The Astrid was the second tall ship we sailed wine from
Bordeaux in 1992.
All hands saved this time. It's so sad. But it could've
been worse.
Our first tall ship was the 'Marques' which Hugh Johnson and
I chartered in 1975. She later capsized and sank near Bermuda in 1984. With the
loss of most of her crew. Awful.
Our trip in the Marques wasn't exactly uneventful. We have
dramatic film footage of ripped sails and flooded decks. But we've always
believed the ballast of 2000 cases of good Laithwaite's wine prevented a
capsize.
Astrid seems to have had complete engine failure just off a
rocky shore … with the wind in the wrong direction. She was a beautiful ship. She got our cargo
home safe and dry and raised such a lot for charity.
The pictures on the Irish Mirror website are heart-wrenching
– even if no lives were lost.
We persist in our attempts to publicise the ancient wine
link between Bordeaux and London. It lasted over a thousand years – was the
greatest trade the world had ever seen.
It means so much to me – my whole life in wine is due to
that link. And as Hugh says, claret runs in our British veins. I think that's
what he says. Something like that anyway.
Two years ago we chartered our third tall-ship; the 'Irene'.
Dear God, I hope we haven't put a curse on her too.
But probably not, this just goes to show how fragile life
was for those sailors of old in their little ships.
Today we have Lifeboats! Wonderful lifeboats and their very
brave and clever sailors. God bless 'em.
No comments:
Post a Comment