Regalia/Events Secretary: Peter Waring - events@capehorners.org
Webmaster: Andrew Edsor - webmaster@capehorners.org
Journal and Correspondence: Jan Cambrensisjournal@capehorners.org (Email for postal address)
Archivist: Chris Roche - archivist@capehorners.org
74 Stanley Road, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 4LF
Tel: 020 8647 1396
Committee Member: Robert Cambrensis (Internet) – robert@capehorners.org
We hope you enjoy reading this journal, CHJ75. More information about the IACH is on our website at www.capehorners.org Do take a look. For the website, please send any queries, comments and suggestions to Webmaster Andrew.
The Journal Editor also welcomes your comments, suggestions and articles too. Email your stories and reminiscences to Jan at journal@capehorners.org If you prefer to go paperless and have your journal sent as a pdf, let us know.
From the Chairman
Dear Cape Horners, Associates and Friends,
For a while now, the IACH has been building a definitive list of circumnavigators who have sailed around the world solo, non-stop and via the three capes –Australia’s Cape Leeuwin, Africa’s Cape of Good Hope and South America’s Cape Horn. The list is known as ‘The Register’.
To compile The Register, which is a work in progress, much time-consuming research has been carried out into various publications and online records. Exisiting lists have been consulted and, occasionally, entries have proved to be misleading.
For example, one sailor named elsewhere as a solo circumnavigator took his boat overland as part of his circumnavigation – not all under sail then. Another sailor was dismasted before Cape Horn. He repaired his yacht in Antarctica but then his son sailed the yacht back to Australia – not totally solo then. Elsewhere, research shows those listed as having circumnavigated the three capes clearly reveals that a number of sailors actually navigated via the Suez or Panama Canals.
One circumnavigator appears on a list that has ‘non-stop’ as one of its criteria. In this case, technical problems caused the sailor to make a stop, at the end of which he accepted a tow. The sailor correctly told Race Control who then disqualified him from the race. The sailor certainly circumnavigated but his participation cannot be considered ‘non-stop’.
These examples show the kind of difficulties that our researchers have encountered and thus the need to start from scratch with proper, meticulous research. These instances are presented here not to show fault but to demonstrate that accuracy in compiling The Register is of paramount importance.
The International Association of Cape Horners is pleased to announce that, to date, at least 128 people have been added to The Register as having sailed around the world solo, non-stop and via the three capes. The IACH plans to update The Register on a regular basis through this journal and its website. The Register can be found at: http://capehorners.org/register.html
The IACH further recognises the courageous efforts of all solo sailing circumnavigators, whatever their routes, stopping and non-stop, and intends to maintain, within The Register, a section for those whose journeys took them via the Panama and Suez Canals.
The IACH would, therefore, like to invite any person who has sailed around the world solo and non-stop, by whichever route and who would like to be included in the appropriate section of The Register to email robert@capehorners.org for an application form. Membership of the IACH is not necessary for inclusion in The Register.
Fair winds and best wishes,
Ashley Manton
A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY!
The Cape Horners’ annual Reunion Lunch will be held on Sunday 24th November in the
PRINCESS ROYAL GALLERY
At Portsmouth Dockyard, RN Museum See enclosed flyer for all details
Once again it promises to be a great event YOUR FRIENDS ARE WELCOME
Any Volunteer Transcribers Out There?
Chris Roche, ‘The Cape Horner’ former editor of 37 years would like to hear from any volunteers who would be interested to transcribe recordings of conversations with sailors from various tall ships. It is important to be able to access these important records for historical purposes and pertinent excerpts may be featured in future editions of this journal. If this interesting opportunity appeals to you, Chris has a varied collection of audio files in a number of different languages to investigate Email Chris at archive@capehorners.org
Horner
Yachting News in Brief
La Longue Route 2018-19
A celebration of Moitessier’s route of 1968, 19 yachts started in June 2018 and five completed the voyage. A further five sailors started the route in June 2019. This is not a race but a journey to be completed without regulation and with the sense of freedom that Moitessier enjoyed. www.longueroute2018.com
The Clipper Round the World Race 2019-20
The 12th edition of this race started from London on 1st September. Follow the race at www.clipperroundtheworldrace.com/race/standings
Vendee Globe 2020
Alex Thomson’s preparations are well under way for his attempt to become the first British sailor to win the prestigious Vendée Globe. Starting on 8th November, the line-up includes many sailors, like Pip Hare, who have yet to venture into the Southern Ocean and whose main goals are to get around the world safely and to finish. www.vendeeglobe.org
GGR 2022
22 sailors from 10 different countries have already signed up for the next GGR which is to start on 4th September 2022 in Les Sables d’Olonne. www.goldengloberace.com
Ocean Globe Race 2023
A celebration of the 1973 Whitbread. A retro fully crewed race. Read more on page 24. www.oceangloberace.com
Phoenicia
A 50 ton, 20 metre long, square-rigged boat is the only working replica of a Phoenician vessel in the world. The Phoenicia started her voyage in Tunisia in September 2019 and plans to reach the shores of America in December. www.phoeniciansbeforecolumbus.com
The Sinking of Elbe Wanderbird
The restored Pilot Schooner No.5 Elbe, ex-Wander Bird sank in June after colliding with a container ship. Built in 1883, it made many transatlantic crossings in its lifetime and in the 1930s, it was sailed around Cape Horn from east to west by the Tompkins family. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKS-bGcoZW4
Jeanne Socrates – Celebrating in Canada
Age Is Just A Number
On 7th September 2019, IACH member Jeanne Socrates finished 339 days at sea after her latest circumnavigation under sail. This time, however, at the age of 78, she became the oldest person ever to sail nonstop, solo and unassisted around the world.
Jeanne left Victoria, Canada, on 3rd October 2018, rounded Cape Horn in December and continued a tortuously long leg alone in the Southern Ocean before suffering a dangerous knockdown south of New Zealand in May, 2019.
Jeanne was unhurt but her yacht S/V Nereida, suffered damage to solar and wind charging equipment. She had rounded the SE Cape of Tasmania the previous week and was sailing SE in 45kt WSW winds and 8 metre seas with minimal staysail when the knockdown happened. No bones were broken this time and she was able to continue northbound in the Pacific heading back to Victoria in British Columbia.
Jeanne’s diary updates are a reminder of the relentless hard work that needs to be done in a life at sea and how much beauty there is too.
