Skipper’s Retrospective

Current Date: 08-Mar-2020
Current Location: Le Marin Marina, Martinique

Four days have passed now since we made landfall in Martinique and our three weeks of crew bonding, isolation and total self-sufficiency are starting to seem like a dream. For me it’s been a much easier passage than the journey across the Atlantic on Petronella, mainly because we have a bigger boat that rolled gently rather than violently and just went faster. And we had better winds which sent us flying across the sea in more or less the right direction. I very much appreciated the support freely given by highly experienced sailor Irish John and Mariel’s cooking was superb. A good choice of crew. Lying in my berth, off watch, I would listen to the conversations on deck and marvel at how much laughter there was between the three crew. Mehalah was a happy boat.

This is the poem I wrote for our last meal together. It probably needs the gin and tonics we had drunk before to make it scan properly but there you go!

The Ballad of Mehalah
Yacht Mehalah she went out to sea
With John Douch, Irish John, M and G
Now we’ve reached Martinique, pretty cool, pretty chic,
Do we want to go home? No, not we!

Skipper Gilly’s in charge of the crew,
They’re so good there is little to do
No matter what tack they’re right there at her back
Even lending their loo for a poo!

Next it’s first mate and engineer John,
When he’s here, even though things go wrong
In the dead of the night he puts everything right
And his favourite shout is “Fish On”!

Irish John’s a fine horseman from Cork,
Who can sail and can certainly talk
With his soft Irish voice he’s a very good choice
Though his Speedos make Mariel squark!

So we come to the last of the crew,
Mariel, an adventure for you.
Though you fought with the motion of crossing an ocean
Your cooking stayed pure cordon blue.

But no, there’s a fifth silent guest.
He’s the crewman who never needs rest.
In the sun or a squall we hand over to Paul,
Aries windvane we vote you the best.

So sadly it’s bye to the crew
We have so enjoyed sailing with you
And though we must part you’re still there in my heart
Mariel, Irish John, thanks, adieu.

Irish John is back home now and Mariel is looking for her next passage north, whilst John and I have plans to make and change with unforeseen external influences making any detailed planning very difficult. Watch this space.

It has taken nearly thirty people to get Mehalah ready to sail an ocean and support us whilst she is doing it. All those wonderful friends who came down to Plymouth in the winter to fix problems and improve the boat, Linda, Jack and Fizzy who crewed bits of the journey as far as Lanzarote  and our amazing crew Irish John and Mariel, our medics, routers, all those friends who sent messages of support, Phil and Jane who made it possible for us to go, and of course our wonderful daughters Jenny and Emma who provided first class shore support and much love.  And finally John who is just fantastic. Thank you all.

Gill