Something about – John Rugg
I started sailing in my teens - racing dinghies but as none of them had a trapeze, eventually found it necessary to move on to cruising with a day 19ft boat on a trailer. Moira was never happy about dinghy or small boat sailing but with a much larger yacht we now regularly sail together. In her heart however she remains a fair weather sailor, far keener on Sunsail type holidays in locations where the weather is warm and the wind rarely goes above a F4.
Much of my cruising sailing has been in coastal waters with the occasional 2 day passage. I have been fortunate to sail in Norway, Germany, Holland, Belgium France, Greece, Gibraltar, Spain & Morocco, the Caribbean and Florida as well as around some of the coastal areas of the UK
I have fully retired and we now own 35ft Southerly RS based on the south coast. This has fewer berths than John’s 37ft Beneteau and as a number of friends will be joining us for various stages of the voyage, it seemed more sensible to use Gnutcracker IV. June and Moira are planning to join us for a while in Oban but have clearly stated - only if the weather is good!
Having sailed along much of the English south coast, some of the Irish Sea, the Clyde, the Inner Hebrides, some of the NE coast of England and part of the East coast; it seemed about time that I filled in the missing gaps with a circumnavigation of the UK.
Dee Caffari and her all female crew in March 2009 set a new record for sailing around Britain & Ireland in 6 days 11 hours 30 mins and 11 seconds.
John and I have both agreed we are not rising to the challenge and fully intend to take a more leisurely approach!