‘Wednesday 10am Tahiti/Hawaii time (Wed 2000 GMT) Grey cloudy sky - just circled around to get back on course after wind dropped more and backed sails in swell... Making NW at 1.5kt or less - difficult to hold a course...
10:30am ... in fact, impossible! We're drifting SW at under 1kt, despite a boat heading of 350T. Best to ignore trying to maintain a course and get on with jobs while wind is down. Wind generator blades are still, showing wind is anything from zero to 5-6kt - so nothing to sail by.
Was delighted to see a Black-footed albatross fly by early this morning - nearly all-dark - hope to see again - they're not uncommon all over the N. Pacific, right up to the W. coast of N. America. I've twice seen one, on different trips, just outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca in October.
Midday We're drifting SW in light NE wind of 7-8 knots, judging from the wind generator which is only just about spinning. Since we need to head NE and that's clearly impossible, I've furled in the staysail and lowered the mainsail (to third reef). I was hoping doing that would slow down our SW drift but it seems not to have made much difference. Clearly it helps stop wear on the sails, which is good. Part of the reason for keeping the sail hoisted with the third reef tied in is to get at the mainsail tear on the leech there - it needs some more attention, once I've finished with the other jobs.
Another item needing attention is the starboard sheet winch - it's started squeaking so clearly needs cleaning and greasing. Not a big job and I'll get to it after lowering the genoa - that's the job of the moment, now wind has died down so much. Pressure is 1023.7hPa - same as the 1024hPa given for the High's centre in the forecasts.
2:30pm Plan A just went down the drain ... impossible to unfurl the tattered genoa from the forestay... It's too tangled in place around the foil for the material that was torn away from the edges (leech and foot) to come undone. So, the forestay and furling gear can't be used now for another sail, as I'd hoped. Spent a time tidying up the lines around the mast and securing the genoa, its furling line and sheets (control lines).
Bright, sunny, peaceful, relaxing day. Smooth sea but with 2m swell rocking the boat from side to side. Pressure is 1023.5 - so fairly constant - and we're drifting NW. About to try to mend the lowest tear in mainsail again, while I've access from cockpit with that part of mainsail being close to the boom. Sticky tape initially, running out of Gorilla tape but will use up what I've got left since it
Cape Horner Journal - 8 -
seems to be holding fairly well if I use a long enough piece each time. Having lunch 'on the run' - shrimps with sweetcorn and mayonnaise - tasty and it's still warm enough for cold food. Tonight, I’ll finish it and follow with some blue cheese on crackers - had been saving it for my celebrations...!
9pm Increased swell from NE rolling us about a lot. Spent useful time this afternoon attaching the removable inner forestay to a dedicated point on deck below the genoa furler drum and then hoisting the storm jib on it, using the 2nd genoa halyard. Added a long strop below the tack of the jib so it ended up raised very high - hopefully, getting more wind - it's not at all big...
Used one long line to make its pair of sheets (control lines), using a cow hitch at the clew. Used the electric drill to add a machine screw onto the track to act as a stop behind the newly repaired genoa car - now in use to take a sheet from the storm jib. All finished in the last of the daylight this evening.’
While sailing around the world, Jeanne, a British yachtswoman originally from the London Borough of Ealing, raised funds to help support the work done by the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Search online for ‘Just Giving Jeanne Socrates’.
Jeanne already holds the record as the oldest female to have circumnavigated the world single-handed, and she is the only woman to have circumnavigated solo nonstop from N. America. For further diary examples of Jeanne’s life at sea, see her website at www.svnereida.com To view the tracker that displays Jeanne’s complete voyage, search online for ‘shiptrakv4 kc2iov’. See www.capehorners.org for videos too.
Did you know … ?
Source: www.svnereida.com
The Globe40 – La Grande Route is a new round the world race that will start on 27th June 2021 from France following this route: France – Cape Verde –Mauritius – Auckland – Papeete – Ushaïa – Recife – Grenada – France. The event is open to monohulls with the Class40 measurement and rules. Each yacht will be double-handed and a change of skipper will be allowed at each stopover.
Blind Sailor Crosses Pacific
Japanese sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto sailed for fifty-five days non-stop from San Diego, USA to Iwaki, Japan arriving on 20th April this year. He was accompanied by sighted navigator Douglas Smith in his 12 metre yacht Dream Weaver. Smith claims to have no prior sailing experience but was simply inspired by the blind Iwamoto’s sense of adventure.
Cape Horner Journal - 9 -
Bass Strait - A Night from Hell – part 1
Event: BT Global Challenge, 2000-2001. Location: Bass Strait, Australia What follows is an email sent by Veritas skipper Will Carnegie describing the tortuous events of the previous night at sea.
From: Veritas
Sent: 14 March 2001 01:13
Subject: Bass Strait - a night from hell
Last night was our first night at sea without our dear friends Charlie and Robert. With a near full moon and 17 knot breeze VERITAS could not have been in better conditions, making eight knots towards Cape Town, she shuddered and bumped across the odd wave; normally I would sleep soundly through such small bumps yet last night every single one startled me awake and once or twice I actually leapt out of my bunk before realising that the horrors of the night before were over.
I guess the memories will fade with time, as will Charlie’s horrific injuries and Robert’s amputated finger, some however will stay, and for me, the sounds of that night will always be with me.
Some sounds stand out more than others - let me describe them; the shattering BANG as the wave hit the starboard quarter was truly terrifying, from down below I am convinced we have hit a ship or container, running on deck in shorts, a t-shirt and lifejacket, I am greeted with a scene of complete carnage, splayed around the cockpit are members of the watch, some crying out in pain, others dazed, sheets and halyards trail behind the yacht, stanchions are bent through 80 degrees and the huge dome is gone, completely gone. My immediate reaction is to ascertain whether anyone has gone over, thank God no-one has, I think, as recovery would be near impossible.
My next priority is to stabilise the yacht, taking the helm from Will B, I bear away and steady her out. It's only now that my mind starts taking in the sounds and sights of what has just happened, Robert sits in the moonlight 3 metres from me quietly saying "I think I have lost my finger" and poor Charlie, feet splayed at
VERITAS, BTGC 2000-2001
unnatural angles cries out, obviously in excruciating pain as the yacht continues to bang across the waves.
