JOHN LAING is at sea at the moment, resulting in a very crackly phone line further obscured by a great deal of giggling at the other end, from which I think we can conclude that the current voyage is going well.
As far as I could gather through the noise, the highlight of last weekend’s trip with staff from the Devon and Cornwall police (Plymouth to Falmouth to Plymouth) was that yet again they were in a prime position to see a firework display. This is becoming a regular feature of voyages skippered by Dave Carnson. If he manages to lay on one more view of fireworks before the end of this week, would it be safe to start advertising “Dave Carnson firework voyages” on next year’s sailing programme?
Craig adds that other good points of the voyage included his friend Gordy coming on board for supper in Falmouth, plus the fact that it was very sunny with good winds and “we went zoom a lot”. Apparently the crew enjoyed it and several were keen to come again.
The crew for this week are our old friends the Roundwood group once more. I don’t know how many voyages they have done with us, but Dave remembers sailing with them when he was skippering SPIRIT OF BOADICEA for the Ocean Youth Club in 1998. A great bonus with regular customers like this is their ability to get all the crew particularly well-prepared for the voyage, and Margaret, the group leader, had clearly done a great deal to ensure that they came armed with a lot of basic knowledge about sailing, which really paid dividends.
They started by sailing from Plymouth to Falmouth, where they were storm-bound for a day. The following day produced big waves, lots of “zoom”, and a fair number of full sick-buckets. But they made it into Penzance, where the harbourmaster was outstandingly friendly and welcoming, and gave us a second link to the days of the old Ocean Youth Club as he remembered another of our previous boats, FALMOUTH PACKET, once a regular visitor to the harbour.
As I write, JOHN LAING is just approaching Fowey, after another day of zooming and sick buckets which is apparently being enjoyed by all (even those fully focussed on the bottoms of the buckets).
Last week’s bulletin mentioned that the sea staff had been given presents by the crew. Much to the dismay of all those of us who are not on board at the moment, this has been happening AGAIN: what have this lot done to deserve it, cry hundreds of other envious sea staff? Anyway, Dave got a cook’s apron, having apparently introduced himself as the man in charge of the galley. But best of all, a whole new present-giving opportunity has opened up, with the news that Princess Craig has had his left ear pierced. He is extremely anxious that no-one should feel obliged to go out and buy him earrings; but come on girls, hasn’t everyone got a few pairs around the house which are never worn? I’m sure there’s a nice little diamante number which some misguided person once gave me for Christmas which would make Craig look so sweet….Just remember, anything pink, sparkly or dangly will be gratefully accepted, and will set off his muscles nicely.
However, even crew members who don’t come bearing gifts are still welcome, and we still have vacant berths on the trips 2-8 Sept and 9-15 Sept, both now reduced from £330 to £125, an amazing bargain so please help us to sell them – recommend us to everyone you know. The weekend Sept 24-26 has some spaces left too. And the 29th (Bank Holiday) and 30th August 2-day voyage, currently earmarked for adults (18+) isn’t fully-booked yet, and the organisation which hoped to take the full boat has said that they would be happy if other adults wished to sail in any spare berths. Call the office on 0870 241 2252 for more details or to book on any of these trips.
And don’t forget the Southampton Boat Show between September 10th and 19th. We still need some more people to come and help on our stand – crew, sea staff, friends and supporters. With the British Olympic sailing team doing so well, there could be plenty of young people who have been inspired by Shirley Robertson or Ben Ainslie to think about getting into sailing, and the Boat Show is ideally timed to catch their interest. We just need a stand with lively, enthusiastic people to tell them how much fun it could be, learning the basics of sailing on board JOHN LAING. Again, phone the office or email oytsouth@aol.com if you’re interested.