The £200 Millionare, -a short story
- Thread starter Tengu
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I really enjoyed reading that, a proper adventure and most of us will be able to relate to is. It also struck me how much freedom there was back then, in a lot of ways it was easier to get around the world back then...I can't see the boat life being that affordable now, everything would be way more costly and a lot more regulated....
Some photographs of the life of a single handed voyager, between 1999 and 2013.
".I can't see the boat life being that affordable now, everything would be way more costly and a lot more regulated...."
Affordable with care, planning and the ability to do one's own major maintenance, to avoid berthing in smart Marinas and live a simple, if slightly Spartan life (by modern shoreside standards. ) anyway...
It is a world away from the holiday yacht charter folk who 'Do cruising' a few weeks of the year (summer)...
Laying at anchor in the River Dart, on passage between Sussex and Cornwall at the start of a 2 year voyage.
Wintering on the pontoons on the River Fal in Cornwall. Cheap, about £30 a week I recall, no water or electricity so oil lamps and a trip up the river in the Dinghy on the flood tide to Truro for supplies and fresh water when required. Back down to the boat on the ebb...
Beautiful, peaceful, lonely (not a problem) but I think it didn't rain one day....Don't have Internet or TV but Truro Library gave me a visitors pass..
Down river to the Harbour anchorage at Falmouth in the Spring. Ashore to the Internet cafe and watch the Maritime weather forecasts for a fine spell to sail out into the Atlantic.
Leaving Falmouth Bay bound for Portugal. By sailing in the evening I can stay awake to clear the shipping lanes between the Scilly Isles and Ushant before I need to start a daytime 'Cat nap' routine of sleep. Sleep is the curse of single handers crossing Oceans...
South down the Spanish and Portugese coasts, for safety 100 miles offshore. Keeps me clear of coastal sea traffic and Fishermen and gives me sea room in an onshore gale.
Weather fine...
and Dolphins leading the way...
Weather bad and fighting to save my steering gear from being ripped off in a force 9 night time gale..
It's called a 'Spanish Windlass' if you are curious about the temporary rig..
Thirteen days later, safely anchored in the harbour at Portimao, on the the Portugese Algarve....
......................................
Running West in the Trade Wind bound for the West Indies.
Twenty nine days later..Land Ho! the French Island of Martinique.
Lord Nelson's old home at the Naval Base and Dock Yard in Antigua.
It's a Bush Craft forum!!... So I'll stop now or bore you all to tears....
".I can't see the boat life being that affordable now, everything would be way more costly and a lot more regulated...."
Affordable with care, planning and the ability to do one's own major maintenance, to avoid berthing in smart Marinas and live a simple, if slightly Spartan life (by modern shoreside standards. ) anyway...
It is a world away from the holiday yacht charter folk who 'Do cruising' a few weeks of the year (summer)...
Laying at anchor in the River Dart, on passage between Sussex and Cornwall at the start of a 2 year voyage.
Wintering on the pontoons on the River Fal in Cornwall. Cheap, about £30 a week I recall, no water or electricity so oil lamps and a trip up the river in the Dinghy on the flood tide to Truro for supplies and fresh water when required. Back down to the boat on the ebb...
Beautiful, peaceful, lonely (not a problem) but I think it didn't rain one day....Don't have Internet or TV but Truro Library gave me a visitors pass..
Down river to the Harbour anchorage at Falmouth in the Spring. Ashore to the Internet cafe and watch the Maritime weather forecasts for a fine spell to sail out into the Atlantic.
Leaving Falmouth Bay bound for Portugal. By sailing in the evening I can stay awake to clear the shipping lanes between the Scilly Isles and Ushant before I need to start a daytime 'Cat nap' routine of sleep. Sleep is the curse of single handers crossing Oceans...
South down the Spanish and Portugese coasts, for safety 100 miles offshore. Keeps me clear of coastal sea traffic and Fishermen and gives me sea room in an onshore gale.
Weather fine...
and Dolphins leading the way...
Weather bad and fighting to save my steering gear from being ripped off in a force 9 night time gale..
It's called a 'Spanish Windlass' if you are curious about the temporary rig..
Thirteen days later, safely anchored in the harbour at Portimao, on the the Portugese Algarve....
......................................
Running West in the Trade Wind bound for the West Indies.
Twenty nine days later..Land Ho! the French Island of Martinique.
Lord Nelson's old home at the Naval Base and Dock Yard in Antigua.
It's a Bush Craft forum!!... So I'll stop now or bore you all to tears....
I've wintered twice on the Fal and never been to the Pandora...Not being a drinker, the cafe in the Pannier Market at Truro or the Pier Cafe at Falmouth was more in my league...
A good read. Thank you for drawing it to our attention.
It points up the advantages of taking and using early retirement if possible. You really can live much more cheaply retired than working. I took early retirement by choice on a reduced pension and have never regretted it.
