Afloat Again

Posted on the Devon Yawl Association Forum.
Why buy a Devon Dayboat?

My type of sailing

Since I sold my Solo in 1999 (my two sons were getting too large to sit in the bow) I've relied on friends and family for my sailing. Sailing on Thalassa has been a real treat, but she's was sold at the end of last season so that door has probably closed. I've enjoyed sailing on a couple of smaller family Westerlys and have crossed the channel and Lyme Bay with friends. But there is no doubt that I prefer the seamanship of handling boats in harbours to handling boats on long legs with the shore a distant haze on the horizon.

But what?

And I've hankered after something of my own - the simple pleasures of modifications to suit my own taste is something I miss from my previous period of ownership. (And it's so easy to forget the costs... Already the local chandlery is quids in.) But choosing a boat is a bit like choosing a car - always a compromise between performance and practicality, tempered by budget. A Wayfarer? An outstanding design, but too heavy to manhandle ashore short-handed (gone are the days when I could lift one on to a trolley by myself. A Wanderer- a bit small if taking friends. A bilge keel cruiser? Shortens the available time from a drying mooring. A Drascombe? I like the style, but when you've raced Enterprises & Solos, the lack of windward performance irks. And I live at the north-east end of Chichester Harbour, where the prevailing wind is South Westerly, so I'll let you guess which point of sail I need most.

So it was in the planning for a summer holiday near Falmouth that I spotted Mylor Boat Hire (see the Yawl Shop tab) and noticed the Devon Yawl on offer. Could I persuade my 21 year old son to join me for an afternoon in something so sedate? Well, I was paying, so he cheerfully accepted. After a friendly welcome and briefing from the staff, we took the boat for a half day, wind F 2-3.

After crossing the harbour, we headed upstream toward Truro. Impressed with the general responsiveness, one big plus was that even in the fickle and variable wind on the way up to King Harry Ferry she maintained some way against the ebb tide. Tim, who would rather be sailing a Buzz or a Dart, was impressed with the performance. I quite enjoyed the comfort - boom higher than I remember on my Solo, and the stability and stiffness is impressive. The furling genoa gives the luxury of a small cruiser, the mizzen the opportunity to play with rig balance (and in a tidal harbour is a great tool for rigging head to wind.)

So first day back home I had some time free and found myself browsing. But it was my brother (the Westerly owner) who pointed out a Devon Dayboat available for £2250. I had to admit, I wasn't drawn to her by the appearance of the Cuddy. (There again, I drive a Citroen Picasso for practical reasons, not for appearance.) But it was that cuddy that gave it added appeal. It provides a bit of shelter on a long day out. It adds to the space, because what is under the foredeck of the yawl is much more accessible in the Dayboat. And I can envisage grandchildren (none yet, but maybe a few years hence) enjoying the protection that it affords.

So I paid a visit to Newton Ferrers. Cwch has been well cared for, stored under cover each winter. I've seen plenty of old dinghies with spider webbed gel coat all over the place. Not so this boat, despite her 35+ years. Built with real strength. Encouraged by my non-sailing but supportive wife, two weeks later Cwch (pronounced 'cook', I've been informed by a Welsh friend) DD16 - and a small tender - was mine and on a borrowed trailer leaving the Yealm, her home for the last 25 years, and heading for Sussex.

So, a few weeks on...

Delighted with the purchase. Sailing singlehanded or with friends, with some very old sails, she handles well in winds F1-5, although I imagine that a replacing the original Hurley spars and forking out for new suit of sails (not this year) will make her seem like a new boat. I've added a topping lift for ease of shorthanded rigging, found the slab reefing easy to use singlehanded, can use Mizzen and Genoa on the short trips from mooring to hard, and have been strengthening my lower back hauling up the centreplate. Definitely needs a new rudder - as other articles on this web site point out, the old metal rudder blade stalls fairly early. A winter project. The friends I've taken out with me range from novice to old salt (sorry, Tom) and we've all enjoyed ourselves. And I haven't used the outboard yet - but that's another story.

Across to Dell Quay to pick up the crew.

What have I got?

