Revelations

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News of the Quarter

Helicopter rescue

First attempts to haul her back on board failed owing to the rough conditions, and she was in the water for some time before the crew, now all summoned on deck, were able to get another rope to her and lift her back to the deck. She was found to be breathing and to have a pulse, much to the relief of all. She drifted in and out of consciousness, complaining of pain which might have indicated injury. Chris had made a PAN PAN call early in the emergency, and a helicopter, together with the Aldeburgh lifeboat, was soon on its way. Thus for the first time in seventeen years Morning Star needed and received a significant degree of outside assistance. The amazing skill of the helicopter team soon had Abigail in a  stretcher and lifted off, while Morning Star carried on to windward under full sail, as directed by the pilot. Brandon describes just how close the whirling blades seemed to be to the rigging. A dramatic picture, taken from the lifeboat and published in a local paper shows the moment when the stretcher left the deck, with Brandon paying out the hi-line. 

On arrival in hospital, Abigail was extensively X-rayed. Nothing was broken, so the eventual sum of the damage was some hypothermia and general bruising. She was kept in for two days (much to her disgust) as a precaution against infection and fluid in the lungs. 

Meanwhile, Morning Star made her way to Woolverstone, where the press were waiting. You may have heard the reports on BBC Radio 4, which were reasonably accurate, but ceased when it became clear all was well, and especially once the news from Paris broke the next morning. Chris and Brandon visited Abigail in hospital, where her parents had already arrived. Next morning, though some of the crew had to leave because the boat was now running late, the rest sailed for Chatham, arriving late on the Sunday night. They all reckoned it had been a great trip, though some of them will take a little while to come to terms with the awfulness of the time when Abigail was in the water. They plan to get together again soon. 
 

Jane on the move

Tim comments:  Not many people will be fully aware of just how important Jane’s work over the last four years has been. She has worked out and put in place a whole range of systems and procedures which allow the office to run smoothly and efficiently. This has included coping with a whole raft of new regulations, and dramatically improving our book keeping, VAT records and so on. If, as seems likely, we now move to a part time Administrator with outside voluntary help, it will be entirely due to Jane’s systematic approach that it will be possible, and certainly not because Jane herself was an under employed luxury - far from it. 
 

Tim’s new role - latest variations

A good summer, but where was the wind?

Volunteer Turnaround

Rather oddly, this is also the moment in the year when we start thinking about next year’s volunteers. We are on the lookout for Christian young people with an interest in sailing, matters technical, and working with people, who would enjoy and benefit from a year spent in this way. If that’s you, or if you know such a person, do get in touch for more information. 
 

Eagles Wings courses

We can put together courses on Eagles Wings in response to demand, so if you want to train for RYA certificates, get in touch to discuss the possibilities. We do not run Eagles Wings as a commercial sea school boat, but can offer courses to Morning Star folk at fairly modest cost. 
 

The old year and the new

Looking ahead to 1998, our programme/brochure should reach you at least in time for serious consideration over the Christmas holidays. In the meantime, past, present and potential group leaders will have outline details to allow them to plan, and the office will happily give you the latest details over the phone. We can tell you now that the ’98 Tall Ships event will take Morning Star from Falmouth to Lisbon and Vigo (as in 1982), then back to Dublin. In the run up to that event, she will spend time cruising from the south coast, following the usual early season programme based at Chatham. 
 

Annual Conference

And finally, as usual...

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Log Gems

Crew suggested that our fog signal ought to be replaced by a burst of Atlantic 252, then a guess the song competition could be held to help time pass. 

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A View from Dogger 

Hartlepool is a most beautiful city: don't just take my word for it, ask the other people who were on Morning Star for "Northward Delivery". 

What could be nicer, I mused on the train journey down to Chatham, than a mid-summer cruise on the North Sea enjoying the long evenings and warm gentle breezes. We left Thunderbolt Pier and made it to Stangate Creek just before the rain (which had been deluging the rest of Britain) caught up with us, and we sat down to the first of only two meals taken around the table during the next five days. 

