The Dog Watch Issue 12
Transcription
The Dog Watch Issue 12
The Dog Watch Devon Old Gaffers For the Sea Dogs of Devon Gaffers Issue No.13 October 2012 Welcome Devon Gaffers The Devon Area of The Old Gaffers Association Promoting Traditional Sail in the South West www.DevonGaffers.org.uk [email protected] Area President: Mike Lucas 01803 212818 [email protected] Life Vice-President: Mike Lucas Hon.Secretary: Gil Hayward 01803 722274 [email protected] T hirteen - unlucky for some or the start of teenage so a step on the way to maturity. Lets hope that the number of contributions from Members to this Issue (some of which have been held over for the next Issue - a first for The Dog Watch!) indicates the latter and becomes a growing trend! The weather this summer hasn’t been very good for sailing but Devon Gaffers seem to have got the best of it. The forecast for the Start Bay Rally wasn’t very encouraging but those who came (some by road) enjoyed it and we had brilliant sunshine for the barbecue on the Sunday. The weather was good for the Plymouth Classics, in which we are playing an increasing part, and the Ditsum Regatta had fine weather and a good sailing wind. Our next event will be the Laying-up Lunch and AGM on 3rd November. We found The Abbey Inn at Buckfastleigh to be a very good venue last year so we’re hoping for a good turnout this time (don’t let the letters ‘AGM’ put you off- it’s all very informal and enjoyable!). The photographs on page 4 were taken by John Gallagher, some of those on page 5 were taken by David Burrell, the background to page 6 was taken by Brian Budden, the pictures of Annabelle, Swallow, and Hay Ho on pages 7 and 9 were taken by David Harding of Sailing Scenes.com, the picture of Aberrare on page 8 was provided by David Bewick, the pictures of James Caird and Pelican on page 8 were taken from the websites and the photograph on page 9 taken from onboard Amelie Rose was taken by David Bewick. Laying-up Lunch To be held at The Abbey Inn, Buckfastleigh on 3rd November 2012 at 12:30 for 1:00pm Hon.Treasurer: Alan Miller-Williams 01548 830039 Handicapping Officer: Peter Crook [email protected] Trophy Officer: Mike Garlick [email protected] Forthcoming Events Laying-up Lunch and AGM Commodore: Mike Garlick [email protected] Auditor: David Lovelock 01935 891328 [email protected] Regalia Sales: Pat Cassidy 01548 550711 [email protected] Committee Members: Mike Lucas Gill Hayward Alan Miller-Williams Pat Cassidy John Gallagher 01822 840193 [email protected] Fleur Lewis 01803 732826 [email protected] Giles Bowen 01395 232425 [email protected] Peter Crook 01548 857559 [email protected] Elspeth Macfarlane 01548 857559 [email protected] OGA Web Site: www.OldGaffersAssociation.org Saturday 3rd November 2012 T he idea of having our Laying-up Dinner and AGM at lunch-time seems to be popular and The Abbey Inn is a good, easily accessible venue so we are repeating last year’s arrangements. The Abbey Inn is at Buckfastleigh - just north of the A38 at the Totnes turn-off. The food (and beer!) are good there so we hope we shall get a good turn-out. Menu details are enclosed so please let us know your choices by 29th October. 40th Anniversary Celebrations N ext year will be the 40th anniversary of the South West Area (forerunner of Devon Gaffers) as well as the 50th of the OGA. We need ideas and volunteers to put them into practice! In particular we need volunteers from Devon Gaffers to take part in the Relay which the OGA want to use, in conjunction with the RNLI, to raise the profile of the OGA. Our involvement would be to sail short legs around the Devon and Cornish coasts, calling at as many ports as possible including small harbours not on the usual milk run west. Dates have to be finalised but the Relay Token is scheduled to be in Falmouth by 11th May. If boats can’t be found to do short hops around Lands End and into the Bristol Channel the Relay Token will have to be transferred to boats taking part in the Round Britain Challenge. We can’t do anything without volunteers, so if you are interested please contact our Secretary, Gil Hayward. More details of all the events are