Shearwater sloop sailing in the 1960s

Genevieve Leaper shares her late father John Leaper's recollections-compiled from handwritten notes-of cruising the Channel

- John Leaper

For our honeymoon in June 1962, Mary and I decided to go touring and give sailing a rest. But we missed the sea and when my father-in-law's cruising yacht became ready for collection, we cut our special holiday in Cornwall short to help him sail Wataita home from Poole, Dorset, to Chichester Harbour.

Wataita was a Dell Quay Shearwater, a 22ft cold-moulded plywood sloop of 1.5 and 4ft draught with tons displacement centreboard down.

Borrowing the boat later that summer for a short trip, Mary-a keen dinghy sailor -had her appetite for cruising thoroughly whetted and I found the responsibility of skippering much more satisfying than the navigating and watchkeeping I had done before with the Island Cruising Club.

That winter we made plans for a longer cruise. I made a chart table, acquired the charts to go with it and borrowed a pilot book. Navigation equipment consisted of steering and hand-bearing compasses.

I considered a log to be essential for crossing Lyme Bay or the Channel but it was an expensive item at over £20. Having the line and rotator already, I decided to make one myself. The design involved a magneto ball bearing, a Woolworths plastic food container, Meccano gears and a Lucas cyclometer held together with Araldite (total cost 25 shillings). A leadline was easily made with a fishing weight; it was to prove adequate for anchoring but too light to use under way.

The meth stove was stowed under a cockpit seat and pulled out over one of the bunks. Cooking at sea would be difficult as it wasn't gimballed, so two large vacuum food flasks were purchased.

Extended voyage

On 19 May 1963, Wataita left her Hayling Island mooring at 1600, beating into a westerly wind. It took five hours and many tacks to reach Wootton Creek.