THE LA BORDES OF TRINIDAD -- A TRIBUTE

Hugh Cownie

Sailors and non-sailors admire the daring and endurance of ocean racing yachtsmen such as participants in the Whitbread and singlehanded around the world races, not to mention those who bash their brains out sailing the `wrong' way around. They admire too, and often envy, the achievements of cruising sailors: Slocum, Tilman, the Smeetons and Eric and Susan Hiscock, not to mention many of our fellow OCC members. But in Trinidad live a sailing couple who are little known outside their own country but whose cruising achievements match those of the greatest.

Let me tell you a little about them.

At sixteen Harold La Borde, one of six children of a newspaper man of modest means, built his own 11ft dinghy, Lark. He had crewed on dinghies since he was a child but this was the boat on which he learned how to and how not to helm a small boat of his own. A strong competitive urge drove him not long afterwards to sell this pride and joy to finance the building of Whip, a Snipe class dinghy that had become a popular racing class in Trinidad. In this he won several races but more importantly he taught his girlfriend, Kwailan, the basics of sailing.

The competitive urge was replaced by the urge for adventure; he wanted to sail beyond the confines of Trinidad's extensive waters to explore the islands further north.

The sale of Whip provided funds to build an 18ft Rebel, Revenge. When completed this proved to be the strong boat he wanted; it would be capable, Harold was sure, of crossing the ninety miles of Atlantic ocean that separate Trinidad from the `spice island' of Grenada. I have often made that passage in a Vancouver 32 built for ocean sailing and can vouch that they can be extremely uncomfortable. Harold and two friends, Buck and Fung, won the admiration of the Grenada and Trinidad press and of his land-lubber friends, though experienced offshore sailors considered his venture foolhardy. The eventful but successful return passage convinced Harold that there were more ambitious goals within his grasp -- a crossing of the Atlantic was his new dream. Kwailan, now his fiancée, tried to dissuade him from so seemingly dangerous an adventure, as did family and friends. But their well-intended advice failed to divert him from his plans.

After studying different hull designs and sail plans, trying to find one that could be built and maintained on a shoe-string budget, Harold chose a gaff-rigged ketch drawn by Philip Goode, a Poole yacht designer who advised Harold on many aspects of his project. Work on his ocean-going yacht started in l957 under the shade of the coconut palms which fringed the beach. Harold's conscientious work between office hours and sleep attracted many admiring onlookers, few of whom offered any help until one day `Daddy' turned up. He was an elderly, skilled boatbuilder who could wield an adze with great and beneficial precision.

In June 1959, Harold and Kwailan were married. Work on Hummingbird had been completed just in time for the young couple to spend their honeymoon on board. They cruised the Grenadines on a proving sail in anticipation of their Atlantic crossing. Harold recalls, with amusement now, that they saw only six other yachts on the passage from Trinidad to Antigua -- today it would be scores if not hundreds.

All went well and the cruise reassured Kwailan that her husband had the competence and their engineless 26ft 9in vessel would be strong enough to take them safely cross the Atlantic. So, on 29 January 1960, they set off again on a slow cruise up the Windward and Leeward islands, this time on the first leg of their transatlantic adventure. Buck Wong Chong, who had accompanied Harold on his first passage to Grenada and who had helped with the construction of Hummingbird, sailed with them.

On 14 May 1960 they left Antigua for the Azores. They encountered doldrums and gales, having to heave-to in the worst winds. Thanks to Mary Blewitt's five shilling book and much practice with the sextant, Harold's celestial navigation gave them a good landfall thirty-six days after leaving the West Indies. After a well deserved rest they resumed their passage and, on 15 July 1960, dropped anchor in Falmouth, Cornwall. It was there that the La Bordes first met the Bartons.

In his excellent book An Ocean to Ourselves, (Peter Davies and Longman Caribbean), Harold describes with wit and simplicity the story of his boyhood preparations and the transatlantic passage. It is a book written by a dreamer that should be read by all fellow romantics. Yachting Monthly published two articles by Harold during 1960, as well as a feature on Philip Goode's design for Hummingbird.

