Cruising at 100

Ours was only a nodding acquaintance. We’d spent  the last few August days lying alongside, our berths shifting in unsion with the tides. Not knowing his name I’d euphemistically entitled him ‘the Dutchman’ – but I was no Pandora and plans were long underway for a departure to the Continent.

The leave-taking was a slow, manful effort, hauling and towing until the ancient hull turned full ninety degrees and sighted the long narrow inlet. With a soft throbbing engine and a south-westerly tail wind, the Dutch sailing barge then slipped quietly out of Woodbridge.

In the wake of the boat’s departure a stark emptiness lingered in the anchorage but this was her celebratory centenary cruise and we landlubbers could only raise our hats and wish ‘Bon Voyage’.

This 100th post is dedicated to the beautiful lines of the centenarian De Jonge Jacob 1912:

• History of de Jonge Jacob
• Centenary Cruise

Note: Reference here to a classic vintage movie: ‘Pandora and the Flying Dutchman’ (1951)

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