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Normally, this page would have been a straightforward, day to day account of what we had done during the current year's cruise. In the event, our world was over turned.
The following is largely the text of an article written for the Cruising Association.
A sailing life and a Mayday
For many cruising sailors the inevitable question will arise - how long can you cruise independently with minimal help from family and friends? Jennifer and I had our last unaided cruise in 2022 when I was 89. That year, after a start delayed due to a granddaughter’s COVID delayed wedding and my hernia operation we cruised from Dartmouth, mainly by ourselves, as far south as Le Palais.
Earlier in our sailing life, we had been away from Dartmouth for 14 years cruising the Mediterranean, Adriatic and the Iberian peninsula. That was after having previously cruised Biscay generally with crossings ranging from coast hopping to direct to A Coruna. In recent years, based at Darthaven, we had restricted our cruising to France as far south as Rochefort and Ile d’Oléron. There is much to see in this area and we could usually visit at least one new place each year. Vauban’s military architecture is well known throughout France and this area is well endowed. The Citadel at Le Palais is an outstanding example.
Obviously, there are favosites with Audierne being in the forefront after we were storm-bound there for two weeks in 2000 on our way down to the Med. Entry is far more simple now as the Z-shaped channel is well buoyed. Then, it was necessary to use leading lines with both forward and stern transits.
In January 2023, it all changed when Jennifer had a stroke. Luckily it was not severe and she has recovered remarkably well although she had to stop driving . Due to AMD, I have not driven for many years. This was a mixed blessing as we were no longer tempted to cruise by ourselves. Luckily, we have a family of sailors far more competent than we ever were. Our elder son is a well known RS800 (double trapeze wire) sailor with considerable experience in round the cans yacht racing. Our second son has yacht racing experience from a period spent in Brazil and was a winner of the Cowes Week 2-handed round the Island Rsce, in a Sigma 33. He now sails a 28 foot yacht up and down the US east coast.
Our daughter, Jayne, is a former world class dinghy sailor with experience in Europes, then an Olympic class and in Laser Radials in which she was 3rd and 5th in successive world ladies championships.
Jennifer had got me into sailing initially having spent family holidays on the Norfolk Broads. By the age of 18 she was capable of taking charge of a 28 foot yacht with only a quant pole for propulsion through bridges when there was little wind. That was my first experience of sailing. The family as a whole had learned much about sailing on the Thames at the now-defunct Laleham SC, just below Staines. A Met Office posting took us to Aden (South Yemen now) where Jennifer and I learned how to sail dinghies with trapeze wires. We would coach young servicemen from the wire.
In 2026, the plan was for Jayne, to skipper us to St Peter Port, Guernsey, where our younger son, John would meet us after flying in from the USA via Paris. Due to complications of having a small dog, Timmy, our daughter-in-law, Penni would go by land to Roscoff and meet us there. All very complicated by having a family spread apart by an ocean.
Before leaving Darthaven, I had a fall on the boat and needed treatment at Totbay hospital. A small but deep dent in my hrad was glued together. I thought that I had slipped on early morning dew on the boat deck. There was no reason for the hospital to query that. Then, on passage to Guernsey, came another, more serious, fall. I had been down below using the AIS to watch ships entering and leaving the Casquets TSS. We were just about clear and I remember thinking that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had resulted in fewer ships than normal. I vaguely remember standing on the cabin steps talking to Jayne but nothing else. Apparently, I fell bschwrads into the cabin, badly damajing an ear.
Jayne, not sure if I was dead or alive tried mouth to mouth resuscitation, patched up the ear and putt out a Mayday call on VHF. A small pleasure fishing boat heard the call and, being faster boat, offered to take me to St Peter Port. By a stroke of luck, all three on board were part-time paramedics. I remember being helped to their boat. Subsequently, after a transfer to a lifeboat, a French helicopter, again responding to the Mayday, lifted me and took me to St Peter Port. I had never realised how wet you get when lifted by a helicopter over water. Despite wearing the bottom half of a two piece waterproof suit I was verging on hypothermia when I arrived at the St Peter Port hospital.
After various checks, the doctors decided the two falls were due to my heart being a bit irregular and not always getting enough blood to the brain. I needed a pacemaker. They contacted our local hospital, Frimley Park (Camberley) and arranged for an air ambulance to get me there via Farnborough. All went smoothly although I was gazumped 3 times by more urgent cases. After one night of observation at Frimley Park, my pacemaker was installed and I was back home the following day. My second fall and helicopter lift were on 29 May. I began thinking about this article 9 June. Both the Guernsey hospital and the NHS acted promptly and effectively.
As well as contributing to the RNLI. I also support the air ambulance charity never thinking that I would need either.
Most of us sailors will have heard many Pan Pans and an occasional Mayday but usually as third parties. Being at the centre of an incident gave me a jolt and a totally different perspective even though I was not really aware of what was happening for much of the time. The details might not interest everybody. I hope that a real person account of how services work together might be reassuring to some. I can only encourage contributions to the Air Ambulance charity as well as the RNLI. You never know when you might need either or both.