fling
(heavily abridged, see web site for the full article)
The plan was hatched last winter when we decided
to give France a miss and head for Scotland for our
summer holiday setting off from Falmouth on 3rd
July and getting the boat back to Gosport by the end
of August. Stephen Norris, Robert Searle and I
would have one week up in Scotland sailing together and a second week with our own crews. We
chose Dunstaffnage marina as our main base in
Scotland for crew changeovers and the staff there
proved most helpful.
On the round trip, Gosport to Gosport Amoret
logged 1,936.8 nautical miles.(Wow! Ed)
Delivery Trip 3/7/10 to 16/7/10
We left Falmouth for Dun Laoghaire on the Sunday
morning, the voyage taking 47 hours with the wind
decreasing as we went. We found time to visit
Dublin, having lunch at Fallon & Byrne in Exchequer St, which resembles the Harrods food department, collecting a meal from the server and picking
up a bottle of wine before descending to eat in the
cellars below.
In the evening we ate at Toscana, an excellent Italian restaurant and afterwards had a drink in the
Royal St George Yacht Club with Mike Knatchbull,
who turned out to be the twin brother of Patrick
Knatchbull who many readers will know.
We left Dun Laoghaire at 0700 on Thursday bound
for Ardrossan. Coming in to the Clyde Estuary early
the next morning we were circled by a Border
Agency cutter. They didn‟t bother us and went on
their way and we continued to Lamlash Bay off
Arran where we picked up a mooring for breakfast.
Lamlash Bay is now a no trawling zone and it was
interesting to learn subsequently that the sea bed
there, compared with the Clyde generally, and is
recovering with new growth of coral and other
marine life.
With gales forecast we remained in Ardrossan for
two nights and at times were heeled 30 deg even in
the comparative shelter of the marina. We ate at the
new restaurant just outside the marina. It won a no
star award! The wind eased on Sunday morning and
in the afternoon we set sail for Campbeltown in a
heavy swell, reaching there at dusk.
The following day in a SE1/2 motoring round the
Mull of Kintyre inside Sanda Isle and on up to Ardminish Bay in the delightful island of Gigha.
On Tuesday we sailed to Crinan and locked in at
1530. Went round to the hotel and booked in for
dinner where the staff eyed us and asked whether
we could afford it! We assured them that we had
enough money to pay and enjoyed an excellent meal
with a chocolate dessert to die for. Mindful of a
previous visit to the hotel with Past Commodore
Gordon Greenfiield many years ago, I went round
in the morning to meet the owner Nick Ryan and
reminded him of the occasion in the sixties when we
had tried unsuccessfully to call up Oban Radio. On
receiving no reply Crinan Coastguard (none other
than Nick Ryan) had come in and asked whether he
could be of assistance. We said that we were only
trying to make a link call to book dinner for 6 at the
Loch Melfort Hotel that evening. “Consider it done
he replied” and sure enough when we got there
found we had been booked in. When we returned to
Crinan the following day and met Nick in the hotel
he said “I have only just had my radio installed as
an auxiliary coastguard and the first time I get to use
it is to book dinner at my opposition up the road!”
He remembered the occasion and said that he had
eventually devised a code for use on the coastguard
channel whereby local boats calling and reporting
that they were towing 3 dinghies meant three for
dinner and in the company of 2 launches meant two
for lunch
Amoret in Tinkers Hole
A series of lows had been scudding over Malin and
with our barometer dropping to 988mB the next day
we decided to spend a second night there.(The action of a prudent mariner! Ed)On Thursday we left
Crinan and negotiated Craignish Point and headed
for the Sound of Luing encountering some fierce
adverse tides. At one point we were given an escort
of at least a dozen dolphins. (below). Passing be-
drawal! Went round to the Coll Hotel for a shower
and booked in for a meal in the hotel with excellent
lobsters. I read later that Thursday nights are curry
takeaway nights in Coll. The islanders order their
curry from an enterprising Indian restaurant in Barra
in the Outer Hebrides who ship it off in special
containers in the 3.30 ferry to Coll arriving at about
6.30 to be collected from the terminal in time for
their evening meal. Thursday used to and we decided to visit the Treshnish Isles. We didn‟t stop
but went on to round Staffa and had a photo session
before proceeding on to Gomerta. We dingied
ashore and walked up to the nearest bothie We
walked to the top of the hill where we first sighted
two golden eagle soaring between Gomerta and
Ulva.