Friday dawned dull and damp with the anemometer registering 30 to 40 knots and the odd gust above. So we decided to sit it out in the shelter and scenic delights of the creek, the Skipper wisely deciding that the Thames estuary was no place to be in a NE gale. 

We weighed anchor on Friday evening, our journey into the southern North Sea being guided by a veritable galaxy of cardinal buoys winking their encouragement; Saturday was much calmer, although the day did seem to be dominated by a nuclear power station staying obstinately on our port beam. By now we were well established in the four hourly watch system, though notwithstanding supplies of food on board for over eight weeks, appetites were not responding much to the fresh salt air. 
 
Sunday morning saw the Starboard watch take over at 4.00 am in thickening fog. For some reason the off-watchers did not particularly appreciate the fog horn every two minutes, even though it was for their safety! 

As we turned the corner of East Anglia and headed north west, so did the wind. By now time and day and night were all becoming somewhat blurred, but Flamborough Head was spotted and typically involved two eight mile tacks to achieve four miles northerly progress! After glimpsing Scarborough Castle and later, through the gloom, the forbidding profile of Ravenscar, the weather forecast was noted - north westerly force 6 or 7 , sea state moderate. Why then was the wind speed up to 40 knots, and the sea tumultuous? With Whitby inaccessible, we had no option but to heave to just 25 miles short of our destination, watching our hourly fix put Morning Star nearer Helsinki than Hartlepool! At this stage the anchor decided to enter the equation by attempting to tattoo a new pattern on the starboard bow: A great deal of North Sea water was consumed before the anchor was restored to its rightful position, severely lashed for the trouble it had caused. 

We were able to get a message through to (anxious) loved ones; otherwise there was little to do but to admire the view of waves generated by what was by now a full force 9 "severe gale” which blew for the best part of twelve long hours. All credit to the ship, her makers and maintainers. Maybe someone else was around too...! 

Tuesday saw us able to start sailing again, back towards England from our position 60 miles out and in sea area Dogger. Even now the wind turned westerly - just where we wanted to go- but the sun came out for three whole hours and utterly transformed the scene. 

By nightfall we could see the loom of Middlesbrough, and made it to neighbouring Hartlepool by 4.20 am on (what turned out to be) Wednesday morning. The water in the marina was still, the air was calm, the showers were hot and seldom has bacon, egg and mushroom tasted so good. As I was saying, Hartlepool is a most beautiful city... 

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Another Log Gem

The North East Pilgrimage 

Wed 2nd July.

Thursday 3rd July.

Whitby was a nice enough place; the quay was half a mile above us at low water, and the river looked pretty nasty. The quay was posted with signs warning of sewage contamination. Having said this Jerry did manage to suck up a fish in the loo! Trav took Twinkle out for a spin, down wind and stream. He made it through the bridge before having to row all the way back against an ebbing tide! 

Lucy told us that it was the Whitby Synod that decided monks could change their hair styles! Real trend setters! The highlight of the evening was the beer that only cost £1.19 a pint. I bet that trend won't spread! At closing time we trekked up the many steps to see the Abbey. I am sure it looked great but was a little hard to see at night, a situation not helped by a very large stone wall! The view across the valley looked good though. 

Friday 4th July.

Saturday 5th July.

    Louise: "Look! That one's got blue feet!" 
    Dave: "It's got four wings too!" 
  (For reference, puffins sadly have orange feet and two wings.) 

On entering the Tyne we had several encounters with the Lloyds Bank Yacht 'Dark Horse'. After having to start the engine to manoeuvre out of their way in the calm, and taking the jovial abuse from the drunken crew, we had to listen to their rendition of that great Gauze single, "Fog on the Tyne." The next time we saw them we were the ones laughing. Their attempts at mooring up by the Tyne Bridge were most entertaining. Firstly they nearly hit the wall and, when trying to get into the quite small (but just big enough) space in front of us, they missed the gap and hit us amidships. Fortunately Lloyds see it fit to invest in very large fenders and lots of them too! If only Morning Star's Bow sprit was a few inches longer........ 