available on the OGA website. Informal Get-togethers W e’re planning several of these at various venues over the winter months and as usual will email details nearer the time. So if you’re interested in coming to talk to fellow gaffers and traditional boating enthusiasts at a good pub near you make sure we have your email address (obviously if you receive The Dog Watch by email we have your email address; if you receive it by post it means we don’t have an email address for you so please send it to [email protected]). These Get-togethers are organised by members near where they live. The current crop of volunteers all live in Devon so it would be really good if some of our Cornish members could organise some in their area. 2012 Events Brixham Heritage Sailing Regatta 1st and 2nd June 2012 Mike Forward has sent us this report: A rriana set off from Calstock on Wednesday the 30th for Dartmouth and Brixham for the Heritage weekend. Their website indicated that about 26 boats were going to attend, with some notable exceptions that were going to be at the Diamond Jubilee pageant, and Arriana was one of three from Plymouth. The other two were Three Brothers and Victoriex, both based at Millbrook where Chris and Russell are working hard completing Grayhound. It was a weekend of incidents, the first being when my dinghy went missing on the Saltash pontoon and the second when rounding Start Point in a fresh westerly wind where I hooked up a fishing pot on the port bow and very suddenly 8 knots became 4 knots with the lee rail just about under, a flogging headsail and a tremendous amount of weather helm. Being single-handed - I'm going to stop this sometime soon - I was a bit stuffed for getting the staysail off. I struggled into the shelter of Hallsand where I managed to slip the pot and then started the engine up to an anchorage where I stayed for the night. Leader was anchored close by. The following day, Friday, I motored through to Brixham in light airs, passing Dartmouth at the start time for the usual passage race. The only boat that seemed to be making the effort was Little Tern. When I arrived at Brixham Vigilance and Leader were alongside with Pilgrim on a buoy and during the afternoon the luggers arrived and of course Marie Louise. Chris appeared with Rusty the dog mid-afternoon. The sea-pie supper was excellent as usual and during the evening we realised that the weekend was going to be blighted by the usual Heritage weekend weather. The forecast was not good. Hardly any of the boats managed to complete the course and some, Arriana included, didn't venture out much beyond the breakwater. During the afternoon the lifeboat was called out two or three times. As far as the race boats faired Tony Knight's lugger had to be towed back having lost gear and being forced to anchor on a lee shore, and Pilgrim had problems with running rigging. By Saturday morning a fresh easterly wind with a heavy swell and fog greeted us. However, the Saturday night entertainment was of a high standard and enjoyed by all. And so we came round to Sunday, the day of the London pageant and the day to sail home. You've guessed it. The wind blew hard from the west and we had to wait for a 12 hour Northerly window that was forecast for the Monday before another round of westerlies forecast for the rest of the week. Visit to Integrity 16th June 2012 A lthough they were working hard to complete Integrity for her official launch Will and Sara Stirling kindly set aside a few hours for us to see her afloat at Mayflower Marina, Plymouth. We were all very much impressed with the design and workmanship that had gone into her and feel sure that once someone with enough money sees her she will be snapped up. Sara wasn’t feeling 100% at the time and took herself to the hospital afterwards to find that she was suffering from 2 concussion as a result of hitting her head on the car when getting her children out. You can see the most recent photos of Integrity and all of Stirling & Son’s projects on Facebook - Stirling and Son. If you 'like' the page you will get updates whenever they put new photos on there. Start Bay Rally & Race 