Friday was another filthy day with a strong westerly. Well reefed down we headed for Iona which
we could just make out in the gloom. In the sound
we passed the Hebridean Princess at anchor looking
very smart and later discovered that HM had left a
few days earlier to return to Balmoral. Arriving off
Loch Spelve a little late and with maximum ebb
tide we opted for travelling on to Dunstaffnage to
complete the week.
Return trip 21/8/10 to 30/8/10
tween Fladda and Dubh Sgeir we picked up the
favourable tide to Oban Bay before we reached our
destination of Dunstaffnage late in the afternoon.
Week 25/7/10 to 31/7/10
Leaving on the Sunday in a brisk WNW4 we motor sailed up tot Sailean Mor in the NW tip of Oronsay which is a sheltered anchorage with room for
two or three boats.. The next day we continued
past Ardnamurchan Point to Arisaig on the
mainland. We crept in gingerly on a rising tide
noting that the route was marked by perches with
road signs fixed to them! On again to the island of
Gometra which is a very pretty anchorage and from
there round the south of Mull back to Loch Spelve
and Dunstaffnage for another crew change.
Week 31/710 to 6/8/10
Setting off on Saturday afternoon we decided on a
short sail to Loch Aline. The entrance is straightforward and we anchored in thick mud.
On Sunday off again for Tobermory. We had a
drink in the bar of the Mishnish Hotel followed by
an excellent dinner in Café Fish above the CalMac
terminal. In the long room at the back of the pub I
found 1945 newspaper cuttings that I had not seen
on a previous visit relating to Commodore (later
Admiral) Monkey Stephenson (otherwise known as
the Terror of Tobermory) and the Battle of the Atlantic.
On Monday to Canna passing close to Ardmore
Point where we had been told there was a family of
sea eagles with two fledglings. On arriving at
Canna we anchored in 5 metres on a line joining the
two churches and proceeded ashore by dinghy.
Back to the boat for another Scottish evening on
board with haggis.
Rejoining the boat in the Crinan Canal at Lochgilphead we had a few lock gates to go before reentering the sea at Ardrishaig. Only the sea gates
are manned, the remainder you operate yourself.
The routine of close lower sluices, open upper
sluices, open upper gates, enter boat, close upper
gate, close upper sluices, open lower sluices, open
lower gates, exit boat, close lower gates, close lower
sluices soon becomes a matter of form only to be
complicated by the occasional boat coming in the
opposite direction. We had a pretty rough start,
leaving the Clyde and crossing over to Northern
Ireland stopping off at Bangor in Belfast Loch for
breakfast and a shower and Ardglass for the night
before calling again at Dun Laoghaire before setting
off for home at 0830 on Thursday morning we eventually picked up a mooring off Yarmouth at 0200 on
Sunday morning and finally back to Gosport by
noon.
General Comments
Despite the poor weather, generally consisting of
showers, light rain or heavy rain and only the rare
appearance of the sun, this did not detract from the
fantastic scenery and wide variety of wild life. We
were assured that this summer‟s weather was the
worst that most could remember and Scotland certainly beckons again. We also had to use the engine
far more than we would have wished to meet our
demanding schedule and in retrospect we should
have allowed three months instead of two, the additional month would have made all the difference.
Two weeks between crew changes instead of one
would also have enabled us to get to Skye and the
Outer Hebrides. Midges were not a serious problem, possibly because they do not like rain, but we
had ample stocks of „Avon Skin So Soft Body Oil‟
which is supposed to deter them and also Citronella
oil which they appear not to like.
Christopher Fleming
We sailed round Rum noticing that there was only
one boat in the anchorage. On to Eigg which we
entered from the south west. Went ashore to visit
the tearoom at the pierhead. This is a splendid café/
tearoom/bar/restaurant where we had an excellent
meal.
Wednesday brought a fair westerly wind and we
headed for Coll, passing numerous basking sharks
near Ardnamurchan Point . On the pierhead there is
an honesty box with pen and envelopes to write the
name of boat and enclose the £15 mooring charge.
