By Chris Champness

It had been an exhausting but not very productive week and I was glad to see the back of
it. Not an uncommon experience when researching for a new book. I felt myself in need of
some R and R to freshen up my mind for a new beginning.

It was early July at the time and the Solent had not yet been inundated by the flocks of
summer yachties who overwhelmed the Island at that time of year. So a good time to
reinvigorate my lungs with plenty of fresh sea air and for the wind to blow away my
mental cobwebs.

I am lucky in one respect. I have a good friend who, in his spare time, writes non fiction
books on nautical themes. Living on the Island as I do, I had done the odd research for
him over the years. I'd also crewed his own sailing boat many times and, in return, he let
me use it when not doing so himself. The boat itself is a wooden Hillyard 42'centre
cockpit ketch and a boat quite capable of sailing round the world under an experienced
skipper - not that I put myself in that catagory.

That evening I listened to the shipping forecast on the radio. It was encouraging: wind
westerley for the next 36 hours force 2/3 becoming force 4 later; visibility good; sea state
moderate.

Next morning I took the ferry from Ryde to Portsmouth and then the harbour ferry over to
Gosport. I located the boat alongside her designated pontoon, boarded and stowed my
few belongings. For the rest of the day I readied the boat for sea interspersed with not a
little sunbathing.

The forecast was unchanged the next morning and both sky and atmosphere were
favourable. I motored out of the marina and the harbour before raising the mainsail,
unfurling the jib and setting a course to keep me well clear of Bembridge Ridge on which
many a good ship had foundered. Very soon I passed close to port where the Mary Rose
had sunk and a half hour later passed over the remains of the Royal George.

At the time of her sinking in 1782 she was the flagship of the Royal Navy weighing in at
3745 tons and with an impressive armament of 100 cannons - a fact which would prove
her undoing. She was then part of an assembly of 200 merchant ship and 50 warships
which were busy victualling and preparing to sail and relieve Gibraltar of Spanish
interference. Having completed most of these preparations the crew of the Royal George
were intent upon replacing a sea cock which fed water to the upper decks for cleaning,
etc. But the sea cock was way down on the hull and underwater. And so the guns on the
starboard side had been run out and those to port hauled in to give the ship sufficient list
to uncover the sea cock. But the officers who should have been supervising the operation
were ashore and none delegated to take their place. On top of this the ship was
inundated with last minute visitors before her sailing. Not only wives, relatives and
children but also the inevitable prostiututes, tinkers, hawkers and ne'er do wells. The
straw which broke not the camel but the ship's back was a bunch of barrels of rum being
loaded through the starboard gun ports. Over she went and then down. Many were
trapped below decks; of those thrown into the sea most could not swim. Despite the
efforts of nearby ships the death toll reached 900 persons. The Admirlty Board of Enquiry
blamed Portsmouth Dockyard for poor maintenance. Whitewashes were alive and well in
those days too.

But nearly 250 years had passed since this tragedy and the tranquil nature of the Solent
gave no indication of it. Given that my passage up the west of the Island was likely to be
somewhat bumpy with wind against tide I anchored in Sandown Bay and had a light
lunch. After a short nap I was ready to resume.

The anchor was barely up and stowed before I was abeam of Dunnose Point and the site
of another sinking . In April 1918 the 4284 tons steamer Luis with a cargo of oil, flour and
artillery shells for France was torpedod 3 miles off St Catherine's Point by a German
submarine. It was taken in tow to Sandown Bay but the damage was too much and she
sank off Luccombe Chine.

Another course alteration now and I tightened the sheets as I became more under the
influence of the westerly wind. By the time we were abeam St Catherine's Point it was
decidedly choppy, the bow dipping rythmically and sending showers of spray along the
weather deck. Another course alteration and the chopiness increased as I bore away to
avoid luffing into the wind and to give sufficient room to stay well to seaward of a lee
shore. And, in so doing, reached the site of the worst environmental disaster ever to strike
the Island.

It was October 1970 and the 43,000 tons oil tanker Pacific Glory was 6 miles off St
Catherine's Point when the Officer of the Watch was horrified to see another tanker
veering directly towards his vessel. She was the 46,000 tons Allegro which had altered
course suddenly to avoid a collision with a third ship. Ships have no brkes and the
collision was inevitable. The Allegro ploughed into the starboard side of the Pacific Glory
cutting a huge gash amidships. Crippled, she started drifting towards Ventnor on a
flooding tide. And then, several ruptured oil pipes in the engine room caused a huge
explosion killing 5 and injuring many more. OIl started to spurt through the damaged hull
which then ignited killing 8 more and injuring most of the remaining crew.

The ship was abandoned with more crew drowning in the soaking oil on the sea surface .
By now help ws arriving: fire fighting tugs from Fawley, the Royal Navy, Portsmouth and
Southampton fire brigades,Castguard, RNLI, hospitals , Police and local Councils
all did their bit. The fire was eventually brought under control and the hope was the
vessel could be beached on Nab Shoal off Bembridge. But it was not to be: the fire re-
ignited and the ship was beached on a sandbank off Dunnose Point. The fire was finally
doused more than 2 days fter the collision. 500 men stood by on the Island with 800
gallons of detergent whilst the Coastguard and the RSPCA patrolled the beaches.
It was not yet over. The wind rose to force 8 and a tug ran straight into the base of Culver
Cliff. Her Master had refused a tow raising speculation he was more interested in the
insurance money. The weather then moderated and Portsmoiuth Fire Brigade were able
to board. After a thorough inspection it was confirmed the fire was finally out., The vessel
was then handed over to salvers who arranged for the remaining cargo to be pumped out
into small tankers moored alongside.

By the time I reachd Brighstone Bay I had tacked out some 5 miles and was then able to
come about on a beam reach for the Needles. As I approached there was no swimmer to
be seem standing way offshore but with the water not even up to the knees. An old trick
much popular: to stand on the boiler of a wrecked ship apparently achieving the
impossible. The owner of the boiler was the SS Varvassi. A Greek ship en route in January
1947 from Algiers to Southampton with a cargo of tangerines, wine and iron ore, her
Master claiming she had drifted out of control whilst stopped to pick up the Pilot.
Whatever the reason the result was a total loss. But all were rescued. There were however
some beneficiaries: the local residents were delighted with the tangerines after 6 years of
wartime rationing and hardier souls even praised the wine.

A sharp alteration of course as I passed the Needles and I sped up the western channel
with a fine breeze astern, taking care to leave the channel marker buoys to port. As the
entrance to Southampton Water came abeam I saw no grounding on Shingle Bank so the
pitch remained playable for the annual 15 minutes cricket match during low tide. It was
also, I remembered, that on the very same bank 3 warships of King Philip of Spain's
Armada had come unstuck over 300 years ago. Thinking Francis Drake was too far astern
to see, they broke away and turned into the Solent. But sadly for them Drake had seen
them. He followed them in. He was familiar with the Solent. They were not they and did
what he hoped, grounded on a sandbank. His sailors boarded and relieved the Spaniards
of as much gunpowder and shot as they could find -their Queen being somewhat
parsimonious when it came to supplies. They then retreated and used the Spanish ships
for target practice.

And so a final turn towards Portsmouth and the home berth at Gosport marina. On arrival
I furled the sails, stowed as necessary and cleaned up. Ashore, I walked down the
pontoon and turned for one last look at the boat. The sun was now low in the sky and its
rays glinted on the boat's name on the transom:

M A Y

Yes indeed, it had been a grand day out in May.