So for just over 10% of the cost of a second hand Hawk, for my money I've got:

• One of the first boats to float on the rising tide from the inexpensive mooring at my end of the harbour
• A dayboat with a sturdy dinghy feel
• Something to sail away
• Room for friends
• Projects for several winters to come
• A boat for the next twenty years?
• Membership of an active Class Association (tradition is that selling owners pay the first year's membership. Thanks, Tim & Rosie!)
• Something to race in the occasional regatta

Have boat, will travel

And when I've bought a trailer, a resource to spend more time exploring some other harbours of the UK.

Same Again?

Equipped with this experience, if faced with the same choice again, that's why I'd buy a Devon Dayboat.

Hung Parliament?

A queue at the polling station. In one of the safest Tory seats in the country, I don't expect my vote to swing the election.  But too many people around the world don't get the chance to vote, so I think it both a privilege and a responsibility to participate.

Don't think I've ever had such a long wait to vote. Is that a sign of high turnout? Bumped into our former/future(?) MP while there. He was wearing a moderate sized blue rosette: see the rules.

Interesting how the parties use words. Notice how the Lib-Dems refer to a House of Commons with no overall majority as a 'Balanced' Parliament, while Labour and Conservative parties refer to a 'Hung' Parliament. Of course, after the revelations of the past couple of years, 'hung' also refers to what many voters would rather see happen to the politicians, not the parliament!

The Making of a Leader

For couple of years a borrowed biography has sat on my bedside bookshelf.  I was lent it soon after my (much) better half started working for a new organisation, as the history of it was tied up in the founder.  But having briefly opened it, I decided to search out and read volume one prior to attacking the enticing second volume.  I'll confess that the searching was a bit passive, but when I saw it on sale at the bookshop in our January sale I purchased the copy and started reading.

So last week I finished reading the first volume of Timothy Dudley-Smith's biography of John Stott CBE.  Entitled John Stott - The Making of a Leader it tracks the childhood, studies and first 25 years of his London based leadership, with a taster of the global influence that was to come over the next 3 decades.

I find many biographies fascinating for their historical element as much as the lives that are portrayed.  This one no less so.  It covered elements of 20th century history with which I was less familiar.  It introduced me to the background of someone I first heard speak in the 1970s, but with whose speaking and books I have become more familiar in the past 20 years.  I have a recording of his last public speaking engagement (July 2007) and have read extracts from his last and recently published book, The Radical Disciple (also available from our Bookshop (see above).

But surely from biographies of great people there must also be lessons to learn.  My current reflections are:

• the the strategic investment that 'Bash' chose to make in the lives of young leaders reaped rewards beyond measure
• John Stott has great natural gifts but excercised great disipline to make the most of them
• the decisions he made in young adulthood involved great personal cost
• As the 'job' grew, regular reviews and a supportive team enabled him to focus on the strategic

I think that there's a great deal more than that.  But these lessons have tended to stick as they are currently 'scratch' in areas I'm thinking about.

Waders for the men

During January 1994 heavy and prolonged rain on the south downs caused the River Lavant, which for much of the year trickles through Chichester, to become a torrent that could no longer pass in the culvert under the city centre.  Diversion of the river led to the the main coast road, the A27 being flooded.  The army was called in and in short order constructed a Bailey bridge over a flooded roundabout and restored east-west traffic.  The Army Benevolent Fund was the beneficiary as grateful motorists passing slowly over the temporary structure willingly filled collection buckets held by the bridge builders.

An article appeared in the Independent

John Adair in one of his books mentions one young officer at Sandhurst on whose annual report was written “Smith is not a born leader yet.”  What are the qualities the army was looking to inculcate within their officer ranks?  Seven years later I was delivering some training at an engineering company in the Midlands.  One of the delegates was a Project Manager who I discovered had been the Major in charge of the company of Royal Engineers building the A27 bridge.  As we reminisced I discovered that a number - but insufficent number - of pairs of waders had been obtained for the troops who were standing in thigh deep running water as they worked on the bridge.  "So the officers got the waders" I quipped.  Only to be corrected in a way that left me in no doubt that the officers put their men first.  Good leadership?

I was reading a blog which raised the variance between leader and manager.  It provoked me to thought as to how I balance the mix of roles that I have.  My job title includes the word 'manager' and certainly that's part of what I do.  But if it's all I do, then opportunities might be missed, strategic vision parked in a safe place, and business growth will only happen if its thrown in our direction.  On the other hand, I'm not a Richard Branson...