One of the bonuses has been encounters like the one in the story. We've met some interesting people on our travels over the last 20 years.
It points up the advantages of taking and using early retirement if possible. You really can live much more cheaply retired than working. I took early retirement by choice on a reduced pension and have never regretted it.
One of the bonuses has been encounters like the one in the story. We've met some interesting people on our travels over the last 20 years.
wicca, no need to stop. For me Bushcraft is about being outdoors and you can't get much more outdoors that your adventures, we'd love to hear/see more
" wicca, no need to stop. For me Bushcraft is about being outdoors and you can't get much more outdoors that your adventures, we'd love to hear/see more"
Ok then, on a wet Bank Holiday, some photographs and thoughts from sunnier times and places...
My main form of transport during my wandering years, apart from my boat of course was this...
A full size 18 geared folding bike. Expensive (American) but well worth the initial outlay as it allowed me to explore ashore in some pretty isolated places far from the beaten track. The orange milk crate lashed on the rear rack carried stores when required, and the 18 gears allowed me out run snarling, wild, (out of control) dogs on more than one occasion...
My voyages usually ran to about 2 years, some were 18 months and always started in Falmouth, Cornwall. Falmouth is good for voyagers with it's mooring/ berthing opportunities, it's ship's stores for spares etc: and it is good place to benefit from the "Grapevine", the unofficial rumours/information/ yarns/ advice, warnings etc: of other voyagers. Information not available in the Yacht Club old boy....
Some voyagers I met...Wintering on the River Fal before the voyage, one late Spring morning this wooden, early 1950's converted fishing boat anchored close to me in the river.
A couple, he in his mid to late 70's. Fit, hard and a superb seaman. His wife a couple of years younger and a retired Nursing Senior Sister. They had just arrived from the Cape Verde Islands off the West African Coat where, they told me, they had wintered every year for the past 12 years. Came home every summer to see the Grand kids... That's about a 4,500 mile round trip in a 60 year old wooden boat...Lady was a fabulous cook too and I had a few dinners aboard..
This is my boat laying in the Falmouth Town anchorage. Astern of her is another recently returned voyager.
A better photograph of her. She is a Wylo design, self built in steel by the young couple that owned her. They had been back in Falmouth about a week having just crossed the North Atlantic from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
.................................................
Down to the sunshine....Sailing through the Gibraltar Strait, Europe to Port and Africa to Starboard.
Err excuse me... powered vessels should give way to sailing vessels....Oh! Well! perhaps not then, I'll alter course shall I ? .............(They wouldn't even feel the bump as she ploughed me under..)
Mountain behind that ship is the Jebel Musa, Morocco.
Gibraltar ahead but I used to anchor in La Linea which is in Spain half a mile away across the bay. It was free to anchor and a nice walk from the anchorage into Gib itself.
The anchorage at La Linea.
Oohh! Feels funny walking on a surface that doesn't pitch and roll after a long sea voyage...Nice to walk ashore though and the promise of ice cold fresh milk to drink...
I'm not keen on crowds or touristy places, so I tended to use the ports of Mediterranean Spain purely as places to re-supply and take on fresh water before heading East to Greece, Italy, Malta or beyond. I did winter in Spain a few times though because as the Spanish economy staggered the marinas would sometimes reduce the winter berthing rates which made it very cheap to find a sheltered berth for the winter months.
Life in a Spanish Marina...
An old wooden Baltic Trader under the Norwegian flag. She was full of mad young Norski's who seemed to have a permanent party going in the evenings. What with young naked Norwegian ladies periodically diving in the harbour and a strange old English bloke who kept disappearing off inland on his push bike with a tarp and bivvy bag every few days, the Spanish Marina staff probably looked forward to the arrival of summer and posh 'yotties' who would wave their credit cards around...
A fine figure head carved by one of the young Norwegians.
A sad lesson for some Spanish motor boat owner who was installing even more electrical gizmos into an already crowded 12 volt electrical system. I assisted in cutting it adrift from it's crowded berth amongst other motor boats and getting it to an isolated spot where the Fire Brigade promptly filled in with foam and water and practically sunk it..
....................................................
Not every winter was as hectic...to finish this post. My first boat, a steel Gaff Cutter that I lost in a Tropical Revolving Storm on a reef in the Bahamas, pictured wintering at anchor in the Greek Islands, the Cyclades, a few years earlier.
Happy times....
Ok then, on a wet Bank Holiday, some photographs and thoughts from sunnier times and places...
My main form of transport during my wandering years, apart from my boat of course was this...
A full size 18 geared folding bike. Expensive (American) but well worth the initial outlay as it allowed me to explore ashore in some pretty isolated places far from the beaten track. The orange milk crate lashed on the rear rack carried stores when required, and the 18 gears allowed me out run snarling, wild, (out of control) dogs on more than one occasion...
