Tag: Atlantic Ocean

A Knight’s Tale (134: Kilcullen Would Have Been Too Far Away)

One evening we were given a trip from Port St Charles into the Atlantic Ocean.

Kilcullen
Kilcullen towing New Horizons

Flanked by the lowering sun we then encountered Kilcullen towing New Horizons.

Quite why John Peck and Fraser Dodds, who manned the rowing boat New Horizons, needed the attentions of the support boat at this point, I am not sure, for they are given in the statistics of the Ocean Rowing Society as having completed the race.  Kilcullen, you see, is one of a group of vessels deputed to be on hand in case of need by rowers in distress. I understand that, because they tended to stay behind the slowest competitors, these yachts would be a good 500 miles away from the leaders.

Sunset 1
Sunset 2
Sunset 3

Very soon after this, we experienced one of the dramatic gold and indigo sunsets that Sam had enjoyed during his 59 days at sea.

Kilcullen in sunset

By this time the crew of Kilcullen were relaxing in silhouette.

Crabs 1
Crab 2

The next morning a cast of crabs danced the side shuffle on the rocks.

Sam, always having been one of the leaders, told us how the waves could toss his little boat considerable distances through the air. 

The purpose built rowing boat was designed to keep upright. Provided. That the windows to the small cabin remained closed.

One morning my son was woken by the hailer of a cargo vessel asking whether he needed assistance. He informed them that he had no need of it. Off they sailed.

Then, out of the blue, the ship turned and sped back towards Pacific Pete.

Just imagine the bow wave. This didn’t send Sam’s boat any distance. Instead it sent it in a circular spin in which it rolled over twice.

Had the windows been open Sam and his boat would have joined his camera on the bed of the ocean into which it had slipped. He didn’t mention this on one of his weekly telephone calls to me.

How Did Pacific Pete Gatecrash?

On a dull, drizzly, day, I scanned the rest of the rediscovered negatives from December 2003. Therein lay the mystery.

Yesterday, I had put pictures of snow in Sherwood Forest into my iMac.

Frost on leaves 1Frost on leaves 2Frost on leaves 3Frost on leaves 4Frost on leaves 5

Today, I began with frost on leaves in our garden at Lindum House in Newark.

Every morning, at 6.30 a.m. or thereabouts, before dawn at that time of the year, I crept out through the garden ‘unwillingly to’

Newark North Gate Station

Newark Northgate Railway Station to join commuters on the down platform to Kings Cross. By the time the train was due to arrive on this particular day the sun was casting long shadows. Most people in this shot were looking in my direction for our conveyance. Like me, the man in the foreground had learned that one received an earlier alert by watching the signal. Those trains not stopping at the station travel at 120 m.p.h. Prospective passengers are warned to stand behind the yellow line in order to avoid being drawn into the path of the Intercity conveyance. I won’t describe what happens to those who ignore the precaution.

That December, Sam was not at home in Newark. He was out basking in the Canary Islands, where the boat he was to row across the Atlantic had been delivered, and he was becoming accustomed to both it and the ocean. So, how come, on the same roll of film, sandwiched between the images above and those of ‘Oddie Aloft’, were

Sam in Pacific Pete 1

Sam in Pacific Pete at La Gomera

Sam in Pacific Pete 2Sam in Pacific Pete 3

and on the wide open sea?

I was not there. Had I lent my son the camera? Maybe he will elucidate.

This evening we enjoyed further portions of yesterday’s superb paprika pork, followed by Magnum ice creams. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Costieres de Nimes.