This is a great story of how to own, sell and sail a Hillyard
Peter Mullett writes:-

Part I

I used to live in London, born there way back. When I bought Corsaro 
she was laid up at Hillyards having previously been comprehensively 
outfitted for a long voyage. But, as it happens more often than not, 
the then owners departed the yard to sail the first leg out to Spain 
with a pro' skipper / crew helping them out only to return within a 
couple of days and abandoning the whole idea of cruising off into the 
sun-set. I bought her with everything on board, even a brand new 
sextant and other navigation toys that had not been unwrapped. They 
had just run away from the boat!
I took her round to Ramsgate where I had a berth in the inner harbour 
and worked on her for six months before pointing her South again, 
round Spain and into the Med' where I had her based for a year or so. 
My life took a turn, ( ran out of money!), so I sold her in the South 
of France to an American Colonel retiring from military service in 
Germany who too wanted to sail "off into the sun-set" with his family. 
I returned to London to get back to my business at that time to 
replenish the coffers. Three months later I got a message from the 
Colonel saying that he and the family had to return to the USA for a 
while, but could I pick Hishi up and take her to Corsica where he'd re-
join the boat later. The boat hadn't moved from the yard where I had 
sold it to him earlier that summer, and when I got to the boat to take 
her to Corsica I could tell that she'd never left the slip since I 
sold her either. To cut a long story short I ended up sailing Hishi 
all the way to Turkey and back to Gib' over the next year or so, paid 
for by the Colonel who never once came back to the boat despite asking 
me to move her to various ports all over the Med' so he could re-join 
her. Proved to be a perfect way to "own" a boat!

-----------------------------
Corsaro last seen in Queen Anne's Battery, Plymouth last year by HOA member Allen Clarke
Who's up for the challenge

Part II

Hello Guy,
I have already heard from an Allen Clarke who told me that he saw 
"Corsaro" in a yard in Plymouth last year, QAB Marina. In sad shape by 
all accounts. I am trying to find out some more information, emailed 
the yard but haven't heard anything back as of yet. But an interesting 
and very swift response to you posting my "request".......I appreciate 
that.
And of course you can put the story on your website, I would consider 
it an honour, thank you.
But I will share one other story of Hishi with you if I may, and this 
concerned the last time I sailed on her.
Eventually she landed up in Piraeus, Greece and I was asked by the 
American owner to deliver her to Malta. We left Piraeus sailed East 
then went through the Corinth canal into to Adriatic to make course 
around the heel of Italy to the port of Valletta in Malta. There were 
just two of us on board, myself and a close friend Ricky Turner who 
though he loved the idea sailing he was in fact a terrible sailor, but 
a great cook who strapped into the galley with a safety harness could 
produce an amazing meal in any kind of adverse weather conditions. So 
of course he had to come on the voyage.
One night about 50 N. miles East of Malta I left Ricky at the helm 
having set course dead on the nose for the Valletta RDF radio beacon, 
at that time one of the strongest beacons in the Med, you couldn't 
miss it. Ricky woke me woke about four hours later to say that he had 
changed course earlier when he spotted the lights of Valletta about 
15º off of the starboard bow. I checked the RDF but that said that 
Valletta was now 20º + off to port, but there on our present course 
right ahead were what looked like lights of a city on a hill, like 
Valletta. It was quite a dark overcast night, no moon and a heavy 
swell running from our stern, an hour or so later we sailed right into 
the middle of the US 6th Fleet with the carrier JFK all lit up just 
like a city, this was our "Valletta"
Well, their patrol boats and a destroyer chased us off politely and we 
set course on the RDF for Valletta for real this time.
Just before we made a landfall some instinct made me look through the 
storage under the floorboards by the fuel and water tanks on board the 
boat because I knew that the Maltese customs could be very difficult 
in those days, especially for anyone who could pass as hippies, and we 
that we certainly could. I found a whole lot of parcels and packages 
with US Army medical corps markings, medic battlefield packs in fact. 
Breaking them open I found boxes and boxes of morphine syringes, field 
dressings, inflatable splints and God knows what other drugs. What the 
good Colonel expected to encounter on his voyages I can only imagine, 
he had almost a complete field hospital tucked away on board. We 
dumped everything overboard, especially the morphine. We were boarded 
by Maltese Customs when we arrived in the harbour, they made us anchor 
out for 12 hours while they went through the boat. Thank God we had 
found and dumped that morphine otherwise I think we'd still be there!