13th to 15th July 2012 M embers will have read our Hon.Secrerary’s comprehensive report of this in the Gaffers Log. The weather was mixed and the forecast put some off coming by sea: it was pleasing that some of those nevertheless came by car. Conditions for the race weren’t ideal, but at least if didn’t rain (much) and we didn’t have the lumpy seas of last year. In spite of the fickle wind the shortening of the course enabled all but one of the entrants to finish. Once again many thanks are due to Gil and Carolyn for providing us with an excellent barbecue in their garden overlooking the Dart on Sunday, and as usual ensuring that the day was lovely and sunny! Results Line Honours: Marie Louise (Mike Lucas) Other Results: Boat Name Owner T(H)CF Class I: 32' and over Menna Giles Bowen Class II: Over 22' Periwinkle John & Philomena Gallagher Freya Simon Fletcher Class III: Under 22' Barnaby David Eeles Swallow John Wynn Marie Louise Mike Lucas Misty Morn Roger & Alison Tushingham Hay Ho Gil & Carolyn Hayward Rascal Mike & Sue Garlick Old Dan Alan Miller-Williams Mayblossom Paul Jolley Nutmeg Steve Cole Time Corr Time Line Pos'n O/All Pos'n Class Pos'n 1.003 01:04:00 01:04:11 5 6 1 0.888 02:18:10 02:02:41 9 9 1 0.900 02:52:25 02:35:10 10 11 2 0.000 0.790 0.840 0.827 0.735 0.820 0.820 0.862 0.865 Retired 00:50:30 00:48:20 00:50:38 01:07:10 01:00:20 01:40:12 02:14:10 02:52:53 00:39:53 00:40:36 00:41:52 00:49:22 00:49:28 01:22:09 01:55:39 02:29:32 2 1 3 6 4 7 8 11 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Trophies Awarded Dartmouth Deadeye Lewthwaite Trophy Pinrail Trophy Scrimshaw Trophy Sheave Trophy Oyster Ring Kingswear Trophy Boan Boom Cornish Shrimper Trophy Redundant Caulker Plodder's Pin Victory Trophy Bernard Gibson Memorial Trophy Gaffer's Paddle George's Cannon Mike Lucas looked a lot happier than last year! 1st Class I 1st Class II 2nd Class II 1st Class III 2nd Class III 3rd Class III 1st Local Boat on corrected time 1st Working Boat 1st Cornish Shrimper 1st GRP Boat Last boat to finish Longest passage to the Race Oldest Combined Age of Boat & Skipper Youngest Crew Commodore's Choice Happy prizewinners Menna Periwinkle Freya Swallow Marie Louise Misty Morn Hay Ho Nutmeg Rascal Rascal Nutmeg Periwinkle Old Dan Freya Barnaby Sunshine for the barbecue! 3 Grayhound Launch 4th August 2012 John Gallagher has sent this report and photographs of this momentous event : It was carnival at Southdown Yard, Millbrook, Cornwall for front of the bows had to move forward as those at the back the slipway launch of this fine three-masted lugger on found the water seeping round their ankles. Serving Saturday 4th of August. The warm sunshine, the milling wenches came round with a toast of a tot of champagne for crowds, the babble of chatter and music and song greeted all. Evidently one thousand had been prepared! But on the had already us as we arrived at about 17.00. day about 1,500 were estimated to have turned up. was afloat, gently moving. Freya, Marcus been nudged down the slip in her cradle and the incoming Finally and young Malachi were all at tide was lapping about her the bows as Freya thanked rudder as she waited for the Chris Reece especially and the tide to raise her up to be other shipwrights as well as freed into the water and come the many others who helped alive. and before naming At 63 feet over the decks and christening her with a bottle 108 feet over the spars, with of champagne. In fact a fine curvaceous sweep to Marcus did the deed as he her lines, she made an hefted the bottle and impressive centre piece for shattered it on the stem post. the celebrations. She has The engine was duly started been built as a replica of the up but full reverse and a lot original 1776 lugger built as a of shouting was not enough to fast Revenue boat at Cawsand. from her release She is solidly built with a cradle. Fortunately the off broad beam of 19 feet 6 duty Cawsand ferry was there to help and with a pull from inches and deep long keel and she weighs in at over 50 tons. her and a large rib she gradually slid out and did a genteel Bunting flew from the masts and she wore a large