European Odyssey: launch party of this new rally from Northern Europe to Med and Canaries
Jimmy Cornell invites anyone planning a southbound voyage to presentation of this new annual event starting from London on 12 July 2014. The rally will make its way south on easy stages with stops at Cherbourg, Brest, La Coruna, Porto and Lisbon. Boats bound for the Med will turn for Gibraltar, while those heading for the Canaries will continue south via Rabat, in Morocco, to Lanzarote.
A programme of activities is planned at every stop.
Hanson lecture by Paul Heiney - A Quick Dash for the Horn
Over the last three years, long-standing CA member Paul Heiney has been voyaging to the depths of South America on a cruise which eventually took him round the infamous Cape Horn. It is one of sailing’s most feared, yet respected headlands. In this year’s Hanson Lecture he tells the story of his Cape Horn adventure during which he clocked up 18,000 miles and explains why a ‘quick dash’ is the only way to do it.
Life and Death of a Tudor Sailor, by Trevor Sapey of the Mary Rose Trust
The warship Mary Rose, Flagship of Henry VIII, tragically sank off the Isle of Wight during a battle with the French. Over 400 men also lost their lives. The ship was successfully recovered from the sea bed in 1982. Apart from the ship, more than 19,000 artefacts were also recovered and many are now displayed alongside the ship in a new museum opened in June 2013.
From London to London: how we circumnavigated Europe, by Ed and Sue Kelly
Sue and Ed Kelly’s voyage is subtitled 6,200 miles, 494 days, 74 locks, two new engines and one snake. It took them via the swollen Rhine River, Main River, and through Eastern Europe via the Danube and Canal of Death to the Black Sea, Bosporus Straits, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles, Aegean and Mediterranean and back by Biscay and the English Channel to their starting point at St Katherine’s Dock.
In July 2013 Paul and family cruised the stunning North Brittany coastline between Paimpol and Roscoff. The brief for the trip was to cross over from Poole, spend time ashore in as many places as possible, and return their Ovni, "Little Wing", safely to her home berth, all in the space of a three week break from work. They discovered a wonderful cruising ground with a great variety of idyllic, tranquil islands, small bustling harbours and winding rivers.
The call of the Far North: preparations for a transit of the Northwest Passage, by Jimmy Cornell
As Jimmy prepares for a transit of the Northwest Passage, he tells us about preparing boat, equipment and crew for high latitude sailing, based on lessons from his voyages to Antarctica, Alaska and Spitsbergen; and about designing a new Aventura for the trip in summer 2014, which will be the first stage of a planned fourth circumnavigation with the Blue Planet Odyssey.
As you sail past the O2 “Dome” or fly over it on the cable-car, look to the opposite bank and you will see the site of the largest private dock in Europe, the birthplaces of the hydraulic crane and the modern lighthouse, the yards where “bad buoys were made good” and HMS Warrior was launched, and the wharf where Brunel’s first steamship had her engine installed.
Electronics masterclass with Tom Cunliffe, Saturday 9th November 2013
Once we navigated oceans by the stars. Now it’s barely imaginable to cross the Thames without a computer. If you’ve ever been baffled by the array of technology available to the modern yachtsmen and left wondering what is useful and what is just good marketing, this is for you.