This we placed in a chained down money box which
looked as if there had been the occasional with-
Amoret in Sailean Mor, Oronsay
Coupe des Trois Phares
When I asked François Frey, M. Le Président of the Yacht Club Classique, organisers of the Coupe des Trois Phares classic boat race, which were the three lighthouses he said “Ah, mon ami, if anyone
finds out we lose the mystique.” Maybe
there were really four
A recipe for losing 25 classic yachts, you
Les quatre phares ?
might think, including some rather special
ones like Pen Duick III, one of Eric
Tabarly‟s boats, and Joshua (below) , the
boat in which Bernard Moitessier did the
1968 Golden Globe, and then did most of
it again when he headed back south a
you‟ve seen the china clay ships being
turned round in the harbour does it make
turning The World (below) look like a
piece of cake.
The warm-up race to a nearby bay was
sadly aborted due to bad weather so the
picnic competition had to take place
ashore – Mikara got approving looks for
our on-board herbs and home-made fruitcake but sadly no silverware. The next
day the race proper started in sunshine.
Mikara had a good start, third over the
line and headed for the Scillies – we had
to round Bishop Rock. After sitting NE
of St Mary‟s for a windless 12 hours the
race was abandoned after Ma Belle
drifted close to rocks. A night in St
Mary‟s was well worthwhile – we even
found Sandy‟s Flat in Hugh Town !
. The French attack
harbour so that the punters could see the
boats in action – quite sporting for the
Brit contingent as the English translation
had the wrong mark which would have
required us to slalom back through the
fleet ! Then a decent NW F3-4 down to
La Rochelle. A masthead gear failure
A decent breeze helped us to a good time
to Brest – outside Ushant, as we just
missed the earlier tide through the Chenal
de Four, and consequently enjoyed the
unnerving experience of pointing West
towards Ushant while in fact travelling
South – and that was Neaps !
second time. The fleet was mostly
French but with a few Brits to wave the
flag, including Mabel (known over the
VHF as Ma Belle), a beautiful Kim
Holman 42‟ sloop, Ninita a 60‟ schooner
built 5 years ago to a 1927 design by Sam
Davies‟ parents and Mikara, crewed by
Wendy and I and two long-standing crew
members, former hang-glider pilot and
arch helmsman Sandy & drugstore truckdriving guitarist Stevie.
The Coupe happens once a decade. In
2010, the race had two starts, one from
Fowey and one from Cork, with a first leg
to Brest (sic ?) and then Leg Two to La
Rochelle. We started in Fowey where we
were amazed to see The World disgorging
its tax-dodging clientele – only once
The boats gathered in Le Chateau marina
in Brest and on the second evening had a
splendid dinner in the Chantier du Guip
boatyard, surrounded by half built hulls
of beautiful yachts.
After dinner and a large quantity of wine,
two French crews started singing. They
got louder, and louder, staring boldly
towards the Brits a French crew on Ma
Belle told us they were singing “Merde to
the English king”. We had to fight back.
meant Mikara had no chute and no genoa
so the skipper went up the mast – entertaining with the Atlantic swell. This was
our excuse for a modest placing on Leg
Two but we still carted off additional
supplies for the booze locker as our consolation !
Suddenly, Stevie stood up, puffed out his
chest and sang (reminiscent of Peter
Nicholson at the RNVR Mansion House
dinner) the first verse of Rule Britannia,
followed by a loud chorus. The enemy
was silenced !
We cruised home via many beautiful
places, including Belle Ile (Le Palais – a
Vauban classic [insert photo Vauban
plaque caption “Vauban‟s defences
failed !”] which the English seized, and
Stor Wenn, called the most beautiful anchorage in France), Concarneau where
the skipper wore his kilt to keep up with
the Breton festival, and Camaret where a
former skipper of Sandy‟s had reshaped
Pte de Toulinguet when he was gunnery
officer of a wartime battleship. 1100
miles round trip, and, like Moitessier, all
we wanted to do when we got back was
turn round again !
Leg Two started with a race through the
Hugh Stewart
Dining amongst the hulls