Sail Arthur Ransome’s Nancy Blackett
We do mean to take you to sea – or maybe just a trip down the River Orwell!
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rthur Ransome’s favourite yacht, Nancy Blackett, will be 90 this year. And remarkably, she’s still sailing –probably in better condition than ever – on the River Orwell and sometimes further afield, offering opportunities to discover the special delights of sailing a classic boat that’s also straight out of one of the best-ever sailing adventures. Named by Ransome after one of his best-known characters, self-styled pirate Nancy Blackett of Swallows and Amazons fame, he put her into one of his most exciting books, We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea. In fact he virtually built the plot around her, as the four children – the ‘Swallows’ from Swallows and Amazons – drift out of Harwich Harbour and face having to sail her across the North Sea to Holland. Ransome bought the 28ft four-berth cutter in 1935 when he and his Russian wife Evgenia were moving into the area, from the Lake District,
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in search of some sea sailing. He renamed her – she was called Electron when he found her in Poole Harbour – and sailed her round to Pin Mill through some atrocious weather, which helped give him the idea for the book. Nancy is now managed by the Nancy Blackett Trust, which was set up nearly 25 years ago to look after her, following her rediscovery – derelict in Scarborough Harbour in the 1980s – and an extensive restoration. Our aim, still, is to make her available for anyone – old, young or in-between – to enjoy a sail and experience the feel of being aboard the Goblin. Skippered cruises ensure safe sailing (no unintentional drifting out to sea!) and trips can be short, a day or half-day cruise on the Orwell, perhaps down to Harwich and back, or long, a week or a weekend, sleeping aboard and visiting London or exploring the other rivers of the East Coast. All our sailing is under the charge
espected sailor and writer Peter Willis is founder and President of the Nancy Blackett Trust, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year. His book Good Little Ship explores the themes of Ransome’s rite-of-passage novel We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, and how it came to be writen. Part maritime history, part literary criticism – a joyous homage throughout– it’s an impeccably-researched tale of the life, neardeath, rescue and restoration of the Nancy Blackett and a thoroughly engrossing read, whether you’re a lifelong lover of Ransome’s works, or discovering them for the first time. Photographs add life to the story, while Ransome’s drawings and own account of a voyage in her – as well as brief details of his other boats – mean this is a must-have for lovers of both boats and literature. Good Little Ship is published in paperback by Lodestar Books, £14.
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TheCoastalGuide 2021