colourful motor past the cheering crowds. There had been a small garland on her stem for the occasion. The builders and shower a few minutes beforehand and as passed excellent hosts Marcus and Freya welcomed folk aboard to us a brilliant rainbow lit up the sky. An omen and a good one. look over the boat. A long queue had extended up the slip She had been a year under construction. Marcus and Freya and eventually a bunch of people who had waited ages were raising their skirts or rolling up trousers to wade out to the planned to have a month holiday on her before starting the fitting out which it is thought will take another six or so heavy iron steps, keen to still get aboard as the tide finally months. Then she starts working. Trips on her first run surrounded her . over to France and later the Caribbean can be booked Music and laughter was everywhere with shanties from a through Classic Sailing group called the Old Gaffers amongst others! Pirate (www.classic-sailing.co.uk/vessels/grayhound-lugger) characters and sailors’ molls were dancing and singing their although places are starting to fill already hearts out. Every so often the singers and players just in 4 Plymouth Classic Boat Rally 27th to 30th July 2012 T he Plymouth Classic Boat Rally, sponsored by Sutton Harbour Marina, is rapidly becoming the premier Classic Boat event of the South-West. This year, the 25th anniversary, saw 75 boats attending with some turned away through lack of space in spite of heroic efforts that saw extra pontoons being drafted in. One of the attractive features of the Rally is the range of boats attending - pilot cutters old and new, classic yachts of all descriptions, modern gaffers, dinghies, ex-RNLI lifeboats, motor boats and speedboats. The marina where all this takes place is in Sutton Harbour on the edge of the oldest part of Plymouth, the Barbican, so makes a splendid spectacle in a popular part of the city. This year’s Rally was enhanced by the Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival which was taking place at the same time - a truly symbiotic relationship. The public is encouraged to come on to the pontoons (for a fee!) to get a close-up view of the boats and this year were able to buy a booklet, produced by Devon Gaffers using the OGA Area Management software written for us by Peter Crook, with pictures and details of the boats attending. This year there was racing on the Sunday and Monday and again Devon Gaffers provided support by gathering measurement data and calculating the handicaps and race results. There were 44 entrants for the Sunday race which was divided into classes to allow for a good distribution of the many trophies available. There were just two classes for the Monday race: pilot cutters and others. The pilot cutter crews were too exhausted to enter after their racing and partying on previous days, and the others were somewhat depleted by the prospect of worsening weather and the need to get back to home ports. As you know we have been following the progress of Will Stirling’s 1879 Gentleman’s Cutter Integrity which quite rightly won several prizes for the quality of her design and workmanship (as you might have seen in October’s Classic Boat a fair amount of the latter was down to our member and now magazine pin-up John Gallagher). Constance Thomas and matching dinghy The splendidly restored Harrison Butler Mischief III The Stavros S. Niarchos sailed in through the Monday Race fleet Sea dog aboard Pierrette (1898) The modern pilot cutter Edith Gray (2011) doing what she does best - sailing fast Some of the Monday Race fleet heading for the first mark There were lots of trophies to be won It wasn’t all old gaffers! 