After 18 months of hard spare time work I had 10 years of weekend and holiday cruising in the Thames Estuary and cross channel to Calais. I also crewed on large racing yachts in the North Sea and English Channel competing against many well known racers including Morning Cloud, whose skipper Edward Heath was P.M. at that time.

The Seagull was now too small for a growing family so I bought a 21’ Macwester hull for self completion. After another 18 months of hard work she was launched in 1972 and used for many more years of family weekend and holiday cruising.

I’d always fantasised about running a yacht charter business and when in 1984 I read about a BIG open yacht based in Guernsey called WILDLIFE I realised she would be ideal for the shallow waters of the Thames Estuary. I bought her very cheaply in poor condition in the Autumn of 1988 and thinking that it was high time I obtained formal navigation qualifications successfully completed the RYA Offshore Course at Canterbury in April 1989.

During this month I employed a tall ship navigator who’d known WILDLIFE from new to help guide me across 80 miles of English Channel. Everything went well until at 01.00 am 5 miles off Cherbourg motor sailing in a heavy swell the main mast suddenly snapped in two and loose halyards stopped both outboard engines! Thanks to the unique design of the boat it was not difficult to haul the mast and sail on board, free the engines and continue motor sailing under mizzen only. After 18 hours at sea we had a re-fuelling stop at Swanage and later took the tide through the Solent to Chichester Harbour. From there with the help of friends and family we motor sailed her over 3 days to Herne Bay.

Summer 1989 was used for sailing trials after which she was craned into the alleyway at the back of my house from where I spent a week moving her 25m. with a block and tackle + rollers through a gap, which was only 2 ‘’ wider than the boat at one point, into my garden.
Following extensive renovation she was craned on to the beach for further sailing trials including a 2 week family holiday on the R. Deben in July 1992.

I started commercial operations in May 1993 with 1 hour sails and part day charters. Bookings have increased every year since then with the exception of 1997 following serious damage after dragging her harbour mooring during the hurricane force storm in February 1996. With my assistance local boatbuilder Kerry Glover rebuilt her to better than new.

WILDLIFE has been featured on TV six times:- Sealwatch with Antonia Hastings for Meridian Tonight in 1994, a sailing trip round the bay with Anthony Howard for Coastal Ways in 1999 and Sealwatches with Sanka Guha for the BBC Holiday Programme in 1998, Chris Packham for Wildwatch in 2000 and Sue Kinnear for Meridian Tonight in 2001, 2004 'Inside Out' with Paul Ross.

Mike, January 2005

TOP