Saturday, May 19, 2018

Reunion Celebrations


  Photo: Tony Dallimore 

Well the past couple of months of planning and preparation culminated in a marvelous gathering of Whitbread crew mates and partners in Inverness, Scotland May 18-19

To kick off the celebrations, five crew and partners gathered for lunch at the historic Corriegarth Hotel on Friday May 18. 

Mid-afternoon, John and Marie-Christine Ridgway hosted a delightful garden party at their charming cottage on the banks of the Ness River, replete with champagne, fresh strawberries and cream.

It was here that we presented John and MC with a gift expressing our gratitude for the adventure of a lifetime - a photograph printed on canvas capturing a constant  Southern Ocean companion, the Wandering Albatross.

Our evening celebration included an excellent 3 course meal at the Corriegarth, interspersed with a few surprises. 

In December 1977 during our stop-over in Auckland, Paul McCartney launched his recording “Mull of Kintyre”. Someone brought the tape aboard and it promptly became our theme song for the remainder of the voyage. The significance of the song for us all lay in the fact that the Mull of Kintyre was the last prominent headland to be rounded on the final leg of our return voyage to Ardmore on the north west tip of Scotland. 

With a little help via the Web, I  commissioned 17 year old champion piper Angus MacFee to enter our dining room playing Mull of Kintyre. It was a delightful moment to watch the faces of my crew mates as they first heard the pipes in the distance, then recognized the tune, and finally came to the realization that Angus had actually come to pipe for our celebration.

In sealed envelopes at each couple’s place-setting were lyrics for the song, so after the initial grand entrance we all joined the pipes in a lusty rendition of our forty year old theme song.

The next surprise arrived immediately afterwards, as our hostesses Bella and Maya were piped into the room carrying bottles of Fonseca Bin 27 Port and copies of The Fonseca Story. 

During the race, Fonseca sponsored us with numerous cases of their fine vintage port, which became the staple of our daily “happy hour”. At each port of call, a fresh pile of cases would await us on the dock ready for the next leg.

Through their London agent Mentzendorff, Fonseca generously sent a case of Bin 27 to our reunion, plus 8 copies of their beautiful coffee table book celebrating the history of the company. We all signed the books as a record of the gathering, also honouring our piper and hosts with their own signed copies.

After dinner we gathered around a screen for a slide show. Each couple had been invited to submit 10 photos capturing some of their favorite memories of the past 40 years. Crew member Tony Dallimore has continued his lifelong passion for photography which first blossomed during the race. Tony compiled our joint photo collection into a delightful and very professional presentation, with each crew member narrating their own set. It was a great way to round out the evening, accompanied by tea and desert.

The following morning we reassembled for breakfast, continuing to recount numerous memories of our shared adventure around the world, blended with family stories from the past 40 years.

The icing on the cake happened at 11.30 am May 19 when our friends Colin and Ana Ladd,  Penny and I dropped in to bid John and MC farewell before driving back to Aberdeen. The TV coverage of Harry and Megan’s wedding had just commenced and John and MC insisted that we join them for the occasion. Armed with a bottle of Fonseca Bin 27 to toast the happy couple, we settled into a comfy circle with our crew-mates once again, to take in the television spectacle of the year.

In addition to compiling the magnificent reunion slide show, Tony acted as official reunion photographer. By the time he arrived home from his 7 hour train journey from Scotland, Tony had edited and posted a great record of our gathering. 

In 1977-78, Tony captured a fabulous set of images of our adventure, topped up with a few from other sources. View that collection here:
Out of respect for Tony’s private Flickr account, please don’t forward either of these links.
Enjoy!


Cap’n John, Mate M-C, Pen and Pete - Inverness 19/5/18

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