Stephen Fillery is my medic and a man I trust implicitly, with 35 years in the police force under his belt, Stephen is one of the few people who can really keep his cool in a crisis - and there he is in front of me in the spray assessing Charlie. You do not need to be a medic to realise that Charlie is not looking good, almost straightaway we agree that he will have to be moved below so two shots of morphine are administered. Meanwhile, the team are rallying around, Robert is helped below, a team of five work their way forward to drop the yankee, the kettle is put on and Debbie helps me into my jacket and a warm hat as by now I am soaked through.
Moving Charlie is not going to be easy and will be agony for him, but we have to do it. Big Pete, Kev and other willing hands prepare for the big lift. I scream to Charlie "Shout as much as you like" and tell the others to be strong and work quickly despite his screams. With Stephen overseeing the move Charlie is dragged, broken limbs trailing awkwardly across the cockpit, every winch, sheet and bump leaving him screaming in pain. It takes nearly twenty minutes.
If you have never heard a grown man screaming in agony, I hope you never do, for it is a sound that is so unnatural that it takes a huge amount of strength to carry on working. Those that moved Charlie below are heroes, and despite the cries of pain from their watch leader, they manage, somehow to lower him headfirst down the companionway and into the saloon where he is lain on the deck wedged against the galley.
So now we have control and I leave VERITAS in the hands of Al, my other watch leader and move below. Stephen is now cutting away Charlie’s foulies and boots to reveal hugely swollen injuries and bones protruding from an ankle, many of us have to look away and I realise immediately that we must get Charlie and Robert ashore ASAP.
Making a distress call is almost surreal, something I have practised time and time again, yet now I am having to take a deep breath and think hard‘Pan Pan Medico, Pan Pan Medico, Pan Pan Medico, This is Yacht VERITAS, VERITAS, VERITAS, My position is 38 degrees 11 South, 150 degrees 20 West, I have a seriously injured crewmember requiring immediate evacuation - Over.’
CHJ75 Cape Horner Journal - 11 -
VERITAS Skipper Will Carnegie 2001
I wait for what seems like hours. Sending out a Sat C message to RHQ simultaneously, I repeat the call for help. Suddenly the radio crackles to life, a merchant vessel has heard our call and relays to Melbourne Radio. Soon I am talking to the Coastguard and we are one stage nearer help.
Then comes the reassuring voice of Richard Chenery, Skipper of Quadstone, he asks if they can help so I ask him to stand by to relay for me if necessary. We do not feel so alone anymore.
It's now time to head inshore, Malcolm calculates that the nearest port of refuge is 44 miles away on the South Eastern Coast of Australia, it will take 5 hours to reach land, Stephen looks worried and wants to try and get Charlie off sooner. I press for help but with weather conditions so bad, it will have to wait, so for now we will head at best speed for land. I ask Al and his watch to tack the boat, Charlie cries out as we hammer over the waves, Robert sits dazed holding his bloodied hand aloft.
Will Carnegie Skipper, Team VERITAS
Will has spent the last 18 years working with teams and leaders in corporate organisations as a professional coach and trainer. He's driven by a passion to help others by sharing his own experiences of leadership and teamwork. Will races a Laser dinghy regularly and acts as the RYA Principal at his local sailing club.
All photos courtesy of Will Carnegie. With special thanks to Will Carnegie, Charlie Smith and Robert Brooke.
Have You Heard About …?
(to be continued)
…. the 79 Year Old Australian Who Wants to Circumnavigate Again?
Jon Sanders from West Australia completed his 10th circumnavigation in 1977 but he doesn’t want to sit at home. He has already decided to take his 34ft boat Perie Banou II around again for the 11th time.
Disclaimer: There are many dates and details in this journal about forthcoming events. If you are making travel plans to any event or location, please be sure to find the latest updates on the appropriate websites as changes do happen. As much as we would like to be totally accurate, do not base your travel plans only on what you have read here!
Will Carnegie, 2019
2022 Golden Globe Race
Twenty-Two Participants Already
With three years to go, twenty-two sailors from ten countries are already preparing for this 2nd retro, solo, non-stop round the world race that will start on 4th September 2022 from Les Sables d’Olonne.
Route of GGR 2022
Ten nationalities are represented so far (with more expected):
Changes to the 2022 Notice of Race reflect lessons gained from the 2018 Race while maintaining the spirit of the GGR. On the all-important issue of heavy weather and equipment, there were no changes.
Race Organiser Don McIntyre explains: "In relation to storm tactics and equipment to use like drogues, no individual or expert exists with a sure solution, or the ultimate answer. Every boat, storm, wave pattern and situation is different, so we will NOT regulate what entrants must do, or should have. Like all good sailors, we keep discussing it, learning and researching, then make our own decisions and face our own destiny. Their life is in their hands. If there is one thing all entrants are very aware of and serious about, it is how they plan to survive the Southern Ocean. They do not need us to tell them and we don’t have a guarantee to give."
Details of participants and their yachts are on the GGR website at www.goldengloberace.com If you know any of these participants and you can tell us about their preparations, we would love to hear from you – Ed.
Eye of the Wind
Clipper Round the World Race 2019-20
The Clipper Race is on Leg 2 and the yachts are currently en route to Punta del Este in Uruguay. This 15-leg race started and will finish in UK and will take approximately one year. Eleven teams and more than 700 crew will race over 40,000 nautical miles before returning to London.
The Clipper round the world race offers many ordinary sailors to cross one or more oceans as they participate in this chance of a lifetime. Among them, there are 9 circumnavigators with a wealth of experience while many will never have sailed before. Twelve nations are represented with the youngest and oldest crew members being 17 and 70 years old respectively.
Leg Start Dates
Sept. 1st, 2019 London, UK
The Clipper yachts that we’ll be hearing
Sept. 15th, 2019 Portimåo, Portugal about across the media are:
Oct. 23rd, 2019 Punta del Este, Uruguay
Nov. 17th, 2019 Cape Town, South Africa
Dare to Lead
Dec. 22nd, 2019 Fremantle, Australia Ha Long Bay
Jan. 18th, 2020 Whitsundays, Australia Bermuda
Feb. 21st, 2020 Sanya, China
Imagine Your Korea
Feb. 28th, 2020 Subic Bay, Philippines Punta Del Este
Mar. 9th, 2020 Zhuhai, China Qingdao
Mar. 26th, 2020 Qingdao, China Seattle
May 2nd, 2020 Seattle, USA UNICEF
Jun. 5th, 2020 Panama
Visit Sanya - China
Jun. 27th, 2020 New York, USA WTC Logistics
Jul. 9th, 2020 Bermuda Zhuhai
Aug. 2nd, 2020 Derry-Londonderry, N.I.