5 Plymouth Classic Boat Rally Results Sunday 29th July 2012 at 13:00 Line Honours: Springtime (Jon & Clare Elwell) Other Results: Boat Name Owner T(H)CF Time Corr Time Line Pos'n O/All Pos'n Class Pos'n Class 1: Pilot Cutters Edith Gray John Raymond-Barker 1.105 01:46:30 01:57:40 4 11 1 Charmian of Poole Lez & Chris Arkell 1.042 02:14:33 02:20:12 18 22 2 Class 2: Gaff rig, 30' and over Seawitch Katie & Tom Guy 0.968 01:59:46 01:55:56 11 10 1 Anna Mike & Tricia Jones 0.995 02:00:12 01:59:35 12 12 2 M'Yvonne Andy & Ann Demaine 1.045 02:00:21 02:05:45 13 15 3 Little Tern Peter & Di Nash 1.052 02:00:23 02:06:38 14 16 4 Integrity Stirling & Son 1.153 01:58:09 02:16:13 8 21 5 Victorious Russell Farraday 1.096 02:33:31 02:48:15 27 26 6 Retired Class 3: Gaff rig, 20' - 30' Sea Daisy Pete & Alison Sharp 0.888 Thumble Martin & Janet Elliot 0.000 Retired Charlotte Mark Steggles 0.979 01:53:43 01:51:19 6 8 1 Annabelle Brian & Estelle Budden 0.907 02:12:27 02:00:07 17 13 2 Demelza Robert Dixon 0.907 02:20:10 02:07:07 20 17 3 Periwinkle John & Philomena Gallagher 0.888 02:26:52 02:10:25 24 18 4 Constance Thomas Chris Leopold 0.885 02:27:27 02:10:29 25 19 5 Dido of London Russell May 0.910 02:25:27 02:12:21 22 20 6 Mareea Jonathan March 0.958 02:26:37 02:20:27 23 23 7 Arriana Mike & Chris Forwood 0.967 02:27:47 02:22:54 26 24 8 Retired Class 4: Bermudan rig, over 35' Iolaire Guy & Suzanne Summers 1.037 Orthops Carole Porter & Tim Minson 0.958 01:45:02 01:40:37 2 3 1 Springtime Jon & Clare Elwell 1.077 01:40:24 01:48:07 1 7 2 Dreamaweigh Bill & Marilyn Stewart 1.036 02:22:42 02:27:50 21 25 3 Class 5: Bermudian rig, 20' - 35' Spindle Martin Dawes 0.000 Retired Sheila Lorna Rice 0.955 01:46:24 01:41:36 3 4 1 Acrobat Clive Best 0.742 02:18:18 01:42:37 19 5 2 Phoenix Paul Holmes 0.955 01:57:06 01:51:49 7 9 3 Vindomar Roy & Susan Potter 0.941 01:58:50 01:51:49 9 9 3 Mischief III Roy & Sonia Aldworth 0.947 02:12:09 02:05:08 16 14 4 Class 6: Any rig under 20,' including dinghies Avocet Richard Shilling 0.735 01:53:07 01:23:08 5 1 1 Mary Louise John Harris 0.804 02:04:18 01:39:56 15 2 2 Mayblossom Paul Jolley 0.862 01:59:18 01:42:50 10 6 3 Line Pos'n O/All Pos'n Monday 30th July 2012 at 14:00 Line Honours: Springtime (Jon & Clare Elwell) Other Results: 6 Boat Name Owner Springtime Jon & Clare Elwell Charlotte Mark Steggles T(H)CF Time Corr Time Class Pos'n 1.077 01:50:21 01:58:50 1 1 1 0.979 02:14:27 02:11:37 2 2 2 Anna Mike & Tricia Jones 0.995 02:19:47 02:19:05 4 3 3 Annabelle Brian & Estelle Budden 0.907 02:34:48 02:20:24 8 4 4 M'Yvonne Andy & Ann Demaine 1.045 02:15:49 02:21:55 3 5 5 Seawitch Katie & Tom Guy 0.968 02:31:39 02:26:47 6 6 6 Mareea Jonathan March 0.958 02:33:51 02:27:23 7 7 7 Demelza Robert Dixon 0.907 02:43:36 02:28:23 9 8 8 Little Tern Peter & Di Nash 1.052 02:24:44 02:32:15 5 9 9 Seatoy Julian Middleton 0.938 02:47:34 02:37:10 10 10 10 Periwinkle John & Philomena Gallagher 0.888 03:18:04 02:55:52 11 11 11 Ditsum Regatta Gaffers Race 11th August 2012 T his year’s race was blessed with mostly fine weather and a fresh breeze blowing up the river. Six boats crossed the start line - from the shore it looked as if Mike and Tricia Jones’s Anna was one of them but she just sailed up and down the course adding a touch of class to the proceedings. Unfortunately the Race Officer decided on a late change of course which wasn’t picked up by John Wynn in Swallow so he was unable to defend his possession of the Devon Gaffers Grog Trophy, and Gil and Carolyn Hayward in their 12’ open dinghy Hay Ho decided that getting wet and miserable wasn’t part of the plan and retired. Dilys, sailed by the owner’s cousin, went aground and retired so leaving three finishers. The Grog Trophy was won by a couple of our newer members, Mike and Penny Oliffe-Lee in their Cornish Shrimper Morwenna. That should encourage them to join in more of our events! In spite of the difficulties most enjoyed the race. It is hoped that next year Devon Gaffers might give a bit more early input so that we can to have a course that would suit our members better and doesn’t involve just running and beating. Next year is the 40th anniversary of the South West Area of the OGA as well as the 50th of the OGA. Plans are afoot to celebrate this by persuading the Trailer Section to come for next year’s race. It’s also the 50th anniversary of the Tideway Owners’ Association (Tideways are 12’ gunter-rigged dinghies so qualify as gaffers) who held a meet on the Dart this year so maybe we could encourage them to come and join in too. Results Line Honours: Annabelle (Brian & Estelle Budden) Other