daily living | sailing going aloft · going aloft when itcomestosailingtrips, some...

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GOING ALOFT When it comes to sailing trips, some people like to sit back and watch the world pass them by as they glide peacefully across open waters, while others like to take to the helm to steer onward. That’s exactly what Chris Dabbs did when he joined the crew on board the Lord Nelson. Sat at the helm of the 440-ton Lord Nelson sailing ship out in the English Channel, on a beauful and sunny aernoon, I watched the large sails fill as I eased the ship a few degrees to port with just two fingers on the wooden rim of the power-assisted wheel. The speed began to pick up as she ran sweetly towards Poole with a south-westerly wind at our tail. It was hard to believe that only 12 hours before we had all been hanging onto anything solid, as the ship baered its way around Land’s End, but that’s the magic of offshore sailing in a purpose- built, three-masted sailing ship. I’m a T3 complete paraplegic of 25 years ‘standing’ and have been a member of Northampton Sailability for over 15 years, sailing all sorts of dinghy-sized keelboats, geng my Assistant Instructor’s cket, taking part in club and naonal races, and even coming 11th in class at the 2010 World Championships. But I had never been to sea in a ‘proper’ sailing ship like the Lord Nelson, part of a fleet run by the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST). The Lord Nelson (or ‘Nellie’) is a three-masted square-rigged Barque built in 1986, and along with Tenacious, the Trust’s other vessel, is the only sail training ship designed with wheelchair users in mind. On Nellie there are some two-berth cabins, two accessible wet rooms/ clos-o-mat toilets, plaorm lis up the CHRIS DABBS SIA Member wide companionways onto deck and between decks, and a fully adjustable helmsman’s seat on the bridge. Nellie can take up to eight manual wheelchair users and their buddies as part of a 40-man crew. You aren’t along just for the ride; JST’s remit is to integrate disabled and non-disabled people aged 16-plus into a crew, so regardless of your knowledge, or lack of it, you are expected to parcipate in the day-to-day running of the ship under the constant supervision of the experienced permanent crew. The crew is divided into four teams or ‘watches’, which take it in turns to be responsible for various tasks on board, including keeping watch. Each watch has an experienced watch leader who works with you and the permanent crew to give you tasks that suit your individual strengths over a 24-hour period. You and your buddy are expected to work together to get the most out of your abilies. I was in the ‘Forward Port’ watch with the quietly calm watch leader Peter, who has 42 years’ experience at sea, including working with Special Forces during the Falklands, so I knew I was in safe hands. Each 24-hour period is divided into seven two- to four-hour periods like a school metable, starng at 00.00 to 04.00 with ‘middle’, then ‘morning’, ‘forenoon’, ‘aernoon’, ‘first dog’, ‘last dog’ and finally ‘first’ taking you back to midnight. All those naucal terms make the experience more encompassing – you feel like a sailor, even if you haven’t got a clue what to do! www.spinal.co.uk 44 daily living | SAILING

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Page 1: daily living | SAILING GOING ALOFT · GOING ALOFT When itcomestosailingtrips, some peopleliketositback andwatchtheworldpassthem by asthey glidepeacefully acrossopen waters,while othersliketotaketothe

GOING ALOFTWhen it comes to sailing trips,some people like to sit backand watch the world pass themby as they glide peacefullyacross open waters, whileothers like to take to the helmto steer onward. That’s exactlywhat Chris Dabbs did when hejoined the crew on board theLord Nelson.

Sat at the helm of the 440-ton LordNelson sailing ship out in the EnglishChannel, on a beau$ful and sunnya#ernoon, I watched the large sailsfill as I eased the ship a few degreesto port with just two fingers on thewooden rim of the power-assistedwheel. The speed began to pick up asshe ran sweetly towards Poole witha south-westerly wind at our tail.It was hard to believe that only 12

hours before we had all been hangingonto anything solid, as the ship ba"eredits way around Land’s End, but that’s themagic of offshore sailing in a purpose-built, three-masted sailing ship.I’m a T3 complete paraplegic of

25 years ‘standing’ and have been amember of Northampton Sailabilityfor over 15 years, sailing all sorts ofdinghy-sized keelboats, ge!ng myAssistant Instructor’s $cket, takingpart in club and na$onal races, andeven coming 11th in class at the 2010World Championships. But I had neverbeen to sea in a ‘proper’ sailing shiplike the Lord Nelson, part of a fleetrun by the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST).The Lord Nelson (or ‘Nellie’)

is a three-masted square-riggedBarque built in 1986, and along withTenacious, the Trust’s other vessel,is the only sail training ship designedwith wheelchair users in mind. OnNellie there are some two-berthcabins, two accessible wet rooms/clos-o-mat toilets, pla%orm li#s up the