The newest team entry
Imagine your Korea is led by skipper Mike Surridge, 55, originally from Canterbury, Kent and now living in West Sussex. He started sailing in his early twenties and has recorded in excess of 100,000 nautical miles in his logbook. Whilst Skipper Mike has extensive racing experience, he has yet to become a Cape Horner. Perhaps he’ll be looking to do just that another time.
The race finishes on Saturday, 8th August, 2020 when one team will win the coveted Clipper Race Trophy.
Source: www.clipperroundtheworldrace.com
If you see any of the Clipper yachts en route around the world, please send us your photos!
Follow the yachts on the tracker: www.clipperroundtheworldrace.com/race/standings
Maiden, the Film
A Documentary Film - Great reviews, brilliant story, thoroughly well-told.
Maiden, a new documentary by Alex Holmes, tells the story of the first all-female team to sail in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989-1990 under the leadership of Tracy Edwards. Before that, in the 1985-86 Whitbread in her attempt to be a part of a yacht’s crew, the only position that Tracy could find was that of a cook. She was one of five women among the 200 male participants.
Tracy’s experience was sufficient enough to encourage her to do the unthinkable at the time and to commit to taking part in the 1989 race with a totally female crew. The first issue was to get enough money to buy a boat and the second, to get it into round-the-world sailing shape.
finding the sponsors
Not finding the sponsors she needed, Tracy started off by re-mortgaging her house. She recruited 12 women as crew to both work on the boat and to sail in the race. Despite batterings by critics and predictions by fellow sailors that they would not finish the first leg, the boat named Maiden and skippered by Tracy, won two out of six legs of the Whitbread and came second in its division overall.
This film retraces the incredible achievements of Maiden and her crew. This is one of those films where you never look at your watch or phone to see what the time is as the film is so deeply engrossing and inspiring. It’s astonishing that, back in the 1980s, when sailing was such a male-dominated sport, the anger and backlash was such that some critics even told Tracy Edwards that she and the Maiden crew would die in the Whitbread. Did this stiffen the women’s resolve to compete and be the best they could be? They continued on regardless and now we can share the full story of their various successes. – Ed.
The Critics Consensus: ‘Enthralling viewing even for audiences with little to no knowledge of or interest in sailing, Maiden pays powerful tribute to a true pioneer.’ (Source: Rotten Tomatoes) Whilst Maiden has been in the cinemas in UK since March 2019, it’s not easy to track down. Best ask at all good cinemas near you!
Photo: www.themaidenfactor.org
Cape Horner Journal - 17 -
Inside the Mind of Solo RTW Multihull Sailors
How Do They Do It?
Compared to the relative scarcity of news about sailors and sailing in life before the Internet, nowadays there’s an absolute abundance of news articles, magazines, tweets, links and videos. The difficulty with that is that we have to look harder to find the best ones. A couple of recent, unmissable ones are presented here. – Ed.
Alex Thomson
In this ‘Peak Performance’ video, Alex talks frankly about how psychology, visualisation techniques and goal setting on board have helped him sail better and faster. Brutal, challenging and relentless are just a few of the memorable adjectives used. Alex has taken part in the Vendée Globe many times. In 2020, he aims to be the winner. This video is worth 6 minutes of anyone’s time. Watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=293&v=ma3xTY0cLzo or on Inc.com: https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/alex-thomson-peak-performance-setting-goals.html
Thomas Coville
If you haven’t yet watched this video of Thomas Coville as he talks about sailing solo on the multihull Sodebo 3, the following will give you a taste. Solo circumnavigators are a separate breed, they say. The challenges are enormous and this kind of sailing can be an emotional roller coaster – so how do they do it?
Thomas talks about mental strength and resilience, much needed attributes for any solo sailor. This can be seen when he broke the round the world speed record in the trimaran Sodebo 3 in 2016 and, his feelings flooded out. For perhaps the first time ever, he was overcome by the complex emotions of winning: finishing, exhaustion, escape from fear of failure, delight at pleasing his team and his family, to name a few.
In 2008, he made his first attempt to be the fastest person to sail solo around the world. He finished in 59 days 20 hrs 47 mins 32 secs., missing Francis Joyon’s record by 2 days. ‘Sailing by yourself is like you have music in your mind. When you have that music, there’s a fantastic emotion.’ These are the days of consistent winds, high speeds and often in the sunshine.
But of the fierce conditions in the Southern Ocean, he comments ‘Big waves, 910 metres, probably with very big icebergs like islands around you. You can see them coming in the dark. Yes, you can die.’ The reality is clear.
There may be loneliness at sea but there’s also loneliness ashore despite the love and admiration from family, team members and supporters. He comments, ‘There are only five people who have gone around the world solo in a multihull like this. You have to expect that however much you explain, nobody is really going to understand.’
Thomas speaks of the lack of sleep that the solo sailor experiences and how, if you wanted to make someone really crazy, then you would deprive him of sleep for a long time. But the pressure to stay fast is immense. ‘It’s nearly torture but you are the only one pushing yourself in this torture.’
‘At some point, you think that you’d like it to stop, that you want to sleep’, but lack of sleep leads to the most dangerous of situations. He says ‘I’ve been walking on the net, being very close to the floats and I think - only one step more and it’s over … I don’t know any sport that pushes you like this.’
In 2016, the elusive record having escaped him on four occasions since his first attempt, he set off on his 5th solo attempt around the planet, this time to return triumphant, creating a new world record in just over 49 days. Watching the highly charged footage of his eventual victorious arrival, it’s clear that he was overcome with emotion.
His sense of family as well as self-belief shine through: ‘If I had done it only for me or only for 49 days 3 hours, I would have stopped before, but when you share this with family, you make the bond stronger. There is no dream that you can’t achieve.’
Just 12 months after Thomas set it, his prized world record was broken by François Gabard in the 30 metre trimaran Macif in just over 42 days 16hrs. But now Thomas Coville wants his record back so watch his space.
Source: World Sailing Show, published June 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTWVq4e50SU Fast forward to the pertinent section: 12:03-23:41
Apologies to Thomas Coville for spelling his name incorrectly as Colville in CHJ74 – Ed.
Correspondence
Speedy recovery!