However the Atlantic was not enough. After a spell in West Africa as instructors in an Outward Bound school Harold and Kwailan returned to Trinidad. Kwailan might have been thinking of a home, children and a secure future. But not Harold. He had sold Hummingbird in England -- she can still be seen in the Caribbean -- and with the money from this and from his savings, Harold set about building a 40ft ketch to take him and Kwailan around the world. Five and a half years after their transatlantic adventure the La Bordes launched Hummingbird II.

By this time the family had grown to three with the arrival of their son Pierre. Kwailan had given up full time employment to study French and Spanish at university, languages which, she was sure, would be useful on their travels. Without Kwailan's income money had been tight and a wooden 40ft boat needs a lot of that commodity for its construction, maintenance and for cruising. Friends and local businesses came to their aid, impressed by the courage and determination of a young couple who had helped to put Trinidad on the ocean sailing map. After the launch of Hummingbird II Harold himself was able to help finance his future circumnavigation by skippering charters in the Windward and Leeward Islands for three interesting years.

At last, on a Sunday afternoon in 1969, the La Bordes were able to weigh anchor and sail down the Spanish Main at the start of their four year passage around the world. On 2 June 1973, the La Bordes -- now a family of four, Kwailan having given birth to Andre in New Zealand -- returned to Trinidad to a grand welcome. Included in the welcoming party was the country's Prime Minister, Mr Eric Williams. Respect for the family later attracted the award of the Trinity Cross to both Harold and Kwailan. This decoration, I am told by former colonial servants, stands on a par with a British knighthood and is held by other distinguished citizens including VS Naipaul and, very recently, Brian Lara. Their round the world adventures are well described in All Oceans Blue (published in Trinidad by the La Bordes).

As other great sailing men have found, successful passages do not in themselves bring material success. French sailors and a few British ocean-racing yachtsmen are not only admired greatly by their countrymen but win lucrative sponsorships. The generosity of businessmen and friends in Trinidad had helped make the dreams of Harold and Kwailan come true but, once back in Trinidad, it was back to work for them.

Even so Cape Horn, Harold's Everest, had yet to be conquered. He started work on building Hummingbird III, a wooden 55ft ketch, this time with a helping hand from the Trinidad and Tobago government as well as from companies and individual admirers. In May 1984 the family set off for New Zealand via Brazil, and after an essential stop at Cape Town for repairs, in Fiji to embark Pierre's girlfriend, and more repairs and refitting in Sydney, they arrived in New Zealand to prepare for the dangerous leg around the Horn.

Kwailan decided that she should remain behind with their younger son, and Harold was prevailed upon to allow Pierre's girlfriend to make the passage around Cape Horn. She had never sailed before joining Hummingbird III in Fiji, but nevertheless took charge of the food and cooking. She also stood watches under the capable guidance of Pierre. Harold's book Lonely Oceans South, and an excellent companion video both published in Trinidad, tell the story of that remarkable adventure.

A great welcome awaited their return to Trinidad in 1986, but Harold now had to resume life ashore -- not easy for such an adventurous spirit. He considered chartering again but advertisements in the UK yachting press attracted no interest. It was not until 1993 that the La Bordes sailed together on a major passage, when they carried the flag of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic team to the Barcelona Games. On the passage home the family was reunited by the arrival of Andre, who had been studying boatbuilding in New Zealand.

The La Bordes have now embarked on another adventure. They have established a non-profit-making sail training school in Trinidad, close to where the Hummingbirds were built. It is hoped that aspiring young, and not-so-young, West Indian sailors will gain skills which will enable them to follow in the wake of this unique Trinidadian family who have shown that cricket is not the only sport at which their countrymen excel.

Author's note

My wife and I first met the La Bordes in 1987 when we were planning the second stage of a circumnavigation. Despite their natural modesty and reserve, Harold and Kwailan provided us with valuable guidance which, unfortunately, we was unable to use due to unexpected illness. We now base Keelson II, the above-mentioned Vancouver 32, in Trinidad for gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) trade wind cruising in the Caribbean.

(1640 words)