My voyages usually ran to about 2 years, some were 18 months and always started in Falmouth, Cornwall. Falmouth is good for voyagers with it's mooring/ berthing opportunities, it's ship's stores for spares etc: and it is good place to benefit from the "Grapevine", the unofficial rumours/information/ yarns/ advice, warnings etc: of other voyagers. Information not available in the Yacht Club old boy....
Some voyagers I met...Wintering on the River Fal before the voyage, one late Spring morning this wooden, early 1950's converted fishing boat anchored close to me in the river.
A couple, he in his mid to late 70's. Fit, hard and a superb seaman. His wife a couple of years younger and a retired Nursing Senior Sister. They had just arrived from the Cape Verde Islands off the West African Coat where, they told me, they had wintered every year for the past 12 years. Came home every summer to see the Grand kids... That's about a 4,500 mile round trip in a 60 year old wooden boat...Lady was a fabulous cook too and I had a few dinners aboard..
This is my boat laying in the Falmouth Town anchorage. Astern of her is another recently returned voyager.
A better photograph of her. She is a Wylo design, self built in steel by the young couple that owned her. They had been back in Falmouth about a week having just crossed the North Atlantic from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
.................................................
Down to the sunshine....Sailing through the Gibraltar Strait, Europe to Port and Africa to Starboard.
Err excuse me... powered vessels should give way to sailing vessels....Oh! Well! perhaps not then, I'll alter course shall I ? .............(They wouldn't even feel the bump as she ploughed me under..)
Mountain behind that ship is the Jebel Musa, Morocco.
Gibraltar ahead but I used to anchor in La Linea which is in Spain half a mile away across the bay. It was free to anchor and a nice walk from the anchorage into Gib itself.
The anchorage at La Linea.
Oohh! Feels funny walking on a surface that doesn't pitch and roll after a long sea voyage...Nice to walk ashore though and the promise of ice cold fresh milk to drink...
I'm not keen on crowds or touristy places, so I tended to use the ports of Mediterranean Spain purely as places to re-supply and take on fresh water before heading East to Greece, Italy, Malta or beyond. I did winter in Spain a few times though because as the Spanish economy staggered the marinas would sometimes reduce the winter berthing rates which made it very cheap to find a sheltered berth for the winter months.
Life in a Spanish Marina...
An old wooden Baltic Trader under the Norwegian flag. She was full of mad young Norski's who seemed to have a permanent party going in the evenings. What with young naked Norwegian ladies periodically diving in the harbour and a strange old English bloke who kept disappearing off inland on his push bike with a tarp and bivvy bag every few days, the Spanish Marina staff probably looked forward to the arrival of summer and posh 'yotties' who would wave their credit cards around...
A fine figure head carved by one of the young Norwegians.
A sad lesson for some Spanish motor boat owner who was installing even more electrical gizmos into an already crowded 12 volt electrical system. I assisted in cutting it adrift from it's crowded berth amongst other motor boats and getting it to an isolated spot where the Fire Brigade promptly filled in with foam and water and practically sunk it..
....................................................
Not every winter was as hectic...to finish this post. My first boat, a steel Gaff Cutter that I lost in a Tropical Revolving Storm on a reef in the Bahamas, pictured wintering at anchor in the Greek Islands, the Cyclades, a few years earlier.
Happy times....
Nice, reminds me of family holidays when young, didn't got anywhere too far afield, just around SE coast and a hop across to France occasionally.
A good book I remember reading was 'Shrimpy' - 18ft round the world trip
A good book I remember reading was 'Shrimpy' - 18ft round the world trip
Ha! 'Shrimpy' by Shane Acton, ex Royal Marine... That book and 'Shrimpy sails again' is in the book rack aboard my boat, Mousey...
I met one or two similar voyagers in my travels. This 23 foot marine ply sloop was anchored in Freeman Bay, Antigua, West Indies when I sailed in and dropped the hook. She was single handed by a chap from Sussex too. He'd left Sussex 6 years before and came out of the Med about 6 months before me, bound for the Caribbean.
It's the little blue sloop with the two wind generators, laying to starboard of the big white ketch anchored ahead of me.
I met one or two similar voyagers in my travels. This 23 foot marine ply sloop was anchored in Freeman Bay, Antigua, West Indies when I sailed in and dropped the hook. She was single handed by a chap from Sussex too. He'd left Sussex 6 years before and came out of the Med about 6 months before me, bound for the Caribbean.
It's the little blue sloop with the two wind generators, laying to starboard of the big white ketch anchored ahead of me.
Great stuff wicca 
I think that it's important to see that people really are getting out there and having adventures and living alternate lifestyles to the general population, it leads to inspiration and adventure, hope for the future etc and we all need that.
Thanks again for posting the pics.
I think that it's important to see that people really are getting out there and having adventures and living alternate lifestyles to the general population, it leads to inspiration and adventure, hope for the future etc and we all need that.Thanks again for posting the pics.
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