CHRIS DABBSSIAMember

wide companionways onto deck andbetween decks, and a fully adjustablehelmsman’s seat on the bridge.Nellie can take up to eight manual

wheelchair users and their buddiesas part of a 40-man crew. You aren’talong just for the ride; JST’s remit is tointegrate disabled and non-disabledpeople aged 16-plus into a crew, soregardless of your knowledge, or lackof it, you are expected to par$cipatein the day-to-day running of the shipunder the constant supervision ofthe experienced permanent crew.The crew is divided into four teams

or ‘watches’, which take it in turnsto be responsible for various taskson board, including keeping watch.Each watch has an experienced watchleader who works with you and the

permanent crew to give you tasks thatsuit your individual strengths over a24-hour period. You and your buddy areexpected to work together to get themost out of your abili$es. I was in the‘Forward Port’ watch with the quietlycalm watch leader Peter, who has 42years’ experience at sea, includingworking with Special Forces during theFalklands, so I knew I was in safe hands.Each 24-hour period is divided intoseven two- to four-hour periods like aschool $metable, star$ng at 00.00 to04.00 with ‘middle’, then ‘morning’,‘forenoon’, ‘a#ernoon’, ‘first dog’, ‘lastdog’ and finally ‘first’ taking you back tomidnight. All those nau$cal terms makethe experience more encompassing– you feel like a sailor, even if youhaven’t got a clue what to do!

www.spinal.co.uk

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daily living | SAILING

Page 2: daily living | SAILING GOING ALOFT · GOING ALOFT When itcomestosailingtrips, some peopleliketositback andwatchtheworldpassthem by asthey glidepeacefully acrossopen waters,while othersliketotaketothe

Although the UK had enjoyed awonderful Indian summer last year, bythe $me I headed down to Cardiff docksto board ship on a Thursdaymorning,Storm Bronagh was star$ng to ba"er ourshores with 60-80mph gusts forecastover the next few days. Although wewere in a lock and the shelter of the newdockside apartment blocks, it was clearthe weather was ge!ng up, and thefact that the larger Royal Navy FisheryProtec$on vessel moored next to uswasn’t venturing out into the BristolChannel either, didn’t bode well.But that didn’t stop training. Once

we were signed on and issued withour oilskins and harnesses, the safetybriefings and instruc$on began. Welearned how to hoist and set the sailsby ‘swea$ng’ and ‘tailing’, discoveredwhat ‘smoko’ and ‘happy hour’ are(guess which one is the daily one-hourclean by the whole crew, and the othera tea break) and naviga$on skills.The highlight for me that day

was ‘going alo#’ up the mast to the‘figh$ng top’, a pla%orm 25 feetabove deck. I transferred into a slingand hoisted myself up there in a fewminutes, but even if you couldn’toperate out of your wheelchair, thecrew can safely hoist you, chair andall – it’s that sort of environment.While all this was going on, the

Captain began her marathon weathermap surveillance, looking for a slot inthe condi$ons that would allow us tonip around Land’s End, before we got‘headed’ by strong south-westerlies,which would have meant we’d endup sailing towards Ireland instead!

We were supposed to leave port thatThursday a#ernoon, but Bronaghmade it so changeable that we weregiven six different sailing $mes overthe next 24-hours, from Friday nightto Monday morning. Then a weatherwindow on Saturday morning lookedlike it was opening up, so it was anearly start on Saturday morning at05.00 to leave on the 06.30 lock.We were going to be relying on our

diesel engines for a lot of this voyage,as even Americas Cup crews say theBristol Channel can be a challengingstretch of water and it was pre"y lumpyas we headed out. A childhood spentreading books in the back of cars andthe steadier pla%orm provided by mywheelchair’s ‘footprint’ meant thatthe pitching and rolling didn’t affectme too much. However, even withseasickness pills, you could see quitea few of our fellow voyage crewmatesgoing green about the gills and headingto the leeward side or their bunkswith their li"le bags to hand. But thisship has sailed around the world anddown to Antarc$ca, so the permanentcrew were on hand to make sure thatwe were able to keep up a steady sixto seven knots. As we sailed into therela$ve calm of the eye of the stormnear Newquay on Saturday evening, wewere surrounded by a 50-strong pod ofdolphins leaping around us, some riding

get involvedMy invita$on to join the voyage came thanks to a BarclaysMatch Funding ini$a$ve. Any

money raised by Barclays’ employees for charitable causes will be matched by the bank. Theefforts of two employees, Joanne Pinder and CarolineMar$n, enabledme to take part in

this fantas$c trip. Thank you ladies!

For more informa$on about the Jubilee Sailing Trust visitwww.jst.org.ukYou can also find out about Northampton Sailability atwww.northamptonsailability.org.uk

the ship’s bow wave as the sun set.The watch systemmesses with your

sleep pa"erns, and as I was on firstwatch at 12pm, I headed for my bunka#er supper. Each bunk has a ‘lee sheet’– a canvas sheet that can be fastenedup to stop you rolling out. I was glad ofmine in the dark on that Saturday nightas it felt like a slow-mo$on roller coasterwhile the ship pitched and rolled aroundLand’s End. But when I came up onto thebridge in my oilies the moonlight meantwe could see 20 miles across the ocean(handy when you are in some of theworld’s busiest shipping lanes), while theconstella$ons shone brighter than theyhave ever done. Later that day we werefinally able to stop the diesels ra"lingaway and raise our sails, with our watchspending a glorious a#ernoon balancingcourse and wind direc$on to keep Nelliesurging along as fast as she managedwith those motors cla"ering away.As we cruised slowly into Poole

harbour that Monday morning on aclear, blue day with a gentle breeze atour backs, I couldn’t stop grinning thanksto the joyous feeling of being part ofa crew – professional and voluntary,non-disabled and physically challenged– that had successfully brought this bigvessel through challenging condi$onsto journey’s end on $me. Time tostart planning another adventure –maybe in the Caribbean this $me …

The workshop below deck

february 2019 | Issue 149

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