We wish the IACH’s 91-year-old vice-president Captain Adrian Small a speedy recovery after falling and breaking a hip.
Capt. Ken Edwards - 90th birthday celebrations
Ken was in Eye of the Wind, 1991. Captain Ken has had a colourful and interesting maritime career, including time spent with the Royal Australian Navy. His first tall ship was New Endeavour (5 years); Regina Maris (doing whale research in Greenland, Arctic & Atlantic for 1 year); he was Vice-Commodore for the First Fleet Re-enactment in 1988 where he was Captain of the Bounty; Harbour Pilot; Executive Master of James Craig (1998-2012); AMSA examiner for Tall Ship certification. He finally retired at the age of 83
Vince Kaye
Former editor Chris Roche had a visitor from New Zealand in June. Both he and Vince Kaye were in Søren Larsen in 1991. They served on the same watches for the duration of their sailing in the Southern Ocean. It was memorable for both as Vince sailed with an arm in a sling owing to a broken bone and it took some persuasion of the captain by the crew to allow him to sail.
- nla.pic-vn3257373-v.jpg
Enoch Jones
Vince had been less fortunate as a young man when he just missed sailing in Pamir when she made her last voyage to England in the Grain Race of 1949 as he was a year too young to sign on. Pamir was the last commercial sailing ship of the old school to make Cape Horn. She was late leaving Australia that year, so Passat rounded before her. Pamir rounded the Horn in winter with snow on her decks that year.
David Jones from Wales wrote to us asking if anyone has information about his great-grandfather Enoch Jones who was a Cape Horner. David has a newspaper cutting dated 1932 showing that Enoch Jones was born in 1870 in Lampeter, Cardiganshire. David also has his great-grandfather’s ‘Certificate of Competency
CHJ75 Cape Horner Journal - 20 -
Pamir
as a Master of a Foreign-Going Ship’ (no. 031059) dated 20th January, 1898. If you have any information, please mail the editor.
Buying an IACH burgee
‘I would really like to purchase a pennant. How can I get one?’ Easy! See the order form at http://www.capehorners.org/regalia.html
Can I bring friends to the Annual Lunch in Portsmouth?
Yes, of course! The more, the merrier. Bring your crewmates and have a great time. Entry to HMS Victory, only metres away, is included in the price and is well worth a visit.
Maiden, 2019 World Tour, Leg 10
Chile to Uruguay - Maiden was to have departed on 29th October from Valparaiso for Punta del Este. Among her crew members were those whose lifelong dream has been to make an ocean passage and sail around Cape Horn. However, adverse weather forecasts required a change of plan with hurricane Kika crossing Maiden’s proposed route and there are two more lows developing which are predicted to turn cyclonic.
See Maiden’s itinerary for this 2019 World Tour on Facebook and www.themaidenfactor.org What is the Maiden Factor’s Mission?
The Maiden Factor works with and supports a number of charities which fulfil the following criteria: Empower/teach/mentor girls and/or promote, facilitate, lobby for or provide solutions which enable the education of girls not currently afforded that basic human right.
Maiden is being sailed around the world, fully crewed by women and girls, in an attempt to inspire the same and remind everyone of what girls can achieve if they are allowed to realise their full potential.
“We were told we couldn’t do it, but we showed how sailing is a level playing field. Now, I’m making it my mission to advocate for girls’ education around the world.”
- Tracy Edwards, MBE, Founder of The Maiden Factor Foundation
Greta Thunberg and Malizia II
A Carbon Neutral Atlantic Crossing
The 16-year old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg avoided adding to her carbon footprint by accepting a ride on Malizia II, a foiling IMOCA 60 monohull, from Plymouth to New York in August this year.
Greta wanted to attend a UN Summit and join a climate protest without adding to carbon emissions. So, accompanied by her father, Svante, and a cameraman, she was invited to join accomplished skipper Boris Herrmann for the 15day Atlantic crossing.
Whilst a flight to New York would have added nearly 1000kgs of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, the 60-foot racing yacht, fitted with solar panels and underwater turbines that produce the electricity on board, enabled the crossing to be carbon neutral.
As a young teenager on an environmental mission for the past year, and an amazingly knowledgeable and eloquent one at that, as well as speaking in a foreign language, it is no surprise that Greta’s story continues to be widely acclaimed in the media. Comparatively little detail was reported, however, about Boris Herrmann and Malizia II. Was it happenstance? It appears not.
One of Boris Hermann’s friends is Pierre Casiraghi, the founder of Team Malizia and also the eldest son of the Caroline of Monaco. Her husband, Prince Albert of Monaco, has had a real interest in ocean sustainability going back years.
A lot could be said on this subject, but for brevity, Malizia II was originally built by Multiplast in Vannes, France, a yacht maker with a strong interest in reducing the carbon footprint. The hull was bought second-hand and retrofitted, both statements of the sustainability that 38-year-old Boris Hermann is keen to promote. As the skipper of Malizia II, Boris will be a participant in the Vendée Globe 2020 and he has his sights set on the Ocean Race the year after that.
Photo of Malizia ll reproduced with permission.
Membership Secretary Report
New Members
We are delighted to welcome the following new members to our midst:
Mr Francesco Cappelletti
Mr Istvan Kopar Salammbo 1991
Mr Donald McIntyre Buttercup 1991
Mr Uku Randmaa One and All 2018
Mr Mark Slats Cornelia 2005
Commander Mark Sinclair
Mr Roger Taylor Global Teamwork 1996
Mr Jean Luc Van Den Heede Let’s Go 1985
Mr Are Wiig
If you are aware of eligible crewmates or friends who have not yet joined the IACH, please ask them to contact us. Also, in order to ensure that we maintain contact with existing members, please remember to let us know if you change name, address or email address.
Lost Members
The list below is of active paid-up Members with whom we have lost touch. If you know of their current whereabouts, please inform our Membership Secretary, Liz Eaton - memsec@capehorners.org
Mr Graham Carpenter Heaths Condor
Cpl. Jack Cox Discoverer of Hornet
Mr Paul Hebblethwaite Time and Tide
Mr David Holmes
Mr Julian Johnson Quadstone
Mr Brian Lister Hofbrau Lager
Mr Malcolm Lyon Nuclear Electric
Ms Nicola Paterson Me to You
He, She or It?
Recently, there’s been a whole debate out there about whether a Scottish museum was right, following a protest and some vandalism, to adopt the neutral gender to describe sailing vessels. What do you think? The editor is interested to publish a selection of your views in the next journal!
