A LIFE WELL SAILED

Brian Black looks back at 50 years of cruising, mostly shared with his wife Lesley and their children Kieron and Sarah, and reflects on how it shaped his sailing

- Brian Black

The wails of complaints and a sense that the world was a little awry was the first clue that all was not well. Back in the day we had a 26ft Fairey Atalanta, complete with lifting keels, two small children, a large dog and more enthusiasm than experience. We went with the tide to anchor in Lochranza on Arran, expecting to dry out on the shingle at low tide. After a nightcap we settled into our bunks, confident that with the boat high and dry, nothing would disturb our sleep. We were so wrong. Having dried out on a ledge, the boat was at such an angle that the children had slid into balls of grief in their sleeping bags. So began a sailing career that had us crossing seas, visiting strange places and giving our children a taste for adventure that has carried them through into adulthood, still with a sense of wonder at the natural world and all it has to offer. In those days, nearly 50 years ago, the west coast of Scotland was a faraway place. Long summer holidays allowed plenty of time to explore deserted bays and anchorages. Navigation, however, involved a lot of guesswork; there were no chart plotters or GPS. Instead, we relied on distance run, dead reckoning and chart work. Unsurprisingly, there were errors. Entering what we thought was Loch Rodel on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and looking for the red roofed barn described in the pilot book, it became clear something was wrong. Further reading confirmed we had entered not Loch Rodel but a ‘dead-end bay, much encumbered with rocks.’