The mooring was right in the heart of the city and the walk into town was not far at all. Various public houses were visited, including the mess of a navy mine sweeper manned by lunatic, depraved alcoholics! Adrian started the 'why do we need a navy anyway?' discussion and the rest of us decided it was a good time to leave! Making sure we had all the girls with us! 

Sunday 6th July. 

From my own personal experience boat crashes happen very slowly, all you can do is wait for the crunch. Picture mooring up on the end of a small floating pontoon. At the point where you would wish to put the prop in reverse to slow down, you find you are stuck in forward, and no matter how many revs are applied, you just get faster and faster! A stern line was landed and promptly up ended the pontoon, not quite catapulting the six spectators into the water! At the pointy end things were not too great either. The bows rode up a mooring line between a boat and a large mooring post, efficiently removing the cleat, a can of white paint and various other bits of boat! (At this point Trav decided that fending off was not going to help much!) Thankfully, no one was hurt and the damage did not seem too serious. Although a time was spent picking the fibreglass splinters from the bob stay! 

Adrian and Lucy handled the situation brilliantly, and the marina owner was very helpful. He still gave us an STA discount. It turned out that the Morse cable had snapped and was stuck in gear. The marina owner found a man with a shop with a cable in stock, and all that on a Sunday evening! 

Monday 7th July. 

After a quick lunch the seal lovers could be contained no longer. Claire, Louise and Chris rowed away in search of a close encounter, having first been warned of the tidal dangers around the rocks and guts of the island. Half an hour later they were rescued graciously by the RSPB wardens who delivered them to their causeway. On Morning Star we became inpatient and started, as a hint, to hoist sails. The girls struck out from the causeway, but in the strengthening current were making no headway. We abandoned the sails and started inflating the dinghy. A friendly tripper boat took pity and towed them back to the safety of MS at speeds that a pram dinghy would only normally achieve on a roof rack. The wind had veered by now to the NE, making it an easy task for our crew, now handling the boat smoothly and competently, to sail MS off her anchor and out of the bay in style. For a while the weak summer wind was only enough for us to crab across the tide, but as we pulled further from the Farnes, the current weakened and the land behind Bamburgh castle started to move. 

All eyes were now on Holy Island, and we picked out the two sets of leading marks and our anchorage as this next centre of Celtic Christianity drew near. The breeze, having tried so hard earlier in the day, had spent its energy, and shortly after a dreary gybe to bring the Old Law beacons into line, the booms swung inboard, signalling an end to the day’s purism. It was easy to follow first the tall, pointed Old Law beacons, and then to line up the church belfry with another beacon to bring us safely through the swirling shallow waters of the entrance channel to the deep water anchorage by St Cuthbert’s island. Cuthbert, having been summoned from the solitude of the Farnes to command a different see as Bishop of Lindisfarne, obviously valued his time out of the palace and would retreat to this tiny island, accessible only at low water via a stony causeway, to pray once more, undisturbed except by nature minding its own business. 

Our immediate priorities were far more worldly than Cuthbert’s, and for the next hour or so MS was a hive of activity as we pumped up and launched the dinghies, built a barbecue grid, prepared salads, drink and puddings, found a site and began the traditional yachtsman’s “burnt meat and sand sandwiches” ceremony. Ramsey, however, is obviously an old hand, and our sausages and burgers were done to a turn. 

Round the corner the sun started to set. Some of us went to St Cuthbert’s island, others climbed a hill until the western sky was visible over the vast sandy bay between Holy Island and the mainland, and an amazing display of light and colour began, bouncing along the wet sand, streaming up in shafts of light and catching the undersides of the clouds until the whole sky was pink and orange. 

