Ulysses was right, and still is!

I must admit I do feel a bit lost when one of my holidaymaking fellow contrymen here on the east coast of Spain asks me, “How many days did it take you from Holland to here?” Apart from being almost sick of this question, what can I say? “Two thousand, five hundred days, sir!’ This is true, but they won’t believe me, so I say, “Well, a couple of months.” And they are pleased and continue, “By the French canals and rivers?” “Yes, sir.” And they are pleased again because they heard what they expected to hear, and go.

What is the use of telling a true story to ears that will not listen to what you say? How to explain to a landlubber that sailing a dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea is a constant struggle with the most discouraging meteorological conditions that can be imagined? That one day you set out at dawn with a fair land breeze which leaves you two hours later, that you were sitting on a flat calm sea, with flapping sails, for hours and hours in the baking sun waiting for the sea breeze. That the sea breeze kept you waiting until 1 o’clock in the afternoon and then raised half a gale in 20 minutes time so that you made for the next sheltered anchorage as quick as a well reefed-down Drascombe Longboat will go in a force 7. That you were happy with a daily progress of 15 miles without using the outboard engine. Ulysses was right — it takes years to sail the Mediterranean in a small boat, and it still does if you have no slaves to do the rowing or don’t like to use the engine.

Two thousand, five hundred days on my way in a wooden Drascombe Longboat, built with love and care by John Elliott and his brother Douglas. Together we planned this beautiful live-on-board Mediterranean cruising dinghy, which served me so well and took me so far. There was Ken Duxbury, whose famous Drascombe Lugger Lugworm was built by John several years earlier, and who passed on lots of information and the words, “If you want to know what the Med. is like, go! It is the only way to get rid of the bug that has bitten you. You want no engine? You want to row your boat down to the Mediterranean? It will break your back!”

Well, it did not! I rowed my Drascombe Longboat Legolas up the River Meuse, through the Canal de l’Est, passing hundreds of beautiful old locks, and rowed/sailed down the magnificent River Saône, and the with-concrete-and-monster-locks-strangled River Rhône. Three months of fascinating outdoor life in the autumn of 1979 in the country of ‘laisser faire’, Camembert and Common Market wine. A winter in the Canal du Midi, new friends, Legolas prepared for the sea.

Then came the summer trip eastward along the coast fighting the easterly winds and getting frightened by f9 Mistrals. The passage to Corsica, four nights and five days to cover 120 nautical miles. Then, in Bonifacio, the fjord-like port, Elly came on board to join me for a holiday. She had been making her own travels in the time I rowed Legolas through the canals. The idea was to sail together for a couple of months or so. Now, 7 years later, she is still on board, sharing all tasks and hardships of this not always easy dinghy sailor’s life, and enjoying it as much as I do.

We wintered in the south of Sardinia. Money was running low. I became a fisherman in the morning and evening and made pencil drawings for tourists during the daytime. When we decided to continue the trip together we bought a 6 hp outboard and sailed to Rhodes via Sicily, the Liparian Islands, Messina Strait, Calabria, the lonian Islands, the Corinth Canal and the Aegean Sea, and arrived in Rhodes in time for Christmas.

Where start to sing the praise of the climate, of the wines, of the warm waters, of the beautiful and typical Mediterranean sunlight?

Work was found, charterboat winter maintenance, which enabled us to cruise to Cyprus the following year — the island of Bacchus the wine god and Aphrodite the love goddess, of the UN troops and the English pubs, and where we were a part of the international population of Larnaca Marina. Snow on the Olympus, blossoming fruit trees below in the valleys; that is winter in Cyprus.

Turkey we enjoyed for a whole year. A summer’s cruise sailing from one perfect bay to the next in still unspoiled country, and an idyllic winter in a house on the beach with Legolas in the garden, amongst still unspoiled people.

Then the great westward struggle against prevailing winds and a winter on Elba between friendly people and tourist shops full of plaster Napoleons. And work was found again to earn the money we needed for living, for the maintenance of Legolas, who was never demanding, and for the next summer trip.

This time the Gulf of Genoa was a treat, blessed by the easterly winds I had cursed several years before. To avoid the storm-ridden Gulf of Lion we sailed the River Rhône up to Arles where we lowered the masts and continued through the coastal canals. Great to listen to f9 forecasts when tied up to a tree; no anchors dragging, no waves, etc!

Out to the sea again, southward along the Spanish coast and made Calpe our next winter stop. After so many years of good luck (we never had a major accident or gear failure), fate struck. During my winter work I lifted a heavy outboard engine and slipped a disc in my spine. After 4 months in my bunk I had recovered enough to go sailing again. We did some careful cruising for 3 months only, to try out my back. Besides, the little money we had had disappeared into the doctors’ pockets. So we sailed to Ibiza and Formentera and later to Mallorca, managing to avoid marinas and other expensive places, and had a quiet, almost tourist-free, autumn sailing trip.

We had to make up our minds. Do we go on sailing? It is our dear wish indeed. But Legolas is a boat for fit people and as I am 53 with a bad back, we decided to put her up for sale and look for a boat with a more comfortable lay-out for ‘patient and nurse’, hoping to get this realised in the near future, because we soon hope to continue this Ulysses type of life we got to enjoy so much.

DETAILS OF DRASCOMBE LONGBOAT LEGOLAS

Built in 1978 by John Elliott of Yealmbridge, Yealmpton, Devon for Peter Knape, Arnhem, Holland.

First launched in July, 1979

Dutch VAT paid; Dutch pleasure craft registration.

The owner wanted a live-on-board boat for prolonged outdoor life in temperate climates based on a Drascombe Longboat. A small cabin with dry sleeping places for two, and adequate storage space for valuable items was provided. Cooking is done in the open to avoid accumulation of humidity in the sleeping quarters.

The boat is equipped with good rowing gear to make long trips under oars possible, and to make an engine superfluous. Legolas made a 7 year voyage and covered more than 8,000 miles on her own keel. The 1,000 mile trip from Holland to the Mediterranean Sea was made under oars and sail via the Dutch, Belgian and French internal waterways.

Legolas travelled in Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, the Liparian Islands, Calabria, the lonian Islands, then through the Corinth Canal to the Aegean, Turkey and Cyprus, then westward again via Italy and France to Spain and the Balearics.

The owner and his partner spent most of the winters on board, in the Canal du Midi, Sardinia, Rhodes, Larnaca on Cyprus, Elba, and twice in Calpe, Spain. He now seeks a suitable new owner for Legolas who intends to continue her voyages!

Construction Details:

Length on deck 21’ 6” Length waterline 18’ Beam 6’ 8” Draft — plate up 1’ 2” Draft — plate down 4’ 2” Displacement — ready to sail 800 kg Displacement — with stores 1000 kg

Materials:

Keel & keelson moulded Iroko Planking hull 9,5 mm marine ply Bulkheads, frames & cabin top 12 mm marine ply Deck 6 mm marine ply covered with Cascover in epoxy