a new diesel engine and fixed up the sail plan, all while living aboard with a school friend Greg who helped. Every inch of Gipsy Moth was checked and tested for the forthcoming voyages. Sailing up and down the south coast of England I found some superb anchorages, which gave me the confidence to venture far and wide.
By the end of 1978 (ten days before Christmas), I set our course to the south in search of some warmer weather. The fact that it was mid- winter and we were heading into the notorious Bay of Biscay was not altogether clever, but I was young and felt capable of the journey.
We indeed hit a terrible storm just out from Vigo port in Spain and had
to run with eight-metre waves to La Coruna. My concern was that Gipsy Moth was going to pitch-poll end for end down the steep waves. Placing two one-hundred-metre warps out in a bite configuration allowed the yacht to naturally brake when a surfing wave lifted its counter stern. It worked wonderfully and 24 hours later we made landfall after a total of ten days in the Bay!
I thought how ironic it was that my heavy-weather sailing knowledge was gained through reading all the books published by Francis Chichester before I had even left Australia, and here I was in his original yacht that he too had trained in before he headed off around the world in Gipsy Moth IV.
Navigation in those days was done with my wonderful plastic sextant, trailing a log (distance run) meter
behind us and DR (dead reckoning) our position. We survived the storm; but the deaths of several fishermen who drowned in the same storm brought home the reality of what bad weather can be like.
Nevertheless, my sailing friend Greg and I enjoyed the fantastic Galatian hospitality during the Spanish winter and then continued our voyage down the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean in the following spring and summer. With no set plan, we quite literally headed in whatever direction the wind blew and often made port of call when, and if, it suited us.
The stories about these voyages are far too many to fit within these pages but hopefully there’s enough to inspire the youth of today to repeat a similar voyage. However, a word of warning: don’t sail in the Bay of Biscay during the winter!
What’s a yacht without a cat? Zip on watch, just before Gipsy Moth was launched at Mylor Yacht Harbour Falmouth, 1978
What happened to Gipsy Moth? I last saw Gipsy Moth, long after I’d sold it, lying neglected in a shipyard in Greece, in about 2001, when it would have been more than 60 years old. I have no idea whether it survived after that.
What are you involved in now and do you still find time to sail yachts? Since 1998 I have been working as a professional Captain aboard various Superyachts cruising both USA and European waters. Additionally I’m a certified Marine Surveyor I.I.M.S. (International Institute Of Marine Surveyors), and author of Marine Surveying for New Motor Yachts.1
In the
northern winter I‘m available to lecture on Marine Surveying at various yachting events and shipyards. My passion now is project management and the surveying of large motor yachts.
Launched. Mark and an assistant on Gipsy Moth after the re-fit, at Mylor Yacht Harbour Falmouth, UK , October 1978
Do you often get back to Australia? Home for me now is in the UK. My duties as captain and my surveying work take me throughout the Mediterranean, but I will always be fond of Australia and hope that one day I shall find time to cruise our fine seas there as well.
Finally, what advice would you give to young Australians concerning overseas yachting? As I mentioned earlier, I strongly recommend a yachting adventure for anyone courageous enough to take on foreign waters and to discover the essence of touring with a sailing yacht. Make sure you are adequately qualified (preferably MCA approved STCW certification) and try to learn a little French, Italian, Spanish or Greek. There is always a good demand for Australian Captains who are qualified 200–3,000 tons license and who have command of at least one of the above foreign
1 Marine Surveying for New Motor Yachts was reviewed in Maritime Times of Tasmania No 53, December 2015. 48 | The Report • December 2017 • Issue 82
languages. A simple RYA license will get you a job only on a flotilla or day sailing yacht. Working in the summer on board a Superyacht can pay good dividends and finance additional legs of your anticipated voyage. Quite simply, ‘Do it’ because it can be heaps of fun. I am always happy to guide someone who has any questions.
captsouteryachtsurveyor@yahoo.com
www.amazon.com.uk or from the distributor
www.YPDbooks.com
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