Round The World

A long time ago, in a land far far away, Lucy used to work in a shop on Victoria Street called Round The World. It was filled with bizarre and interesting design led objects, always cool, occasionally useless (sorry Mike) from...round the world. Little did Lucy know that thirty years later, I would be coaxing her onto a small boat to set of around the world, this time for real and perhaps returning, Christopher Columbus stylee, with some strange objects and lasting memories of our own. And so continues the blog that Lucy started last year and the continuation of which has been much requested, this post serving as a prologue to the chapters ahead.

To bring you up to date, this time last year we took delivery of our Allures 45.9 boat and named her Broadsword, in tribute to the well kent adventure epic staring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood; Where Eagles Dare. The idea of naming our tender Danny Buoy and having regular radio transmissions initiated with the infamous line "Broadsword calling Danny Boy, come in Dany Boy" would provide endless merriment to not just us, but anyone other Brit that cared to listen in. Lucy made a near fatal mistake of trying explain to a German couple why our boat was named as such, I nearly jumped of the pier to escape the toe curling embarrassment.

Broadsword is a fun name for a serious boat. The Allures 45.9 is designed for blue water cruising, that is to say, a yacht designed to be sailed shorthanded and equipped to cross oceans. Broadsword is strong, made from aluminium with a water tight bulkhead in the bow. Often referred to as the land rover of the sea, she can reach inlets and coves other yachts could simply not contemplate thanks to her lifting centre board and shallow draft. In fact, we could happily nudge her onto a sandy beach, let the tide ebb and walk ashore. Designed for weeks of continuous passage at sea she has water and fuel tanks that would keep a small village going in a drought. And if we did run low on water, we would turn on our water maker while our solar panels and wind turbine will keep the batteries topped up. But above all, she sails well, close enough to the wind whilst tracking fairly.

Having taken delivery last year, we headed over the English Channel and up the North Sea to Bergen. This was our maiden voyage and we were handed a three day Force 8 gale. For a rookie used to Mediterranean coastal charters, this was unplanned, unexpected and unwelcome. As the sea grew, huge boiling waves cascading all around and the wind howling though the rigging, our brave crew of Lucy, Dougie and Mark, anxiously looked to their skipper for reassuring signals. The trick was to appear calm and unconcerned as if being in the middle of the North Sea in the middle of the night in a Gale 8 was all perfectly normal. It seemed to work and our courageous crew kept smiling all the way through.

Like everyone else, covid stood in the way of our carefully crafted plans. We were denied the opportunity to explore Norway and only recently recovered Broadsword back to Scotland for a brief visit to Coll before Lucy and I sailed her from Oban to Cherbourg on our own. They call it "short handed sailing" when there's just two of you sailing round the clock, and this was our first introduction to what is an exhausting routine of watches; three hours on and three hours off. On watch is a nervous affair of managing the boat and her sails from the cockpit, on your own, in the dark, trying to stay awake, in all weathers, while not bumping into something foremost on your mind. And there's lots to bump into driving down the Irish Sea; ferry's, fishing boats, cargo ships, oil tankers and land, yes, solid land needs to be avoided at all costs. On night watch with no one for company, you count the hours and minutes down when some form of respite awaits at the end of your three hour stint, and you can step down below into your berth. But in spite of your utter exhaustion, you to struggle to get to sleep as boat does its very best to pretend to be an out of control roller coaster. We safely made Cherbourg in seven days where Broadsword is undergoing a service and warranty repairs with a few new bells and whistles installed for our adventures ahead.

Lucy and I return to Cherbourg in the second week of September with crew Ronnie Macdonald who will join us on leg two of round the world. Ronnie is taking his Yachtmaster Ocean exam and our 1000 mile continuous passage from Cherbourg to Gibraltar will serve has his qualifying passage. Our next posting, will report on how that goes.

Postings will be irregular, the timing determined by passage duration and internet access. We expect our journey to endure for three years, with trips home to recharge our emotional batteries, catch up with family and friends and deal with the occasional emergency. We have some friends booked in for certain legs and we hope to press them to serve up a guest blog which will no doubt add an alternative fly on the wall view on our progress.

We know this trip will test us, it will be hard at times and there will moments when we will wish we hand never embarked on such a ridiculous notion. But we also know there will be moments of great joy, we will visit places of wonder and make new life lasting friends from all over the world. All adventures have uncertain outcomes and ours will be no different. If we return with enough memories and mementos to fill a boutique in Victoria Street then we can safely judge the trip a success.

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