This Thursday evening I will complete my last day of sailing in the UK/Europe.
Just over 2500 miles in the last 9 weeks. Over 30 passages and countless days of messing  about on rivers and estuaries!

I’ve ran the gambit of experiences – enjoying beautiful scenery, massively challenging weather and met lots of interesting people in the process! Even the Medway River in Kent – a bastion of historical industrial activity can be exceptionally beautiful when you get off the main channel and into the marshes beyond. It was the setting for Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Vast expanses of water with dangers lurking below the surface – like very little additional water and lots of land! In a rain storm it can look like hell and when the sun shines and the sky clears – it can look simply stunning.

Along the way – I’ve collected my Royal Yachting Association Day and Coastal skipper ratings so I can charter a boat anywhere in the World (in theory).

I hold a Theory certificate at the Yacht Master level –  covering Advanced Navigation, CoRegs, Weather Interpretation. 

I have my Royal Yachting Association Sea Survival, First Aid, Diesel Maintenance, Radar and Power Boat Certificates AND I now hold a UK License to operate a VHF radio! Really, to legally operate a radio on a boat – you need a license!

I know which vessel has the right of way in any given circumstance and what to do even if they don’t (regardless of their size)! I can tell you the right day shapes boats should use for any situation – restricted by draught, limited in their ability to maneuver, towing, fishing, trawling or pilot vessel (on and off duty) and I can tell you what lights they should display at night including when they are “aground” or “not under command” – Maritime law is quite precise, if a little bit archaic. I can even tell you the probable length of a boat at night just by looking at its lights and if it happens to be towing (happens more often than you think) – I can tell whether the towing boat is probably over 50 meters in length and whether the overall tow is more or less than 200 meters in total length. ? If another vessel sounds a horn, rings a bell, hits a gong or just whistles, day or night, I know what it means and how to answer. Wouldn’t you like to know this too

I know which lateral and marker buoys are which and what they mean in a channel  – day or night, Occluding, Isophasing or just plain flashing!

On a good day, I’ll sail you on to and off a mooring ball and may be even a pontoon (on a good day – not every day may be – unless you can jump at speed). I can guarantee you if you fall overboard – I can come and collect you using or not using an engine (as long as the sea conditions aren’t ridiculous – in which case you’re on your own)!

If I invested another couple of weeks I could guarantee to collect a Yacht Master Offshore Certificate – and demonstrate my abilities to an examiner (sailing on on and off a mooring ball, a pontoon and the like – skills that are not totally relevant – offshore!). In truth, the thought of another couple of weeks living in a floating caravan will drive me over the edge – and so this adventure will end when and where I originally planned and so – I am officially done with qualifications and just before I stop loving sailing and also the will to live! Enough is now very much enough!

I set out on this journey with a very simple sailing objective in mind – to become a more compenent and safer sailor and I am definitely that now – no ifs, buts or maybe’s! BUT – in the process – my mind is now a little bit frazzled and I am really quite exhausted. BUT – I am very happy and ready to move on to whatever is next! 

Thank you to all at Elite Sailing in Chatham. To Steve Ellis – a 50 something year old naughty schoolboy who willingly imparted great knowledge (both theory and practical) and nearly always put a smile on our faces (nearly always). To Tom, who over 2 weeks drove us to be much, much better sailors (and he was one of the most practical, able and laid back sailors I have ever sailed with) sailing in conditions that would have frightened the life out of me without his quiet confidence in my abilities – even if he did go to his cabin in the middle of a Force 8 blow with a cursory “knock 3 times if you need me”. Cool or what? To Alex – who, when sailing into Campbelltown gave us a masterclass in how to sail aggressively and safely close hauled with more sail than I would ever have dared to fly (and for sailing on the most inefficient point of sail for way too long – just because you can – duh)! To Barry B – an all round great bloke and skipper who taught me more about boat systems than I ever thought I needed to know and who shared a few harrowing experiences along the way (I’d lay on the deck with him in a blow fixing a broken furling drum any day – but may be next time without the sea crashing over us!). To Dave Allen the owner of Elite for putting this thing together and for creating a wonderful sailing school with great instructors and a genuine sense of care – and for being one of the best instructors I’ve had. Quiet, direct and all knowing without any hint or arrogance. Finally to Shelley who keeps the entire Elite thing moving forward and does so with simple good grace.

A huge thank you to my sailing buddy and great friend, Simon Bell. Three months ago I didn’t know him and yet yesterday I had tears in my eyes saying goodbye to him when he left to head back to Liverpool. Comradeship is a huge part of getting through the good and the bad, keeping a sense of proportion and a smile on one’s face!

And throughout all of this – the wonderful Bernadette has been a brick (read that carefully!). She has tolerated the long absences and vast distances, the moments of lost confidence and distant euphoria and who coaxed me by phone through the days where all was not happiness and contentment, often in remote parts of the UK! She was and is my biggest fan. She has very poor judgement!

Now it’s time for she and I to have some fun together and move on to whatever is next.

Pip pip,

N