Very best, and thanks again with the help in finding Corsaro / Hishi

Peter

Corsaro/Hishi - River Tamar - Present day

Poole to Littlehampton (nearly) – Dawn Lady (1960) and Mavrodaphne (1955)

Dawn Lady had been back in the water for about 6 weeks following extensive overhaul in the winter when the Poole HOA meeting loomed large in our minds.
For Bec and I it was the opportunity to repay my parents kindness in putting us up for the Fowey meet and an opportunity to try Dawn Lady out over a longer distance than Brighton.
Over the winter Guy Smith (Mavrodaphne) had provided much sage and useful advice on boat maintenance, the importance of good varnish and the correct use of brasso.  Over the course of his instruction he, and his dog Bear, had become good friends.
Following much discussion the decision was made to sail, in company to the Poole meeting. So, at 4.30am on the Friday before, we set off in good weather, with almost no wind, for Poole.  A glassy, turning slight sea with the occasional zephyr of wind made our trip to Poole calm but very engine reliant.  On Dawn Lady we had myself, Bec, and my parents Keith and Lynne Tullett, on Mavrodaphne, Guy was sailing solo and kept himself busy fishing and taking photos.
The weekend itself was a good success, a lot of shopping, a trip to the top of Dawn Lady’s mast and good company made the weekend at the yacht haven pleasant.
On Sunday however the weather deteriorated with a lot of rain and a blustery wind.  However on checking, the prognosis was good, clearing up on Monday with a Northerly Force 4 forecast for the afternoon following a Force 4, gusting 5 in the morning.
We did try, and fail, to negotiate a reduced rate for the week for Dawn Lady and Mavrodaphne in the yacht haven if the weather turned against us. Our failure to negotiate a reduced rate left us with the prospect of a £125 bill for Dawn Lady and £90 for Mavrodaphne, with this in mind our thoughts turned to finding an appropriate weather window to get home.
There was a lot of discussion in the bar and on the boats as to a good time to leave.  With the weather showing some signs of calming, Dorenda Ellen moved off to anchor overnight closer to the harbour entrance.  At this, and following a meeting on Dawn Lady – it was decided that Dawn Lady and Mavrodaphne would set sail the following morning to the entrance where a further decision could be made on continuing.
The weather forecast at this point showed that, following a gusty Force 5-6 overnight at about 7am the weather would start falling away to a Force 4, gusting 5) by mid morning with a moderate sea.
So Monday morning, 7 am came along, 2 reefs in the main on Dawn Lady and we motored out of the haven.  The wind was blowing consistently but not too strongly, Poole harbour was calm and we approached the entrance.
On initial view the Swash channel was very calm and Poole Bay was moderate with no more than 2 feet of swell.  With this in mind a straw poll was taken amongst those on Dawn Lady and a unanimous decision to go was made.  Guy on Mavrodaphne concurred and, putting up a small amount of headsail we set course for Hurst point.
We had a cracking, if slightly wet, sail across the bay.  Making up to 7 knots under sail and keeping Mavrodaphne close by we made it across Poole and Christchurch bay in less than 3 hours.
Rounding Hurst however we got an enormous shock.  Mavrodaphne was approximately 1/2 mile ahead and, on rounding the headland, seemed to almost take a knockdown under full sail.  Rounding the headland ourselves we met standing water of 6-8 feet accompanied by a very consistent Force 6, pretty much from the North East.
With a rather hairy strong wind over tide combination the slog up the north coast of the Isle of White was long and painful.  Almost zero visibility due to spray, new holes in the coach roof being discovered, the sea soaking our bedding and a constant pounding made the half an hour it took us to get to just off Yarmouth almost unbearable.
Then, terrifyingly, we heard on CH16 a mayday call from a yacht just outside the harbour wall at Yarmouth.  She had broken free of a mooring (we think) and, with 4 on board, was being beaten against the harbour wall.  With the lifeboat on the way and us much sobered it became evident just how badly this could go.
Following a hurried conversation with Guy we made the decision to head for the Hamble and call it a day – it was simply too dangerous to try anywhere on the IOW and, with the tide now starting to think about turning against us we made our way, motorsailing for the mouth of Southampton water.
The prospect of an end in sight gave us brief respite from the cold and the wet, at least mentally, but with it still too dangerous to try and go below, hunger and cold was taking its toll.
As we approached Calshot Spit and the Chimney at Fawley Power Station we found the seas calming.  With much trepidation we stowed the headsail and main and motored for the Hamble.  On entry I gave my father the wheel and prepared mooring lines, unfamiliar with Dawn Lady’s throttle controls he gave it a little too much juice coming into the pontoon and brushed our fenders against the inflatable tube of the privately run Hamble lifeboat.
Checking there was no damage and tying up, exhausted, we did not hear fast running feet coming down the pontoon.  ‘Who is the master of this vessel?’ – ‘I am’ I replied – belatedly remembering that I was…
“I have just had a report that your vessel hit the lifeboat – have you reported it?” – “No, we have only just tied up – the lifeboat is there (about 2 feet away) and we have done no damage”.  This individual, who had still not identified himself then started telling me off in no uncertain terms – I must admit that at this point, being absolutely knackered, I may have been slightly rude…anyway, he decided no damage had been done and left us, slightly bemused on the pontoon.
We called the harbourmaster and he could not have been more helpful, guiding us to a pontoon in the middle of the river.  Bacon sanwhiches and tea all round.
An unbelievable act of kindness then got us home with Guy’s wife Sally driving from Worthing all the way down to the Hamble to pick us up – thanks again Sally!
The following weekend we went back to take stock – the total damage