Results: Boat Name Owner T(H)CF Dilys Hay Ho Swallow Shabby Morwenna Annabelle David Dimbleby Gil & Carolyn Hayward John Wynn Edward Wheeler Mike & Penny Olliffe-Lee Brian & Estelle Budden 0.803 0.735 0.790 0.820 0.820 0.907 Time Corr Time Retired Retired Retired 01:53:55 01:33:24 01:54:48 01:34:08 01:53:52 01:43:16 Line Pos'n O/All Pos'n Puff - a Tideway owned by Devon Gaffers and Dittisham Sailing Club member Richard Hayes 2 3 1 1 2 3 Trophies Awarded John Wynn Trophy 1st on corrected time Grog Trophy 1st Devon Gaffers Member not winning John Morwenna Wynn Trophy Annabelle shows the advantage of a yawl rig A t last! We have logged a day’s sailing on passage in this bummer summer! Having come from Rock to St.Ives, from St.Ives to Penzance, then to Falmouth, on to Fowey, then Fowey to Plymouth with a brief stop in Polperro just for the fun of it, Plymouth to Salcombe and lastly Salcombe to Dartmouth, we actually managed to SAIL the last leg - into a headwind! Yes, I know, it's supposed to be a prevailing south-westerly, but when did that ever coincide with passage plans? It was a bit of a challenge tacking round Start Point into an Easterly, but what a relief after having to use the engine for every other leg of the journey. What a terrible season! But we are still having a great time. We did get some real sailing in during the Plymouth Classics weekend, out of Sutton Harbour into the Sound; we Shabby The Race Officer presents the Grog Trophy Swallow going well sailed two races, coming fourth in class in each, thus managing to avoid the inconvenience of winning anything to be engraved and returned again (like last year!) and had another good race at the Ditsum Regatta, taking Line Honours by three seconds. Not as impressive as it sounds actually, as there were only six entries in the Gaffers; three did not finish and the other two were Shrimpers who beat us on handicap. Our excuse for not beating them was that the wind was gusting up to 20 knots up the River Dart between Ditsum and Stoke Gabriel and they were both well reefed, so we deployed a Lazy Reef, i.e. we sailed under jib, staysail and mizzen only. Otherwise, we would have beaten everybody hands-down, or demolished everybody, or ended up on the mud or in the woods. So all the motoring is worth the effort! Brian, Cornish Yawl 'Annabelle' CY10, Rock. 7 Dartmouth Regatta Gaffers’ Race 2nd September 2012 T here was a very poor gaffer turnout for the Sunday race at Dartmouth Regatta. Only a Golant Gaffer Step Back in Time and Nutmeg, a Crabber 22. It seems that the general feeling is that the race is not really suitable as it is filled with gung-ho racers not our style at all. In the circumstances we feel we should withdraw our involvement in this event and retrieve the trophies we have allocated to it. Stoke Gabriel Boating Association Regatta 9th September 2012 Gil Hayward has sent us this report of the Gaffers’ Race that was part of the onshore and offshore activities of this event: F or the third morning in a row there was thick fog over the River Dart at first light. With a scheduled 0955 start for the Gaffer Class, it did not look promising, especially as the boats based at Dittisham Sailing Club had to get up to Stoke Gabriel in the first place. However two Devon Gaffers, David Bewick in Aberrare and Gil & Carolyn Hayward in Hay Ho arrived in time for the start, only to be told that as they were the only gaffers they would not have a separate start but would be included in the general handicap class. There was more wind than last year with some of the dinghies capsizing, but it was still slightly fickle. Aberrare won the Gaffer Class. She is a Francois Vivier Aber class beautifully built by David. He has recently joined the OGA and hopefully will be seen at more events in 2013. This is always an enjoyable event - more of you ought to try it! (But maybe a later start would be more of an incentive…) Aberrare Other News Pelican Sails South By Capt.Mike Forward W est Country maritime enthusiasts and particularly those with an interest in gaffers and the Shackleton expeditions of a hundred years ago will be able to follow an adventurous