January 31st, London, England. I’m standing outside my hotel, about to be picked up by someone I’ve never met who will take me to a boat that would have been laid up by now, except that its hauling-out has been delayed just so that I can go sailing!
Sound a little unusual? Not at all, not to a Chebacco sailor! Richard Elkan is the new owner of Sylvester, built by Bill Samson up in Dundee, Scotland. When I emailed Richard to say I’d be in London and could we meet, he immediately offered a days sailing, even though he had planned to have Sylvester out of the water for the winter by then. Another example of a friendly and hospitable Chebacco sailor! (This was to be my second time in Sylvester – I first saw her (him?) in Dundee in 1999 when owned by Bill.)
Richard was right on time, and off we went to the Shadwell Docks, one of the oldest docks in London. It’s no longer used for commercial shipping, but is home to a large and active sailing/kayaking group (see their website at http://www.shadwell-basin.org.uk). There is good size basin for small boats and training, and since the river is tidal at Shadwell, it is protected by a set of locks, like a canal.
While we waited for Graham, the third member of the crew, Richard tested an elderly Seagull outboard motor – it hadn’t run for a while, and took a few pulls, but nonetheless rasped into life. Must be true, what Seagull folks say about their engines! Graham arrived about then, so off we went.
Sylvester lives on a mooring in the river itself.
Since the wind was howling down the river and kicking up a good chop, Richard thought it best if he and Graham went out to the boat in the dinghy, then picked me up from the beach – a gravely strip along the edge of the river.
It didn’t take them long to strip off the cover, raise the sails (with both reefs firmly tied in) and cast off the mooring. Sylvester fell off on the starboard tack, flew away to the other side of the river then back towards me and the beach.
Richard stopped her, head to wind in about a foot of water, I jumped in and she shot away again.
As I said before, the wind was coming down the river, about 20 knots worth, at least. As well, the tide was ebbing, adding its strength to the river’s current. Richard had planned to take the ebb tide down towards Gravesend then come back on the flood, but given the strength of the wind, we decided to start off upriver/upwind to be sure of getting back again. And what a sail it was. Even with both reefs, we had to pay strict attention, luffing through the gusts. Soon after we set out Richard handed me the tiller and I started a new chapter in my sailing career. Not only did I have to keep us upright, but also make what progress I could up the river, tacking every minute or two and keeping a sharp eye out for other river traffic – including cruising restaurants!
I didn’t have to worry about the mizzen, which was a big help, as Graham handled that throughout.
The banks of the river are lined with wharves, pilings and moored boats, and the tourist boats go up and down in a never ending stream. This was on the last day of January -- I dread to think what it must be like in summer! I don’t think I disgraced myself, but after each tack to the other side and back, my progress could be measured in inches. So I took the easy way out and gave the helm back to Richard, saying I wanted to capture the experience on my new digital camera. He showed me how it ought to be done, routinely leaning Sylvester over farther than I’ve ever had my own Wayward Lass – well, maybe I was that far once, but I thought I was going over that time!
I was quite impressed with how Richard and Graham worked as a team to gradually bring us up to the bend in the river where I could finally see Tower Bridge.
However, that was our limit for the day, and it had taken two hours to come perhaps half a mile up the river! We turned around and zig-zagged back down, so we could reach instead of run. In a very few minutes we were turning into the wind with sails flogging so I could step off onto my beach again. Sylvester was off on the instant, and was halfway across the river before I had waded ashore.
When Sylvester was moored again and the guys had joined me ashore, Graham said goodbye – it was his birthday and his family were waiting for him to come home so they could start the party! Richard showed me a few of the sights along the Thames, we even drove under the river (which is new since when I last drove in London.) We stopped at a boatyard where someone is finishing a Nigel Irens Romilly, but unfortunately the yard was closed and we couldn’t see the boat. It’ll be interesting to see how Romilly compares to the Chebacco – roughly the same size, accommodation and even a similar rig, at least superficially. Big difference in cost, though.
After a while, Richard noticed that the river hadn’t risen since we came ashore, so he phoned the local authority that measures these things. They told him it hadn’t risen for three hours, although it should have. The wind was strong enough to hold back the tide! Good thing we didn’t go downstream, we’d still have been there!
We were just in time to see a bit of the Maritime Museum at Greenwich, this was a treat for me as Shackleton’s lifeboat, the James Caird, is on display there. I snapped a picture before I saw the sign saying “no photographs”, but I’d probably have broken the rules anyway, Shackleton is one of my heroes.
Standing with my hand on the Caird’s gunwale, I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for the men who sailed her from Antarctica to South Georgia. And how did they find their way? I have trouble getting a decent sextant reading when I’m standing on dry land, never mind bouncing around in a 20 foot boat. Giants indeed.
Closing time arrived far too soon, and we had to leave. Our next stop was the nearby Greenwich Observatory, where we took pictures of each other astride the Prime Meridian. (It’s painted on the sidewalk!) However, the pictures didn’t turn out very well, probably because of my lack of experience with the camera, so I can’t show them to you. You’ll have to visit and see it for yourself. When we went back to the car, we found we were locked in, but someone arriving for the night shift kindly let us out! We finished the evening at Richard’s where his wife served us up an excellent dinner. I stayed later than I probably should have, but was enjoying myself too much to leave.
When I finally pulled myself away, Richard walked me down to the local station, and I caught the Underground back to my hotel – amazingly good train system, every city should have one just like it. And that was the end of a truly wonderful day. My heartfelt thanks to Richard, and Graham, for it.
Richard hauled
Sylvester the following week, for painting and other work. He sent this picture of her when she
went back in the water, he’s done a really nice job.
