Coming home
Nimble Ape II
Chris and Jules Stanham
Sat 23 Jun 2012 13:10
After a two-and-a-half year
stay in the States, cruising the Chesapeake Bay from Zahniser’s Yachting Center
in Solomons Island, MD, Nimble Ape is back in the water and primed for the
return journey to the UK.
I, on the other hand, am more
panicked than poised having been called up from the subs bench at short notice,
without first-choice selection Chris who has to work for a living.
A hastily-gathered and
eclectic crew from across the globe is currently preparing to clash
personalities in about ten days’ time for the Ape’s UK homecoming to Falmouth,
via the Azores.
Veteran from the Atlantic
crossing in 2009, Ian ‘Barra’ Barrowclough is already in place in the Solomons
area having established a convenient boat-owning contact in the same marina
during a recent night out in England. As far as I can understand, and also
witnessed on a couple of occasions, he cultivates similar associations whenever
he walks out the door.
It is not surprising,
therefore, that he has persuaded a Dutch offshore worker and a Vietnam Huey
pilot to make up the rest of the crew.
I doubt it will be dull. I
wonder when it will be the right time to tell them that I’m not much of a cook,
don’t really do knots and have a liking for long showers.
Jules
Picture: Nimble Ape at Zahniser's, Solomons Island
