A NOTE FROM THE COMMODORE

Whilst sailing I often dream about a new boat not that I need one, Jenny keeps reminding me that there is nothing wrong with the one we have got. However no boat is ever 100% perfect, so that is not quite correct, and for a start it was designed 4ft shorter than it should have been! On those grey, wet and windy days huddled in the cockpit or sheltering below I draft 'For Sale' advertisements. Why be ill, worried and cold when one could have a nice holiday home in the South of France?

What normally rescues me from taking that step is to read a copy of Flying Fish any issue will do. Whilst crossing the Irish Sea this summer heading for New Ross to rendezvous with Blackjack (Brian Coad) and Papageno (Peter Haden, Rear Commodore Ireland), who was sailing direct from northwest Spain, those thoughts entered my head as we had a bumpy overnight sail. I made a decision that the boat had to go and that somehow I could explain to the Committee that I would be a 'boatless' Commodore.

But surely the Commodore of the OCC should be made of sterner stuff. I turned to Flying Fish 2002/1, starting with Dossy in Alaska, Julie and Steve Ferrero's account of Dos Tintos' passage north from Hawaii to Alaska. I then turned to read Transports of Delight : Vancouver to Southampton the Easy Way? by Don and Jean Salter (or in my case Southampton to Vancouver) the easy way! I then received via e-mail from Vice Commodore Erik Vischer an outline plan for 2004, including a Rally in British Colombia. Perhaps I should keep the boat and get her to Vancouver ... so within half an hour of turning to Flying Fish I had recovered my senses and am now off to the Southampton Boat Show with a spring in my step.

Cruising to Scotland this summer, one disappointment was the decline in flag etiquette particularly by British registered vessels. Some were flying locally-made ensigns depicting their region, such as Cornwall (an English county), Wales, Scotland or England. It is my understanding that British registered vessels are only entitled to fly a red ensign or a special ensign if they hold a warrant to do so. Interestingly, all the American flagged yachts we met were proud to fly the Stars and Stripes without additions. Perhaps it is no wonder that the bureaucrats are taking an interest in yacht regulations if we can't set a better example. I trust that members of the OCC will lead the way in doing the right thing.

Finally, and still on the question of flags, remember that it is always worth flying your OCC burgee because even in the remotest places there is a good chance of meeting a fellow OCC member. In Badachro, Gairloch this summer there was only a handful of boats, but four were OCC members Bellamanda, Tempest (Tom and Vicki McGuffy), Na Mara (Dave and Liz Bradbury) and Shenavar (Fred King).

Alan J Taylor, Commodore