Back at the barbecue we started the long process of clearing up. the debris was loaded into Twinkle which was then carried muddily to the water and towed to Morning Star. Then the ferrying of muddy crew began, and despite everyone’s best efforts it became clear that a major clean up would be in order. Now, however, was not the time and, drowsy with wine and north eastern atmosphere, we fell into our bunks to sleep soundly, watched over by God and the prayers of the Celtic saints. 

Not a bad day really. 

Tuesday 8th July.

Perhaps I should mention the main tops'l competition. If you have ever tried it without knowing what you were doing you will know what I am talking about! By the end of the week, times had been slashed from one and a half hours to just fifteen minutes! 
The girls just had the edge, until the sheet mysteriously untied itself and the main had to be dropped to re thread it! 
The night watches were great, plenty of hot drinks and Bombay mix on my watch. 

Wednesday 9th July.

It was time to go our separate ways after a fun week of much that is good about being on Morning Star. I was worn out. 

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Hebrides Cruise

This was certainly a unique and memorable trip for Morning Star - setting out from Oban on Sunday 12th August, having spent the previous night anchored in the harbour, we sailed across the Firth of Lorn and up the Sound of Mull in winds which can’t have been more than Force 2 at best. Sunday night was spent at anchor in Tobermory Bay (made famous by the Wombles!) and here the crew distinguished themselves by helping a group of Americans in a quayside pub win the pub quiz. The Americans shared the prize, a bottle of whiskey, with us and we returned to the boat with a four pack of beer, given to us by some other contestants. 

On the Monday we set sail in distinctly bouncy conditions; we had aimed to reach Skye, but the fickle wind died on us in the Sound of Rhum and so we anchored in Loch Scresort on Mull. The local people were no doubt delighted to hear us singing and playing songs in the cockpit well into the night - at least we hope that they were, as we did not actually set foot on the island to ask them. 

On the following day, we motored across to Skye and Loch Scavaig - a truly beautiful and impressive sight, with seals basking on the rocks, crystal clear water and the Cuillin Hills towering above us. After lunch, we set off to climb, explore and avoid being eaten alive by midges. Some also took a closer look at the seals, who turned out to have very bad fishy breath! 

Wednesday saw us setting off for Loch Harport, also on Skye, and the most northerly point of the trip. We anchored off Carbost and went ashore to the village pub, then after eating supper set sail again on what was to be our longest voyage. We motored for long stretches as the wind was virtually non-existent at times, passing to the west of Canna, them turning south east and then south, to sail past Coll, Muck, Staffa and the Treshnish Isles. We encountered fog overnight and made use of the radar to fix our position; the voyage finally ended up in Ulva Bay, where we went ashore and bought wine from a very accommodating shop, which ‘though closed, allowed us to pay on a honesty basis. 

On Friday we visited Iona, which was a memorable experience. It was humbling to set foot in a Christian place which had existed as such for over 1400 years and I am sure that we all wanted to spend much more than the two hours that we had there. In the late afternoon we sadly sailed for Oban again, coming around the Ross of Mull and up the Firth of Lorn; after much tacking in light breezes and inevitable motoring, we reached Oban at 0600 on the Saturday morning. 

This had turned out to be a full and satisfying week in all respects, one in which we had been overwhelmed by the remoteness and rugged natural beauty of an area of Britain which was also rich in history and religious significance. I am sure that Colin Rettie, our skipper, would eagerly do such a trip again, but unfortunately, Morning Star is rarely in these waters. 

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Thought for the Quarter

Children leave parents, friends leave friends. Acquaintances move on. 
People change homes. People grow apart. Enemies hate and move on. 
Friends love and move on. You look on those present and wonder.

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Thank you to all contributors to this edition: to Tim, Paul, Jamie, Adrian and Stuart for news and articles and to Eric for the Thought.