The Curious Adventure of the Good Ship Zara

By Able Seaperson Twitchy 

As we set off to Alderney on Thursday night at 11:15, one and a quarter hours later than planned, I started my stopwatch not dreaming that some 23 hours later it'd still going. It was a calm, mild evening as we set sail and we all enjoyed searching for the various flashing light sequences that Richard had written out to navigate us out of the Solent.

By 2am I was feeling very sleepy and couldn't wait to try out the little cabin I was to share with Mel. Actually, for a large part of outward journey I claimed single occupancy, as while Mel was helping out on deck and contemplating life at sea, I was spending long periods of time sleeping.

I did help out by making cheese and ham sandwiches for everyone, that was until being below deck got too much for me and I had to rush up to be sick. Poor Mel, there she was with a cheese sandwich in one hand and me in the other, making sure that I didn't end up as "man overboard" in my moment of sickness. Luckily I quickly recovered and was soon joining everyone, except Stuart, in munching our way through sandwiches, crisps, chunky kit kats, ginger biscuits and Jamaican ginger cake - oh the diet of a Beckenham club runner.

Stuart on the other hand was extremely sea sick for the entire journey and hour upon hour sat in the cabin not daring to move for fear of throwing up. So bad was his experience that he ended up forfeiting the return voyage and booking a flight.

Meanwhile not everyone was suffering. Will, admittedly dosed up to the hilt on sea sickness pills and wearing strange looking plasters on the side of his head, took to sailing like a duck to water. He became an expert at the helm and gave me a couple of rather enjoyable lessons on the art of steering!

The hours passed away and we slowly made progress across the English Channel while Mel smoked her way through a packet of Malborough lights and we stuffed ourselves with more highly nutritious snacks provided by Ken B. Whoever dared to venture below deck was asked to fetch more food, sunglasses, mobile phones etc. and we lived in hope that they might survive down there long enough to make us all a cup of tea. I admired Richard's ability to regularly go below deck and plot our route to check we really were on course for Alderney.

At long last the Cherbourg peninsula was spotted on the horizon but we were still many hours from our destination. No one had mobile phone coverage and we were unable to contact Ruth and Ben who had been expecting us about 2pm. Eventually we did manage to text them and they replied saying they'd delay the table they'd booked at the Indian until 9 o'clock.

Daylight turned into twilight and the weather was deteriorating but at long last we could see Alderney. At about 9pm in driving rain we were sailing in one direction for 30 minutes before I believe the nautical term is, tacking to change direction into towards land. That was very exciting and we did it 3 times before we were finally on course to follow the leading lights into Alderney's harbour. At long last, 23 hours after we had set sail and much to everyone's relief, we were there.

We were so delighted to be greeted by Ben and Ruth, who had braved the elements and spent many hours wondering if we were still alive, to meet us on the quayside. Also, thanks go to our B&B owner who came out in a dinghy to take Mel, Stu, Will and me ashore for the night. An excellent decision to book a B&B for the night, Mel. We left Andy, Richard and the two Ken's behind to enjoy the delights of another night on the boat!

By the time we reached dry land, Mel was craving a cigarette having run out many hours ago. However, this was Alderney and everywhere was closed. Ben and Ruth accompanied us back to the B&B where Mel and I had booked a room for two but had turned into a room for 4 after Will and Stuart decided to join us. I think the owner thought that Ben and Ruth were trying to sneak in as well as there we were, the 6 of us, at midnight all together in our room. But after hot showers, pot noodles and more chunky kit kats, they left for an early morning hike back to their campsite. That left the 4 weary sailors to confess any night time habits before settling down for a good night's sleep and dream (or not) of the half marathon in less than 11 hours time.

Awoke to a lovely sunny day and a full English breakfast. First on our agenda as we set out to explore St. Mary's, was to buy cigarettes for Mel, Imodium for Will, replenish our supply of sea sickness pills and a flight ticket home for Stuart. Before we knew it, it was time to prepare for the midday start for the half marathon. Despite not necessarily having had the best pre-run preparations, we all really enjoyed the run, especially Will, Ken and Stuart who were well deserved winners and record breakers. I'm just glad they didn't test Will for drugs. And finally, albeit 24 hours late, we made it to the Indian restaurant.

On the return journey, as well as Stuart, we were without Andy who was jet setting off to the South of France on business. At 10pm, 6 of us returned to the harbour where earlier in the day we had booked the water taxi man to take us to our boat. He seemed a miserable bugger at the time and proved to be so by failing to show. There were other people waiting to get back to their boats as well. We finally managed to hitch a lift with a local RNLB lifeboat man, who while out for a meal with his wife had offered to take two stranded people back to their boat. He ended up taking 5 of us as well while Richard had to row our dinghy back to the boat. This was a worrying moment as the wind was blowing a gale and waves were crashing over the harbour wall.

After a night on the boat where Mel and I did finally get to share our cabin, we set sail at 7am, a much more sociable time to sail. I have to say the first part of the journey back was brilliant, it was a fine day and we made excellent progress in what, with the tide in our favour, were good sailing conditions. However, with the sea livening up and the waves getting bigger, Richard made the decision to head for Poole rather than return to Southampton. Poole was about 15 miles nearer and would avoid going past the Needles that, so I'm told, are notorious with sailors in bad weather. At one stage with the sea at its roughest the boat was leaning excessively and Richard said we had to reef the sail. This entailed Will clambering out to the front of the boat to reduce the total area of the sail - very brave Will.

We also had the excitement of a couple of 30 foot, well maybe I'm exaggerating, waves come crashing over the boat from behind, soaking us all. We'll all remember Richard's words to Will of "Don't look behind you" as it happened for a second time. This was an experience that I believe even Richard, with his many hours sailing behind him, had not experienced before. Anyway we all lived to tell the tale and apart from Ken F with his black eye, where a stray pole hit him, we were none the worse for wear. We arrived back in Poole in a mere 11 hours.

What a great adventure and far more eventful than my average weekend. When I was back at work the next day, Mel and I texted each other to say that land life was boring and sea life was fun. Huge thanks go to Richard for his organisation and leadership skills and I end by saying roll on next year's adventure.

Twitchy    

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