1 ripped genoa (Dawn Lady)

Shifted lead ballast (Mavrodaphne)

Shifted lead ballast (Dawn Lady)

We decided we were very lucky.  To sooth the nerves and assuage the need to shop we spent the night in Cowes before heading to Littlehampton on the Sunday morning.

In hindsight we should have waited for the weather to die down but, with a northerly expected none of us thought the Solent would be the worst of it.  The trip across the bay was supposed to be the nasty bit, in fact this was pleasant by comparison.

Travelling in company does have its advantages though.  Without a consensus agreement there is a chance that either Mavrodaphne or Dawn Lady may have attempted the trip to Littlehampton – the eastern side of the Solent looking much calmer.  However the Looe channel and the seas around it were extremely rough that day and more damage is sure to have been done.

So, thank you to Guy, Sally and the Hamble Harbourmaster.  See you next year...?

.. but the weather was so good, and
there was no lock queue, so the varnish gear stayed in the car and
off Hannah and I headed down Southampton Water. Not a breath of wind,
but just so nice to be out today!
I only chugged as far as the top of the Hamble River and back, but I
had a lovely day nonetheless.
I'd previously taken to avoiding the Hamble after I'd heard that
they were going to start charging people like me who just amble up
the Hamble without stopping! Not sure if this charging was ever
implemented or not, but when I saw the Hamble Harbourmaster's launch
coming past I got a fender out and pretended to be taking it in,
hoping that it would look like I'd stopped at a marina and therefore
would not be charged. It either worked, or Hannah's name has been
typed into a database and a bill is winging its way to me!!
Ripsie of Hamble (12ton), Snoqualmie (13ton), Ianthe (13ton), and
Golden Corn (9ton) were sitting happily on their moorings. I believe
Snoqualmie is up for sale? I met the owners last year in Cowes. Nice
family I remember. Not sure if Ripsie puts to sea much at the moment.
I believe Mary Kozlowski is not well. Ianthe has a sick engine, Steve
Tiffin was telling me at the recent Cowes meet, and he reckoned they
were unlikely to use the boat again this year. Golden Corn.. well its
rare to see her on her moorings! They are always out on her, summer
and winter! Being the only other 9 tonner on Southampton Water (I
think) Golden Corn is often mistaken for my boat, and I regularly get
phonecalls from friends telling me they've seen me afloat when I
haven't been!
Anyway, the return trip was a very leisurely sail back up to Hythe
in
very light airs with just the jenny out, my radio at my side (once I
eventually found a station that played music and not just sport on a
Saturday) and a plentiful supply of drinks and snacks thanks to a
recent stock-up for the Cowes meet.
My biceps are twice the size now, as I was having to hand start the
engine each time, as the engine starting battery is on its way out!

Well, that was my ramble on my amble up the Hamble!

Doug

&
The Very Lovely 'Hannah'