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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 05 December 2004 |
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Awarded to the members who have carried out a 'a voyage of an unusual or exploratory nature'.
2006
John Gore-Grimes (Arctic Fern – Najad 44) – sailed from Howth, Ireland up as far north as 810 15’N in Spitsbergen (where he and a crewman took a swim!) and return, a distance of 5,055 miles were sailed in 59 days with a crew of 6. The voyage took in the Faeroe Islands, Spitsbergen, through drift ice to Greenland and a place called: Ittoqqortoormiit. From there they headed further south through thick ice and spotted a polar bear standing on a flow, 150 miles offshore. I quote from his write-up:- “Pressing or pushing through ice is laborious and disheartening. The unimaginative triumph in ice because they cannot see or feel the peril. For many years I ploughed on merrily with about as little care as a tightrope walker on the wire one foot above the ground. We were bold and carefree trespassers. Today, the words horror, panic and dread would come close to describing my involuntary feelings in ice. I have not suddenly become imaginative but I have become more familiar with this erratic and perilous environment. I am seduced by its beauty. I am intimidated by its energy and its potential to do serious damage at very short notice.” Meeting a pod of about fifteen whales before stopping at Reykjavik they stopped at Hiemey in Westmann Islands to climb the world’s newest mountain: Eldfell, created in 1973, before heading for home via the Faeroes and Scotland.
2005 = Peter and Katharine Ingram (Kokiri) – have been sailing from NZ to Canada in a Pacific 38 over two years but have sailed via the Philippines after the 600 mile passage from Yap, then north through the San Juanico Strait to the Semirara Islands and on to Manila. After the Philippines they headed north to Japan on a passage dominated by strong headwinds and high seas when in the Kuro Shio current. They shipped a lot of water and bore away for Shinkoku to sort themselves out. In Tokyo they stayed for two weeks then the long passage from Japan to the Aleutian Island (Katharines OCC qualifying voyage) – 1700 miles and 15 days including fog, heavy shipping, calms and a gale on the nose. It was cold and there were all sorts of breakages – nothing serious. They also found out Katharine was six weeks pregnant leaving Japan with morning sickness becoming chronic seasickness.
They cruised the Aleutian Islands and on to Alaska finding good shelter in Mist Harbour. A close encounter with a bear followed but they continued north to the Kanai peninsula. After that they hurried down through the islands to make the OCC rally in BC. The final sail across to Vancouver was a memorable one. They had reached their goal – 16,000 miles, eight countries, 16 months, and fewer then two dozen yachts in the last 12months. Two quiet months refitting in Vancouver and then back to the UK for the birth of Robert David George Ingram!
2004 - Rev. Bob Shepton - Dodo's Delight - for his sail to Greenland to climb mountains from the boat with a num- ber of climbers and skiers. The North Atlantic passage from Scotland to Greenland was the meanest of them all with a deep depression established right in the middle of the Atlantic south of Iceland giving quite a lumpy sea. Much of the sailing was done under trysail rigged to the boom and No. 3 jib and a period of 26 hours hove-to. They were 18 days on the wind to reach up the Davis Strait to Nuuk where they were met by big icebergs in the cloudy dusk, some making their own mist. The wind continued in the north as they tried to make their way northwards. It did blow from the south, strongly, on the approach to Kangerdlugssuaq, the 15-mile long fjord just to the north of Kangerdlugssuatsiaq. There they climbed the scenic but serious mountains either side of the fjord. Bob made a personal ascent, involving a peak of 1650m, over 30km of distance (some of it loose and difficult), and took 28 hours. At one stage a huge swell picked Dodo up and threw her onto the gravel beach; fortunately Bob was able to get the engine started quickly, enabling Dodo to slide off into deep water. They then rounded Kap Alexander, at 78°10'N 73°01'W the most westerly extremity of Greenland, to reach the latitude of Foulke Fjord where they were blasted by consistent katabatic winds of force 7-8. They were eventually stopped by pack ice at 78°32'N, probably the furthest north that a GRP yacht has ever been in Greenland, and that in Dodo's 25th year and in Bob's 70th year!
2002 - Denise Evans - Dunlin of Wessex - has made many ambitious voyages, often to high latitudes, in her Tradewind 33, but last year, at the age of 71, she had a crew of two young men, one of whom was, later exchanged for a young girl student. They went north from Scotland and broke a chain plate off Norway so had to go into Bodo for repairs. They then went on to Spitzbergen and spent three weeks circumnavigating the island. They encountered a lot of ice and were eventually caught out on a lee shore in a gale in the ice in fog. They held off and on for 24 hours tacking in a lead till they found a way out. They eventually found an anchorage after five days at sea in confined waters.
2001 - Wolfgang Quix
2000 - Willy Ker
1999 - John Gore-Grimes
1998 - Bob Shepton
1997 - Paddy Barry
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 February 2007 )
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