As a trainer by instinct and profession I love imparting information. Sometimes the skill or knowledge transfer requires me to behave as I'm not. I might make a consious decision to be more dramatic than I naturally am. On occasion I convince myself we're going to have a succesful outcome to a course when my instinct tells me otherwise. (Believe me, it can make a real difference to the outcome for the students.)


A few years ago in a discussion over Belbin's Team Roles Theory an experienced management consultant suggested to me that it was possible to train yourself to overcome one's natural roles to fill almost every role within a team, slotting in whereever there were vacancies.  He had reached a point of filling all but one team role as required.  So on the 'not a born leader yet' principle, is it possible that not only we can be become better leaders, but we can discipline ourselves to behave as a leader, projecting ourself into a necessary role and (perhaps by using other characteristics as well) provide the vision that others catch and and join in realising.

So what changes do I need to make to produce that result...?

Published!

Does another career beckon? I've had a photograph published in the Times Newspaper.
View the article here

It was all a bit of a rush.  I had a phone call about midday Friday 15th from the Manager of our bookshop saying that the Times had interviewed us for an article in the Saturday edition, but needed some photos by 13:00. As I'd been the one taking photos I rapidly went through what I had, made a couple of edits, and emailed the best of them to the newspaper. I had a very pleasant reply shortly afterwards.

I heard someone say that 'photography is very hard to make a living from.' I've no illusions of grandeur. It remains a hobby.

But I have found some great quotes about photography here

On being a hoarder

I'll confess to being a bit of a hoarder - especially when it comes to books and papers.  This characteristic has pros and cons (although only fellow hoarders will agree with the pros).

But inevitably the need for some clear flat space (the floor, the desk) brings me to the point of clearing out.  In recent years while not wholeheartedly endorsing the principle, I have moved closer to the idea that if I haven't used/opened/looked at something for a decade, I'm unlikely to ever do so, so dispose of it.

So it was in this spirit that I did some serious clearing out after Christmas, but not without some associated emotion.  Take, for example, a set of teaching transparencies for use with an overhead projector.  I know we moved to PowerPoint ten years ago and I haven't used them since.  I acknowledge that all the notes I had so carefully written on the frames surrounding the slides I have used so many times that they are committed to memory.  I know that it is unlikely I will ever use an overhead projector again (thankfully).  But still there was the emotional tugging of history.  The people who attended some of those early seminars, the places I went, the lives that were helped...

Which led me to thinking about what God has to say on the subject.  I'm not talking about 'treasures on earth' but more of the balance between past and future.  Paul writes of 'Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead... [Philippians 3:13, NIV].  But in balance we know too that God 'will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.' [Hebrews 6:10, NIV]. And the Bible frequently tells God's followers to use a tangible item as a memory jogger to recall his goodness in the past.  So I've thrown out the slides, and a whole host of other stuff, but kept a handful of other items so that when I do look at them - this year, next year or in a decade's time, I might be reminded of God's work in various ways.

New Year's Day Tradition

For several years our Homegroup has met for a New Year's Day walk around East Head and BBQ brunch at West Wittering car park.  (If you've done it for a second year it must be a tradition, and three years or more, a firmly established tradition.)

This year conicided with a spring tide High Water on the back of the 13th full moon of 2009.  I wondered if the 'Hinge' - the piece of land joining Wittering to East Head - might be flooded, but although we couldn't enjoy all of the normal coastal path on the east side of East Head, we had no trouble getting on to the spit.

The walk seems to go more quickly each year.  Perhaps it's something to do with the children getting older and walking more quickly.  It was cold, but nowhere near as bitter as last year.  We had sunshine this year, and the wind was much lighter.  Quite a number (but not from our group) were enjoying a swim in the sea.  Brrrrrrr.

Once back at the fairly crowded car park, warm mulled wine was followed by sausages & bacon rolls, with onions, tea, coffee, choclate biscuits, and toasted marshmallows.  By the time we'd got through all of that the heat was disappearing, we were getting progressively more cold, and it was time to head home to warm and soporific houses.

The Real Reason for Participating?