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Ocean Globe Race 2023
Celebrating the Whitbread
This race celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the first Whitbread in 1973. To do this as authentically as possible, equipment available for use will be restricted to that used in 1973 with some modern safety items locked up for use in case of emergency. Unlike the retro GGR 2018 but similar to the Whitbread, this will be a fully crewed race. The race’s founder, Don McIntyre, says that ‘sailors have not had this kind of opportunity for 30 years.’
The race will start from a European port on Sept 10th, 2023 and, as the Whitbread did in 1973, it will follow the original clipper route shown below.
At this point, it is difficult to say how many yachts will enter, perhaps 12-18 but 30 yachts will be the maximum number of entries allowed. The race is guaranteed to start, even if there is no title sponsor, being underwritten by McIntyre Adventure.
In this race, there are no racing rules but all yachts are bound by the usual rules of the road, the COLREGS (International Regulations for Prevention of Collision at Sea.
On board, a sailor can tell a person ashore about the yacht’s weather, but ‘the only weather that can be received onboard from a third party is reading of the official WMO High Seas forecast for your area unless you are talking to another ship at sea when any weather and position information is allowed.’
Before the start, each yacht receives a secure waterproof bag into which all phones, computers and other banned equipment is put. It is sealed two hours before the departure and is carried on board the yacht at sea. When the yacht arrives in port, the seal is checked. A severe time penalty and a possible financial penalty is given in case of a broken seal.
As in the Whitbread, navigation will depend on the use of paper charts and plots as a result of sextant readings. Communications will be via SSB and VHF radios and older sailors will be searching through their attics for cassette tapes which will be an important source of music!
The race will have 3 classes of yachts: Adventure 47-56ft; Sayula 56-66ft and Flyer – sail training yachts up to 68ft. As for the crews, on any yacht, only 33% of sailors can be professionals and, on each yacht, there must be at least one woman and also a youth crew who must be under 24 at the start of the race.
Cities around the world are being invited to bid to be one of the ports of call. The final course along with the Final Notice of Race will be published in late 2020 when the leg destination ports are known.
Source: www.oceangloberace.com
IACH flickr photos - We like to see more photos on the IACH’s flickr account. Take a look at www.capehorners.org/photos or www.flickr.com/photos/capehorner/ They’ll be of more interest where they can be viewed than hardly seen at all in your shoeboxes, photo albums or digital resources. Feel free to share: journal@capehorners.org
Figure of 8 Voyage
For the latest details and videos about his ongoing figure of eight circumnavigation of Antarctica and the Americas, take a look at Randall Reeves’ Facebook page. By 24th Sept, Randall had been at sea for a total of 290 days with 359 days since departure. www.figure8voyage.com
Eight Bells – Cynthia Mitchell
Known to many as a sailor in Eye of the Wind and a former member of the IACH, Cynthia Mitchell died 29th April 2019 in Hobart.
Left: Cynthia at the wheel of Eye of the Wind, somewhere in the Southern Ocean.
The traditional wooden wheel had been replaced for the Cape Horn passage by a stronger steel one.
Cynthia was born in Tasmania in 1930. She was a determined woman who made a huge effort to protect her birthplace. She was an active and practical person, a Physical Education teacher with a side-line in Manual Arts with those skills ranging from pottery making to dinghy building. It is said that she once taught a class how to build a dinghy and then taught them how to sail it!
To add to her many skills, Cynthia was also a documentary film maker in her spare time - Hydro Dams and the last voyage and wreck of the Brier Holme* being among her subjects. Her first voyage on Eye of the Wind was in 1984 and more recently she was onboard Eye of the Wind for the 1991 Cape Horn voyage from Sydney to Montevideo. She was known to be a prolific correspondent, hand-writing letters that were full of interest, detailing local goings-on as well as efforts to preserve the Southern Ocean. She also reported on maritime exploits around the Australian coast. Her writing was as down-to-earth as her life; no frippery.
With thanks to Chris Hall for sourcing this information.
The *Brier Holme left London for Hobart in 1904 and failed to arrive on time. There’s an interesting story of shipwreck and survival here.
We Saw Cape Horn!
Spirit of Hong Kong, BTGC 2000-2001
Text by Bart Hallmark
‘Well, we’re truly in the Southern Ocean now – it’s bitterly cold here, all five layers and thermals plus drysuit and I still take a good half hour to warm through again afterwards! Still, at least the wind appears to have died down again todayit was up to 45 knots for the last 36-48 hours which was hard going, but it seems a bit better now with the sun out. It’s forecast to get up again soon though…
Bart Hallmark in 2001
Spirit of Hong Kong
We saw Cape Horn! An immense lump of granite looming out of the cloud and spray – imposing but bloody cold. We can all now join the official Cape Horn society!’
Bart Hallmark sailed as a Crew Volunteer in the BT Global Challenge, 2000-2001 on Spirit of Hong Kong. The map above shows the route taken from Southampton – Boston – Buenos Aires – Wellington – Sydney – Cape Town – La Rochelle – Southampton. The gap between Tasmania and somewhere east of the Kerguelen Islands was a result of the Sat B being unable to lock onto any satellites. Each of the dots denotes an email sent from that location.
Bart’s website: http://bh206.user.srcf.net/btgc_portal/btgc.htm Do take a look at Bart’s site. Some of the emails make for compelling reading. – Ed. Map and photo reproduced with permission.
Horn Again, part 8 - Shanties, Sails & Whales
Continuing the story in bark Europa, 2015 by
Chris Roche
Diary Entry Tuesday 24th November
Noon position 40° 35.5s – 058° 12.0w
Day 21: Today’s watches are the 8-12 and 4-8. The watches have changed composition a bit. We in White Watch lose Bill and Janice but gain Francois and John Gault, the Okie from Shawnee, Oklahoma. This will strengthen the watch by one as Janice does only day duties and does not stand night watches. We now have the entire French contingent in the watch. Richard, who I stand watch with, has had an eventful life. He is already a Cape Horner having been in Europa on her last rounding from the west. He was in British Guiana (Guyana since 1966) during the emergency when he flew into the country in an executive jet to rescue specified people after the Reverend Jones commune mass suicides. He recalled being shot at as they took people aboard the plane.
