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Inishfree and the Newfoundland Flotilla
By
Jay
Ailworth
(with comments by Andy Barrow) |
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Andy's comments:
I guess my own involvement in this whole affair happened
much earlier, while I was visiting Ted in Newfoundland in the spring of
1996. He told me about the flotilla, and I immediately asked if he could
find me a ride. Being as well connected in the sailing community as Ted
is, the task was not difficult for him. He told me about Geoff and the
boat, and the more he talked about it, the more I became convinced that
I had found my adventure.
Originally, Geoff was only looking for one other crew,
but the more I heard about planned itinerary, the more I became convinced
that doing the whole trip would just be too much for two people.
There have only been a few times in my life when I have
called someone up, presented him or her with something that I expected
them to reject, and had them accept immediately. This trip was expected
to be difficult, expensive, and take weeks of precious vacation time. Jay's
immediate acceptance of my offer says a lot about him (most of them unprintable). |
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| Geoff calls himself, "One of the few right brained bankers".
I can tell you, if half of his reported boardroom antics are true, it's
a wonder that Barclays Bank didn't promote him to company president (or
sack him, there is no middle ground for Geoff). |
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| In
1497, King Henry VII commissioned Giovanni Caboto, an Italian sailor, to
sail west and claim new lands for England. Caboto successfully crossed
the Atlantic Ocean from England on his quest for a "new founde lande".
The voyage led to an unexpected new land - not the Far East, as Caboto
had hoped, but the eastern coast of an immense continent. Giovanni Caboto
would go down in history as John Cabot, the explorer who claimed the New
Founde Lande for a British King.
John
Cabot wasn't the first European to arrive on those rugged shores. At least
500 years earlier, Norse Vikings had landed at L'Anse aux Meadows. Legend
has it that an Irish monk, St. Brendan, landed in Newfoundland 400 years
before the Vikings. John Cabot's voyage in 1497 marked the beginning of
the British colonization of the New World.
John
Cabot sailed to "New Founde Lande" on the caravelle Matthew. Matthew
was
approximately 60 feet long with a crew of 18 men. A replica of the Matthew
was built in Bristol, England, using shipbuilding techniques true to the
15 century. Canada and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador are celebrating
the 500th anniversary of John Cabot's landfall in North America with a
series of events and activities throughout the year. The
Matthew
is recreating the voyage as part of the celebration.
In
May 1997, a fleet of 70 yachts sailed down the St. Lawrence River from
southern Ontario, making some 30 stops enroute. Sailors explored a rugged
and unspoiled coast
line
stopping at small towns and fishing villages in both Quebec and Newfoundland
as they traveled to Bona Vista to rendezvous with the Matthew on
June 24, 1997.
 My
part of this Cabot 500 story began nine months before with a phone call
and a few e- mails from Andy Barrow, a friend of mine, who used to live
in Newfoundland while working for Chevron. He told me a friend of his,
Ted Laurentius, from the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club, had been able to
get him a ride on a Cabo Rico 38 that was participating in the Newfoundland
97 Flotilla sail from Ontario. It sounded like a great trip to me so of
course I asked if I could go too. This is what he said to me:
"...we
have a ride if we want one... We would probably spend a week or so in company
along the St. Lawrence (which, I'm sure, will be one long continuous party),
then the hard stuff of crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence to St. Pierre
(a French island colony, so you gotta have a passport), and then on to
St. John's. The south coast of Newfoundland is in the way, which means
some safe harbours and potential spots for jumping ship if things just
get too long for us vacationers. Let there be no mistake, and Ted has told
me as well, that area of the world is down right NASTY that time of year,
and if we have good weather for the passage we have to consider ourselves
very, very, lucky. On the plus side, you will get to see, and meet what
I consider to be the friendliest and craziest people in the world. I'm
going. What do you think?"
How could
I resist?
 Neither
Andy or I would be able to make the entire trip so we worked out a sail
plan with our skipper, Geoff Farrar, the 62 year old retired president
of Barclays Bank of Canada, who is now an investment consultant for companies
wanting to do business in Russia. Geoff is quite a character in his own
right and if the rest of the banking world was like him we would all be
laughing on the way to the bank. Geoff had crew to Quebec City, Quebec
but would need help after that. We planned to take three weeks to get the
boat to St. John's and still stay with the flotilla for as long as possible.
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