Soren Larsen in the Caribbean

Just one year ago I was waiting to join a sailing ship in the Caribbean. Now –the anniversary of that time - I want to recall that trip.

The ship was called the Soren Larsen; it was built in Europe for the transport of timber, but is now based in New Zealand and provides holidays for those who want to experience sailing a tall ship.

The photograph above shows the ‘Soren’ underway between St. Lucia and Granada.

I don’t speak from wide experience but I can’t imagine a better ship to sail in or a better place to sail her. Added to this was the advantage of escaping the English winter for the deep blue seas and the warm days afloat, or on the golden stretches of sand that form a necklace round each of the Caribbean islands.

In charge of the motley passage crew was Sally Anderson: the first mate.

Here is Sally on the fore deck as the sun goes down.

The job of first mate will be rationalised at some time in the future: it combines the roles of teacher, public relations manager, union representative, senior member of the professional crew and operative responsible for the untangling of anchor chains. When the rationalisation does come it will sweep away much of the culture that belongs to the era of sailing ships. We shall also lose the personalities and the charms that this culture breeds.

Many of you will have read Sally’s log which keeps those of us who left a little bit of themselves on the ship in touch with how things are going.

In charge of the boat and the administration were the captain and purser who resolved numerous problems with an inconspicuous authority.

Sally’s team included Rob the boson, Barry the second mate, Peter the engineer, and Troy who was in his element whether it was diving beneath the boat or climbing to the top of the mast. The cooks were the heart of the boat. We woke to breakfast on deck, we broke for lunch when the passage making allowed and in the evening after drinks on deck we feasted on three course dinners below decks. These occasions were the focus of our social life aboard.

Here are Rob and Sally (part of cooks team) enjoying one of the rare personal moments that their duties on board allowed. I imagine they are now enjoying summer alongside the southern ocean.

Here are the crew furling the sails on the foremast after a days sailing.

Not all our time was spent on board. Most evenings we would go ashore to visit either a museum, or a bar, and some of our days were spent exploring the islands. Here is a photograph of an island

that might have been designed as the result of being inspired by a dream.

Here is one of the local tigers resting between fishing trips.

Not all the life in the Caribbean is above the waves. One of the most impressive parts of my voyage was the opportunity to dive beneath the surf among the coral together with the abundant and colourful fish.

Here, to conclude this brief reminiscence, is a photograph of a dense shoal of fish swimming over a bank of coral. Above this shoal a pelican was diving to gorge on beakloads of these silvery fish.