Welcome aboard White Cloud from sunny Portugal. At 25ft (7.7m) LOD she’s only a little yacht but with a very big heart (of oak). She has 111 years behind her while I have a mere 70, but I still creak more than she does.
So how did we end up here?
Back in August 2019 in the pleasant warmth of a Portuguese evening I was idly perusing boats on the internet and came across her for sale through the same yard (these days known as Heritage Marine Maldon), where I had bought my first cruising boat, a little canoe yawl called Arklight, 50 years ago. She had been to the bottom but after whacking on a few tingles, (actually rather a lot), we went sailing, as you just did back then. There were a few other coincidences about this delightful little ship going back decades, and it was very pleasant idly reminiscing about my youth. And sometimes we all need to sail away on an impossible dream.
Fast forward 24 hours I was driving my hire car from Stansted Airport to Bradwell Marina thinking how on earth did this happen? Happily resident in Portugal, already have a boat but I’m on my way to see this little ship in Essex. But best to never let logic get in the way of boat stuff though.
Just 48 hours later, and even more inexplicably, I found myself had cast her spell and had clearly decided to give me a try, so I guess I was on probation now.
