TREASURE ISLANDS

A long-held dream to visit the Isles of Scilly in their own boat finally came good for Matt and Jillie Dale but it wasn't without its challenges

- Matt Dale

When you’re a teenager you find your parents so embarrassing. You vow never to make those crass statements or be so out of touch. As Mark Twain once said, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

I am 40 years past that age but when I take stock, I realise just how similar I am to my father. My love of boating, my mechanical and practical abilities, my farming skills and a belt- and-braces approach to preparation. It was the last of these that came to the fore when we took Molly, our Aquador 32C, to the Isles of Scilly in August. Not to father’s extremes though, he is of the school of: why have one spare when you can have a dozen?

BELT AND BRACES 

My preparations were a little more measured; the hull was clean but I gave the prop and prop shaft a good scrub. The fuel and water tanks were brimmed and my wife Jillie took care of the victuals. We also had our crew, Otto – my daughter Penny’s dog.

Next came the belt and then the braces. We had a new plotter and autopilot fitted last winter but as we were heading out into the fringes of the Atlantic, I wasn’t going to leave much to chance.