RoRC report on roving in the Yorkshire Dales
by Gareth Thomas 17 Sep 2020 13:33 UTC
The first report from a new RoRC will be rather scant as, for reasons beyond meteorological, sailing has not been on the agenda.
To introduce ourselves, Clare and I have been cruising for 10 years in our J120 Jalfrezi, after a reasonably successful, I am hesitant to use the word in a submission to the OCC, racing career. (The retirement from racing was the dawning realisation that the emptier the pocket the faster the speed.)
After oscillating up and down the western coast of Europe, from St Kilda to Coruna, we arrived in Gibraltar where a coin was tossed. Heads aim left, tails head right, so it was into the Med, in 2013, and now, seven years later Jalfrezi slumbers in her cradle in Chalkoutsi in the Evia Channel on the east coast of mainland Greece.
Clearly, air travel, and sadly hotels and restaurants are not what they were, so I have appointed myself, subject to ratification by the Committee, probably the first OCC RoMG, that is Roving Major General, the equivalent rank I believe for a land-based Roving Rear Commodore. The reason for this onerous appointment is that we have bought a campervan, which is basically the same as a boat, with the keel substituted by four wheels.
Apart from that, the challenges (problems are so passee) are the same: navigation, water, electricity, waste, fuel, gas, mooring in marinas (aka campsites) and anchoring in bays (aka fields and lay-bys). Wind strength and direction for pop-top billowing, sun azimuth for solar panel orientation, distance from hookups, toilet blocks and possible noisy or nappy changing neighbours must all be discussed and carefully considered before releasing the windlass.
We are currently on our shakedown cruise, or qualifying passage, for the voyage to Greece later in the year and our vague intention is to head to Ullapool then down the Outer Hebrides then possibly to Ireland, across from Ireland to Holyhead, North Wales and back to Norwich. But as one of my former colleagues said: "All plans are lost in the fog of cruising". Clare and I are looking forward to engaging with OCC members and promoting our wonderful club be it on the highway or the seaway.
This article has been provided by the courtesy of Ocean Cruising Club.