This afternoon Tenacious motored in to anchor in Swanage Bay, Dorset, in glorious sunshine and under clear blue skies. She was quickly spotted from the shore…. by myself, a former permanent crew member….
An email to the ship, for the attention of First Mate, Richard, was quickly replied to, and the longed for invitation issued to come aboard…. if I could.

The voyage crew on board had joined in Esbjerg, Denmark, where Tenacious was part of the Tall Ships race. They are on voyage TNS412, which will end in Southampton on Friday.

Having roped in a friend, Deana, who has great connections with the Swanage pier, and any likely source of water transport….we were “on hold” for a water taxi… We were careful not to arrive during supper, and Hammies delights, but managed to get a lift in the lull between yachties returning to their boats after supper ashore.

With the permission of Capt. Naggs, Richard had arranged the pilot ladder to be on the Port side and we made a pretty good ascent onto the ship.

What a delight! It was like being transported to a holiday venue, relaxed atmosphere and lots of laid back voyage crew. Luckily there were a good number that I had sailed with, so it didn’t take long to catch up with the “when and where” of previous voyage encounters. Everyone seemed to have had a great time on this voyage and enjoyed the night alongside in Bruges, and chocolate shopping! Watch Leader Peter told me that the mix had been great, ages from 16 to 86, all working and playing together well.

The most impressive thing for this “secret shopper” was MVB in the Domestic Goddess role………I have NEVER seen the laundry so pristine and well ordered! As for the shop…that got off to a noisy start as we were there, with Chief Engineer Pete helping, and it looked like the first day of the New Year sales in London!!

All too soon, Steve, our water taxi man was alongside again and our brief visit was over…

The ship is now all lit up, and looking beautiful in the bay, ready for departure back to Southampton after breakfast tomorrow.

Enjoy the last full day, and hope to be back soon.

Jane Flood.