We are now flying the upper and lower stuns’ls on the starboard side and making 200° - 201°. Captain says ‘no higher’ as they will back. He had taken a hand in setting them and it is usually the case that when he does they set better. John Pierre is leading a revolt due to not wanting watch changes, he says “someone perhaps honourable or even a clown has put me up for watch leader”, I say “not me”. Our repaired fore course is now flying giving the bows more lift, I go up to the bridge to make up my log. Captain has music on, so I sing along with `Whiskey in the Jar’. I have now caught up with the last few days; we are at a great point of downwind sailing.
Klass 1400 Daily Briefing: Warm front now but looking for rain later, the reshuffled watches have voted for watch leaders. Laura has counted the votes and all watch leaders remain unchanged, Wims are both in hospital and will be flown home to the Netherlands shortly. It is good that there is no serious break of the femur, that is really gutting for Wim Bolk, Wim de Ritter is being assessed to find out why his arm is a problem. Has he had a minor stroke? Is he able to
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fly? We have made 126 miles at average 5.7kts and are 916 miles to Lemaire, we are expecting 25kts wind tonight, force 6.
We take the stuns’ls in and put them away quite a slick operation this time. Talking to Katelynn on watch She has sailed in the schooner Adventuress 1913, as had Meg and the Great Lakes’ brig Niagara 2yrs, schooner Unicorn, bark Elissa, Leander, Baltimore clippers Lynx and Amistad, and was in the 3m schooner VictoryChimesfor a couple of weeks.
Diary Entry Wednesday 25th November
Noon position 42° 19.1s – 060° 19.4w
Day 22: New on watch with me will be Francois. Richard has been moved to Blue Watch so we do lookout and helm duties together. The sky has clouded somewhat this evening so no Mackerel sky as the late sun eludes us. We run square downwind all sail square sail yet we make only 4.8kts in a gentle 10.6kt breeze. Course is 220° near to SW & SSW. A couple of days ago, while we motored to put Wim ashore, we had a small pod of large dolphins with us, first on one side then the other and playing in our wake as we made a steady 7.3kts under ME. Their bodies had noticeably lighter patches on them which we could see as they surfed along our sides leaping and turning.
It is curious to see the French girl, Laura, who is now with John the Okie on watch with electronic gadgetry rather than a watch which she does not have. I use neither as there is only one time and that is ship time.
I spoke with Jordi last evening as he was mopping the library floor on his hands and knees with a cloth (get some mops) we talked how when it comes to it, there are not enough deck brooms to go round, and the squeegees used on outside windows are mostly worn out or defective. Bed after watch but am awake pretty much as usual before time waiting for Kees to call me for the 2-4 Watch. We get a shake 20 minutes before watch. I am usually on deck in ten and most times first. It is always Ajehandra (Ale) our watch leader who is last on deck for watch. Jordi puts up a notice to say I will run a shanty workshop during the coming afternoon.
In the wee hours, Krista, the Swedish-Australian is laying up new panels for a topgallant sail repair, yet another night time job. The ship works its permanent crew hard. The previous watch had lightning all around them as it flashed dagger-like through gathering cloud. When we came up it was
CHJ75 Cape Horner Journal - 29 -
just possible to see the full moon on the starboard side before it set just as mistress dawn opened a brand new day. The stars had fled the sky leaving only Venus to fade into the day as the rising sun climbed into the shy through stripes of grey cloud. Jean-Pierre handed over the helm at 205°. Captain comes up and shouts at him for not giving the correct course on handover, he says that anything above 120 on the wind is not allowed, puts the ship back on course and says to look at the radar marker, keep rudder in line and go with the radar mean line. I hand over to Dutch Rian, who, although he is stone deaf is great on watch. He is also a demon when it comes to helming. At one point this watch we touched 10.3kts surfing, not bad in a ship of 300 tons but more generally we make 7.58kts over the ground.
Ozzie Bill has his birthday today. He receives a gift of a pot of Vegemite with the written instruction ‘do not eat all at once’. And so to bed for an hour or two as we are back on watch at 14.00 for two hours.
Klaas 1400 Daily Briefing: We are at 42° 90s 30 miles behind where Schouten and Lemaire were at this time. We are 120 miles above the latitude of Punta Valdez which is near to opposite Chiloe Island on the Chilean side. We have made 166 miles at an average of 6.9kts. We are 762 miles to Strait Lemaire. We saw whales today but even though they were far off we saw their blows. When you are asked for the heading, give heading not the course as you have it at that moment, for the record the most distance the ship has made in 24 hours has been 230 miles at an average 10kts, so we have some way to go to beat that. Be accurate, be on course.
I remember watching and working at sail repairs and laying up panels for the new Duradon sails that were being made up when I was in Sea Cloud for a year back in 1982. Steve was the sailmaker. He came from the sail loft of Jimmy Lawrence, a well-known sailmaker of the time from the county of Essex, he was best known for his work on sails for Thames barges and Essex fishing smacks.
The machine we had was the original one. It was a brute of a machine that lived under a tarpaulin on the foredeck, a Phoenix by name and originally a footoperated treadle machine but by then electrified. Sometime after I left the barque, it was given to a museum and replaced with a purpose-made electric machine which was said not to be as good.
I did my talk on shanties and sailor song this afternoon to a dozen who were either not sleeping or not on watch. Jordi took snap of me sitting on a bollard up forward he said, for the ships blog? I did around 40 minutes and after Jordi asked for the words of Bob Watson’s ‘Mollymauk’.
Oh, the Southern Ocean is a lonely place
Where the storms are many and the shelter’s scarce On the restless water and the troublin’ skies
You can see that mollymauk wheel and fly
Ch… Won’t you ride the wind and go, white seabird Won’t you ride the wind and go, mollymauk
Down upon the Southern Ocean sailing Down below Cape Horn
See the mollymauk floatin’ on his wide white wings
And lord, what a lonely song he sings And he’s got no compass and he’s got no gear
And there’s none can tell you how the mollymauk steer
Down upon the Southern Ocean sailing Down below Cape Horn
Mollymauk is popular in the folk clubs. Bob wrote it without having seen these big birds fly in their natural home but what an excellent job he made of it. I was asked several times for the words and recordings, yes, it so accurately depicts the behaviour of that big white bird.
Richard also asked for `Mollymauk’. He is going to email the words to his wife to read at Thanksgiving back home. I celebrated the sing with a South African Merlot.
