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MINNIE B

 

There are so many and one of the great things about sailing is that you go on learning – well, that fits with the government’s lifelong learning policy then, doesn’t it.

 

Having leaned to sail Wayfarers and Toppers on the River Thames at Kingston (Phil hates Toppers – all that getting wet!) in the 1980s and moving up to a Laser, big boats were clearly the place to be so that the G&Ts or the beer would not fall over.  However, Phil’s sailing skills were starting to develop under the tutelage of Gordon Kearney at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, in a National Squib in the early 1990s.  

 

Buying a Squib and club racing meant the learning curve continued to be steep, but the real desire was always something bigger that would sail over the horizon.  This desire was met for a time by a combination of reading (and dreaming), chartering mostly in Greece, and taking various RYA training courses.  The latter were brilliant and our guides and mentors were John Moore and Sally Livesey-Davies of Ulster Cruising School.  Brilliant teachers – when asked about the entrance to Campbeltown Lough, Sally quipped “I’ve never been here before!”  A very polite way of saying “don’t be a lazy sod and go check the chart and read the almanac”.

 

Both Norma and Phil owe a great deal to John and Sally for teaching them the right way to do things and providing the encouragement and inspiration to pursue the dream.

 

Phil did the Long Range Radio certification in September 2007 with Bob Smith at Yachtcom in Burlesden, Southampton www.yachtcom.co.uk .  This was a superb course – very intense, but Bob is an excellent trainer.

 

In February 2008, we undertook the Offshore Safety Course (RYA/MSA Small Craft Sea Survival Certificate & RYA/ISAF Offshore Safety Certificate) with Chris Rose www.ceejaysurvival.co.uk in Yorkshire.  This was outstanding and we came away with a very long list of things to buy as well as things to do to Minnie B and our safety gear.  We cannot recommend Chris highly enough – go there.

 

Then there have been our OVNI mentors – Stephen and Francine Johnson of North Sea Maritime www.northseamaritime.com , the UK and Ireland Alubat agents.  No question has been too much trouble and their knowledge of the boats is encyclopaedic.  They have been superb and provided is with much commonsense advice including steering us ever so gently away from some potentially silly and unworkable ideas.

 

We have also benefited greatly from discussions about what to do and how to do it on an OVNI with Colin Speedie, who has an OVNI 435.  Colin is a past  Chairman of the UK-based Shark Trust, a professional marine photographer and the project leader of the Wildlife Trust’s Basking Shark project.  His website can be reached here: www.wave-action.com

 

We have had invaluable help, advice and service from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have also learned much from reading books by sailors and a host of websites.

 

Geoff Pack’s “Blue Water Countdown”, 1992 and Annie Hill’s “Voyaging on a Small Income”, 1993 led us to believe we could do it and without needing vast amounts of money.

 

“Heavy Weather Sailing”, Adlard Coles and Peter Bruce did not put us off but motivated us to learn how to deal with what the ocean can throw at you and how to handle a boat safely.

 

Tom Cunliffe has provided, through a host of books and magazine articles, the knowledge base for boat handling and “Easy on the Helm” has been read many times over.  His “Ocean Sailing” got us through the astro-navigation training.

 

One very important book has been “The Cruising Woman’s Adviser”, Diana Jessie, 1997.  Phil bought this as a present for Norma without doing too much checking on the detail, completely missing the fact that this book would determine where they would not sail – by page 12, there is a reference to a book by Reanne Hemingway-Douglas titled “Cape Horn: One Man’s Dream, One Woman’s Nightmare”.  So that’s one trip we can forget about then.  Notwithstanding this, it is packed with information and observations by women about cruising and it should be on every cruiser’s bookshelf.

 

The Royal Yachting Association comes in for a lot of negativity on some boaty forums, but we believe the organisation does a great job.  Not only are the courses and publications excellent, but the work with the Olympic team is legendary and they are the voice of sailing in the corridors of Westminster and Whitehall.

 

Talking of legendary, then there is Jimmy Cornell, whose books and website www.noonsite.com (now sold on) have strengthened our determination and added to our confidence whilst at the same time developing a profound respect for the sea, the wind and the weather.  His ownership of an OVNI 43 provided the seal of approval for us when we were contemplating buying one.  We had the privilege to meet Jimmy in 2008 when he came to RNIYC to give a talk and we were able to spend some time with him, when we could discuss OVNIs and how to get the best out of them.  Every cruising boat should have a copy of “A Passion for the Sea: Reflections on Three Circumnavigations”, 2007.  In addition, his “World Cruising Routes”, “World Cruising Handbook” and “World Cruising Survey” provide the information to take on the world.

 

 

 

Who have we learned from?
Home.
Practical stuff we know.
Some of the websites we have found invaluable include:
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www.ybw.com - all your questions are answered here, mind you, some of the answers are rubbish but most are very helpful.

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www.noonsite.com - don’t leave home without it!

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www.freewebs.com/seawrite/index.htm - this is Rod Heikell’s website – how does he know so much?

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blog.mailasail.com/amoret/6 - for information on Spain and Portugal

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www.bumfuzzle.com - for not taking it all too seriously and having the confidence to go

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www.diybob.com - for lots of practical stuff

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http://www.cruiser.co.za/faq.asp - this has Jeanne Pockel’s Cruising Dictionary and it’s such a store of experience and fascinatingly useful information on … everything.
We think there will be more to come …