voyage that has just left Weymouth. The little square rigger Pelican of London, a Weymouth based ship, has just set sail for the South Atlantic and the Southern ocean as mother ship for a team of six explorers who are going to re-enact Shackleton’s epic rescue voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia, a distance of 800 miles. The Pelican of London was chosen because it closely resembled in size and rig Shackleton’s vessel the Endurance, a Norwegian built wooden barquetine originally called Polaris. The Pelican’s voyage south will take in Lisbon, Las Palmas, Cape Verde islands, The original James Caird puts to sea 8 Salvador finally arriving at Punta Arenas at Christmas time. Meanwhile the replica boat Alexandria Caird is being transported by container ship to King George Island in the South Shetlands. In the New Year the Pelican’s voyage crew for the expedition will join the ship and the six explorers will fly to King George Island for the final preparations with their boat. Meanwhile the Pelican will sail down to Antarctica, land the crew for a day on the Palmer peninsular and then meet up with the explorers via Deception Island. They will then sail to Elephant Island, a distance of 120 miles, and then onto South Georgia, with the Pelican, which will be full of medics, film crews etc., shadowing them close behind. On reaching South Georgia the explorers will follow Shackleton’s route across the mountains to Stromness, where they will be re-united with the Pelican’s crew for the return trip to Rio. Follow the expedition on the Shacketon Epic website and the voyage on Pelican’s website. Editor’s note: Mike won’t be able to join us for the Laying-up Lunch as he will be captaining the Pelican on the leg from Las Palmas to Salvador. T.S. Pelican An Autumn Adventure Aboard Amelie Rose By David Bewick H aving sailed small boats for many years and done the odd bit of yachting, I had just about come to the conclusion that small boats suited me better than big ones. That is until I became aware of the intriguing possibility of sailing on Amelie Rose. You may have heard of Amelie Rose. She is a replica of an Isles of Scilly Pilot Cutter that was built by Luke Powell in Gweek in 2009. Her hull and rig are completely authentic and down below she very effectively combines the look and feel of the real thing with a layout suitable for modern charter use. She is owned and run out of Poole by Topsail Adventures (www.topsail-adventures.co.uk) and came to the attention of many people through her pivotal role in ITV’s recent “The Hungry Sailors” series that also featured the well known greenies and foodies Dick and James Strawbridge. Having read all I could find out about Amelie Rose, I got quite excited about the prospect of sailing her so booked myself up for a “taster weekend”. My trip on Amelie started on a Friday evening with a meal in the Lake Yard marina in Poole where I met the skipper Nick, his mate Bee and the other two paying guests (the fourth unfortunately having injured himself playing football). After dinner we transferred ourselves and all our gear onto Amelie via the club launch and were then given a quick tour of the onboard facilities before settling down for the night. After a fine bacon butty breakfast to get us all started on the Saturday morning we were given a deck briefing and we started to learn just what it takes to sail a Pilot Cutter. I thought I had a reasonable idea of how a gaff cutter rig worked but I found the amount of rope on board quite staggering and of course none of it is colour– coded! The other startling difference to a modern yacht is that there are no winches on board apart from the windlass for the anchor and a small one on the boom for the reefing lines. Everything else relies on sheer grunt although the systems on board are very well “sorted” so it is not quite as physical as one might think. We soon managed to get the jib and mainsail up and sailed off the mooring and ran down Poole harbour in a gentle NW breeze. The staysail went up too, and after a few gybes, we were soon out past the chain ferry and into the Poole channel. We then set