Diary Entry Thursday 26th November
Noon position 43° 48.5s – 061° 38.1w
Day 23: Watches today are 12-4 graveyard shift, 12-2 and 8-12. E have a vast basket of books in the deckhouse + shelves full. From where do they come? I guess left by previous crew, outside it is a clear night the moon makes it like daylight, the starboard stuns`ls have been set making 8kts with the wind on the beam Rian gave me the helm for 10 minutes which was enough, I could see all the indicators in the moonlight.
I had not appreciated how my sight had changed and had only reading glasses and found that the Compass was just far enough from the wheel to mean I could not read it clearly at night when helming. I had asked to be put on helm first on the 8-12 and last on the 12-4 dusk and dawn were the best times, it was something my watch leaders did not understand or manage well at times, I would take it upon myself to stand down if the situation arose.
We lost the wind and gained lightning and showers although the real rain never came. The lightning behind the building cloud was spectacular at times. It spread from horizon to horizon accompanied by copious amounts of thunder. Watching the display was captain Klaas at the radar; we took the stuns’ls off her then dropped the flying jib, all the upper stay’sl’s, the sky’sl and the Royals, we then braced her around we have only 6kts of knots of wind and just about make way at 2kts, it will take weeks to get to Lemaire at this rate. The night lunch was soup, fresh bread and peanut butter. Morning and JP comes up still looking for his jacket, I refrain from suggesting he looks after his stuff somewhat better.
Klaas 144 Daily Briefing: Wind, what there is of it, is variable NW-W-NW-SW on the starboard tack. We are not allowed to go to the Falklands , I mean Malvinas. The Argentines won’t like that. Conditions for the coming days are not encouraging, 2 to 5kts expected. We have made 106 miles course 212° at
average 4.4kts, we have made 398 miles from Mar del Plata and are 662 miles to Lemaire. We shall call the Arctic terns that have currently adopted us the ‘Two Wims’ .
We see 3 Finner and 2 Southern Right whales which causes much interest and rushing for cameras even though the whales are some way off. I sat in the library indexing a book I am working on and when I came up on deck again found we are in a fog, a real peasouper reminiscent of what I had met on the Grand Banks when in the Norwegian sail trainer Sørlandet in 1981. It is dense and closing in all around us.
Later when I reappeared on deck the fog was clearing. I went below again and slept a while in the library the quietest place aboard ship, I woke in the sun with the rays dancing all around me through the skylight and the portholes, so peaceful: I found a dead moth. We have seen many moths out here in the deep sea presumably blown off the south American coast, this one with a red spotted growth not unlike a ruby behind its head. The moth was about one inch long in total. As I dropped it over the side, captain said ‘the start of another food chain’.
We are a hundred miles from land right now. I found Katelyn in the galley listening to a jazz-based fiddle recording not unlike Stephan Grappelli. This at least I liked, later it was rap which I always find awful. Lines such as ‘My manager abused me, I want more muesli’, so inane
Four Orca seen during 2nd half hour of the 8-12. We make only 2.6kts with 7kts of wind into the sunset, more whales a half mile off as usual dozens of Albatross Giant Petrels and Mother Careys on the water astern of us.
Ali does an interview with Megan on her little audio recorder up on the focs’le head. Dinner was for us none of that freeze-dried grub that round the world yachts get but was for us roast lamb, several sorts of veg, pots roasted and mash very nice, Guava and Semolina for afters.
Helmed again this evening on watch with Rian as the moon rose up. We have braced more square and are making 4.4kts on a breeze of 8.6kts. I tried to photo the moon but it will be a foggy photo as the ship rolls rather too much. I helped Matt sort out the stun’sl rig lines and gathered them up into one bunch with a bowline tied to the focs’le head rail, there is much to do setting up the starboard side whisker boom and poles all in preparation for sending up the studding sails again when the expected breeze picks up.
Ali puts on Yuma Sumac, a Peruvian singer for me to try. I cannot fault her trying but this singer is nothing like the wonderful Fardo singer Evora, the accompaniment overcomes much of the vocal, I am not sure w here to classify Yuma. The accompaniment to me is more Mariachi while the voice is operatic and does not have the same haunting quality that Evora does so well. While chatting of Ireland Laure says Belfast is a scary, unfriendly place the way the Protestants behave.
Diary Entry Friday 27th November
Noon position 45° 11.4s – 062° 15.4w
Day 24: Day opens bright and clear with baffling variables on watch 812 and 4-8 today and any other time we are needed. Breakfast was double boiled egg, lime marmalade, toast and tea. Jean-Pierre had been bawled out for getting into a fix with helming. It did not improve his confidence any. We have Mother Careys sitting in a gaggle astern chattering to themselves, curious birds mottled and between a Blackbird and a Mallard duck in size. We are changing the fore t’gallant Meg, Francois and Okie John assisting aloft. I am helming meantime and then assisting Dan the Bosun in removing unwanted baggy wrinkle from the mainstay, but as it is only the deckswabber that is likely to get caught on it and that is not at all likely, some of us wonder if the effort is necessary. (To be continued)
It is not always easy to get the information we need. I had previously been informed that what the albatross has in its mouth (right) was a sextant. Later, I was told that these were navigational dividers. Without great imagination and symbolism perhaps, neither explanation seemed to fit the picture. But now the answer is clear. Before I tell you about that, do you know what AICH stands for? Check the back cover for the answer.
Former editor, Chris Roche, tells me that in the old days, it was a tradition for sailors to catch the albatross and to make things from their parts, like a purse or a tobacco pouch from the skin of the feet or a walking stick handle from the bird’s hooked beak. The sailors would watch the birds be seasick on deck and both measure and photograph them.
Before any of these things could happen, the sailors had to catch the mighty birds. They worked out that if they were to trail a weighted diamond-shaped lure made from a bent wire, the albatross would think that it was a fish. Once the bird’s beak was hooked over the wire, it was hauled inboard.
It seems that some sailors were not bothered at all that these magnificent birds might have been the souls of lost sailors as Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ would suggest. Superstition didn’t always prevail. Didn’t the narrator in Coleridge’s poem know that it was unlucky to kill an albatross? But he did just that and his shocked crewmates made him wear the dead bird around his neck. Hence the expression ‘to have an albatross around one’s neck’.
Sailors used to eat albatrosses too. Horror of horrors. Many of us would rather hang on to the myths.
By Jan Cambrensis with thanks to Chris Roche for the correction. This editor is very keen to get things right. For errors and omissions, please be in touch: journal@capehorners.org
