THE COMMODORE

A year has passed since I took the helm of the club and I would describe it as a year of consolidation, perhaps more for me than the club as a whole. I get the feeling that we have reached a level of confidence that is rightfully ours and reflects our status as described by Peter Johnson in his new book, Yacht Clubs of the World, as perhaps the only yacht club that is truly unique. Our first stated objective as a club is to `foster ocean cruising in small craft'. Many other clubs aim to foster cruising but I know of no other international club whose primary aim is to cruise the oceans of the world. Glancing through recent issues of Flying Fish and looking at our increased membership, it is clear to all that we are achieving this aim. I know that many of us leave for our ocean voyages from our home club and return there, often to much acclaim as the local hero. We then hardly get a mention in the annals of the OCC. But what was it that sustained us on the passage? Not our experience of racing round the buoys in our home waters but the fact that we had qualified as members and thereby gained the confidence to go forward to more ambitious cruising. And to no small degree the confidence gained by rubbing shoulders with our unsung heroes and reading of their exploits in our publications.

We had as our principal guest at the annual dinner Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who is described in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's greatest living explorer. Although many of his great explorations were made on water it was generally frozen, and his craft and home was usually a towed sled, not the relative security of a cruising boat. In researching some words to say at the dinner I came across a quote that he had used in one of his books when analysing what makes men strive to achieve hazardous goals. It is an old Indian saying: `Travellers cross many rivers and climbs many mountains. Plainsman may always live within a single valley, but only those seeking the truth will ever reach the summit'.

In my first note to you in Flying Fish I tried to analyse what it was that kept our club together. We are a bunch of individuals spread around the world and yet we feel a sense of cohesion. I suggested it was because we had the confidence to look forward to our next long cruise having made the first step which qualified us for membership. But when considering this more deeply, especially when the goals are as hazardous as Sir Ranulph's, I realised that it was the Indian's truth, not the summit, that we strive to reach. And, like the sailors' horizon, it is constantly moving away from us. This is our common bond.

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