sail for the Isle of Wight and had a fantastic sail down through the Needles channel to Yarmouth. It was a broad reach all the way in a F3-4 wind and lots of sunshine. I was fortunate to take the helm for part of this trip Conditions at Ditsum got a bit hairy for Gil & Carloyn in 12’ Hay Ho and it was great fun although I soon found that steering a boat of this type (44’ long and 24 tons) with a tiller is not for the faint-hearted. The point soon came when I was grateful for the optional tackle with a 3:1 purchase to help me keep control. We arrived in Yarmouth in late afternoon and were soon tied up on the quay close to the ferry terminal and able to go ashore for a short stroll before dinner. It is not just the boat that distinguishes a trip on Amelie Rose from the average charter: the food is very good, too. Bee and Nick certainly did us proud for dinner with a fantastic b a k e d chicken dish with steamed beans and new potatoes. However, the fresh air, good food and a couple of glasses of wine all took their toll and we were all ready for bed by about 9.30! After the glorious sail out on Saturday the return trip on Sunday was a bit more “interesting”. We sat in Yarmouth harbour as most of the other boats there left early and scurried off in an easterly direction with the tide. We waited for the tide to turn so we could get out past Hurst castle against the breeze that had stiffened and gone around to the SW overnight. Faced with a F5-6 that was blowing pretty much on the nose and against the tide, we ended up motor- sailing all the way back to Poole with just the main up with one reef in. It was lumpy all the way but particularly so over Christchurch ledge where we took one breaking wave straight over the bow that rolled along the deck with a large part of it continuing on down the hatch which we had neglected to close up to that point! Now, it has to be said that I am not amongst the very best sailors in the world when things get a bit rough but I felt fine on this trip thanks to the very sedate ride that Amelie Rose gives to her crew. I even managed to do justice to the fine hot pasta lunch that Nick somehow managed to prepare for us en route. Whilst tucking into this, I was certainly very pleased not to have been aboard one of the few “plastic-fantastic” yachts that were being tossed about near us. Things calmed down a lot when we got into the lee of Great Harry rocks in Poole Bay and we had Amelie Rose safely back on her mooring by about 5 o’clock. I must admit I was quite sad when the time came to put the sail covers back on and go back ashore in the launch. You have probably realised by now that I had a great time on Amelie Rose. Given that she is such a fantastic boat and has a very competent and easy-going professional crew that can cook too it is difficult to see how anyone who thinks of themselves as a sailor could do anything else. For my part, I have already been looking at Amelie’s schedule to work out which trips I might be able to do in 2013 and I might even have to reconsider my prejudices about big boats, after all! The 2012 Start Bay Rally Fleet Congratulations to: Lee & Gemma Rogers, Sophia born 22nd November 2011 Fleur & David Lewis, Arrabella born 12th August 2012 9 Devon Gaffers 2012/13 Programme 3rd November (Saturday) 2012 Laying-up Lunch and AGM December Informal Get-together - Dartmouth January Informal Get-together - Plymouth February Informal Get-together - Topsham 12th or 13th April 24th -25th May 5th - 7th July 26th - 29th July 3rd or 10th August (Saturday) September (Sunday) Fitting-out Dinner November (Saturday) Brixham Heritage Regatta Start Bay Rally & Race Plymouth Classic Boat Rally Ditsum Regatta Gaffers Race Stoke Gabriel Boating Association Regatta 2013 Laying-up Lunch and AGM Our events are also listed on our website: www.devongaffers.org.uk [email protected] All areas of yacht rigging: specialising in traditional hand wire splicing and leatherwork, we are also able to swage wire terminals up to 16mm, supply and fit deck hardware, furling gear, modern rope splicing, and much more. Call or email us for friendly service and a competitive quote. 10