In his report of the inaugural meeting Teddy Haylock, editor of Yachting World,

wrote somewhat hopefully that it was the Club’s intention ‘... to appoint local

representatives. Thus, a member sailing into some harbour half-way across the

Pacific would be met by a friend and all his wants attended to’, and this was

enshrined in the first issue of the Rules in 1956. Perhaps it was a little ambitious,

and for all the good intentions the scheme got off to a very slow start. There

was even discussion of abandoning it altogether when there was a dearth of

volunteers in the early days. However if they had given it up there is little doubt

that it would have been invented in another form, as Port Officers are now

such an integral part of the Club.

It was not until 1961 that Port Officers were listed in the Newsletter, so it is

hardly surprising that the scheme made a hesitant start since there was no way

of finding out who they were. The first list showed 13, but by 1966, when next

published, this had grown to 22. Two names, however, appear in neither list

but must be credited with being our earliest standard bearers.

The first is Alfredo Lagos in Vigo, who was once described as having been a

Port Officer since before the Club began as his father had befriended Hum

prior to 1954. The family is now into the third generation of honorary members

who so generously look after passing sailors. The second, of course, is Peter

Azevedo in Horta (see photograph page 239), who is a friend of every passing

yachtsman but who reserves a special welcome for members. Again, three

generations of the Azevedo family have looked after us and no doubt will continue

to do so in their mid-Atlantic haven.

It would be invidious to go on listing in order of merit, but a glance at the lists

of Port Officers over the years will identify those who have given long and

outstanding service. First amongst these is doubtless Ian Nicolson from the

Clyde. As a Founder Member, Ian has been our man on the Clyde since the

beginning of time – OCC time, anyway – and is the only person to have appeared

in every Port Officers List over the 50 years of the Club’s existence. He has

hardly ever failed to report on northern happenings for Flying Fish and was the

first and second recipient of the OCC Award. He is currently writing his 23rd

book on boats and sailing, so is a mine of information on matters nautical.

Technically too late for this history, but relevant to the story, is that the Scottish

members had, by 2004, become so numerous that they warranted their own

Rear Commodore and at the Golden Jubilee celebrations Ian was raised to that

rank.

The 1966 list shows another name which has been a constant until very

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recently, that of Warren Brown, who served the Club from his outpost in

Bermuda for over 30 years. We have read of Warren’s outstanding cruises in

War Baby, but he has spent sufficient time at home to help the many members

who pass through his popular parish. Also in that second list is Jim Griffin,

who started out as our man in the Bahamas, where he lived aboard his grand

old pilot cutter Northern Light. Jim moved his seat of authority three times so

he became in a sense a roving Port Officer. He sailed to Greece and there

hoisted his flag, before moving on to Gibraltar to fly his pennant on the Rock

for many years.

The same 1966 list contained a name which can still be found in the current

Members Handbook (previously known as the List of Members), but now the

next generation – that of Bob Ayer. Bob senior joined in 1961 and immediately

took on the Port Officer’s duties for his attractive cruising ground of Maine,

holding that office for 30 years.

A famous name, but one who started as a humble Port Officer, was Alec

Rose who carried out those duties at Portsmouth from joining in 1965 until his

death in 1991. He was still shown in the 1990 list as being our Admiral and a

knighted Port Officer. Perhaps members found it a bit daunting ringing a knight

of the realm to ask where they could empty their holding tank, but Sir Alec was

just as approachable to any member right to the end.

It is in the popular cruising areas that Port Officers are most often called

upon, and the Club has been particularly well served in the Caribbean by several

long-standing officers. Bill Fowler dropped his anchor in Antigua in 1966 after

his qualifying passage and has based Xicale there ever since. He was followed

to the Caribbean in 1972 by Dick Morris, who put down roots in Tortola and

is still our PO there today. Non-members, but equally welcoming, were the

Knowles brothers in Barbados who served the best flying-fish butties in the

north Atlantic. On the southern fringe of the Caribbean a warm welcome has

for many years been forthcoming from Harold  and Kwailan La Borde in

Trinidad – provided, of course, that Harold hadn’t just finished another of his

many home-built boats and was doing a shake-down round the world. Although

he didn’t become a member until 1990, and was not promulgated as Port Officer

until 1996, he had been well known to the Club for many years and was first

reported in the Journal of 1966.

Perhaps the most patient of our entire faithful band was Jim Wales in Buzzards

Bay. His office overlooked the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal with a snug

mooring beneath it, and yet this writer was his first visitor in 20 years. And that

was only a social call.

The prize for longevity must go to Ed Greeff who covered Long Island Sound

from his home port of Oyster Bay for 20 years and only retired when he reached

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the ripe old age of 90. He rarely failed to greet a member who called, and in the

year 2000 when in his 90th year entertained our Commodore. He wasn’t feeling

up to driving, so his wife Betsy drove them into town. She was 99. Ed died in

2003 at the age of 93, still a member.

Living in England it is easy to think of Port Officers as exclusively overseas,

but there are plenty here waiting for the call. Whoever calls at Harwich? You

might well ask, but if you had you would have found Derrick Allan anxious to

give you a hand for almost 30 years. Derrick joined in 1954 with a transatlantic

that year, and while not quite counting as a Founder he has been a faithful

member ever since.

The list could go on, but the more folk that are mentioned the more offence

one could cause by omission. There are currently 92 Port Officers so some 80

have gone unsung, but that does not lessen their contribution, even if like Jim

Wales they had to wait 20 years for the call. It is a good exercise to read

through the list shown in the Millennium edition of Flying Fish. It demonstrates

the breadth of our Club and shows that one is rarely far from friendly help

anywhere in the world. Both members and non-members offer their services,

not out of any sense of philanthropy, but because they are genuinely interested

in cruising and the folk who cruise. In many cases they have been in a position

of need themselves and know how reassuring it is to have a friendly and

knowledgeable voice on the end of a telephone in a strange and perhaps unfriendly

environment. They serve us well, and it up to us to show our appreciation by

making use of them. Not necessarily in the sense of using their services, but by

calling on them to say hello and perhaps inviting them aboard for a drink.

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