Reprinted from the FSC Blue Water Bulletin.

There have been dramatic changes in cruising yachts and equipment in the past 30 years. So when Jim and Margaret set sail in 1991 in their beloved S&S 34 yacht Morning Tide she was equipped with a furling headsail, HF and VHF radio, a fridge, 12Vdc lighting and later a GPS and radar. All the comforts they could ask for.

Jim and Margaret were born in England and when they first met (in the varnishing shed of the Sussex Yacht Club) Jim was working on his 14 ft dinghy. In 1968 they became 10 pound Poms and with their three young children disembarked from the Southern Cross in Fremantle. Jim had been offered an engineering job with the SEC, (now Western Power) and Margaret went back to nursing. A year later they joined Mounts Bay Yacht Club and were members for 11 years, racing their GP14 dinghy, with the family taking it in turns to be crew.

Leaving Cape Arid bound for Cape Catastrophe

In 1977 they moved to Collie. On a visit to Perth they called in to FSC and by chance met Vic who had just launched his S&S 34 Wild Rover. Learning of the self build scheme offered by the boat building company, Swarbrick, they returned to Perth the following weekend and signed up. It took one month to lay up the hull and deck and three years to complete the fit out. Fortunately cabinet making was Jim's hobby so all the necessary equipment was available. Morning Tide was launched at Royal Perth in 1982 and penned at Mounts Bay. Past Commodore Ray Lynch suggested they spend a few weeks at FSC. They did and never left. Their new home became B Jetty and shortly after they joined the 'Cruising in Company' group.

It was great fun, every spare moment was spent in company of other FSC sailors. Morning Tide cruised to the Abrolhos, Shark Bay, and Quindalup. They entered the Bali Race, their first offshore venture. There was an active S&S 34 Association and a separate 34's fleet raced each Saturday. Morning Tide also competed offshore in the Geraldton and Bunbury races.

Stoneham, Sussex, UK

Three weeks after launching Morning Tide, Jim was diagnosed with cancer. Sailing, the support of work colleagues, fellow yachties and the family cured him. However, six years later they decided to give away work and go sailing. Peggy and John Hogan also retired at the same time and they all had the same idea to head east, south about. They departed in February 1991 in company with Ceilidh. They received a very warm welcome in Albany, Esperance and Pt Fairy to name but a few. Later it was a great thrill to sail into Sydney Harbour, with two of their family on board, pass under the Bridge and then anchor by the Opera House.

Continuing north, they enjoying the NSW and Queensland coast and finally arrived at Lizard Island. The entire history of Australia hinges on the event of Cook being able to see a break in the coral reef from the summit of the island. It was probably about then that they realised other major benefits of sailing, namely meeting and making new friends and observing history first hand. They also realised that they wanted to keep travelling. Flying back to Perth, they bought a second hand sea container, had Brambles pack the furniture, put it in store and rented their house.

In Gove (now Nhulunbuy) they joined the 'Across the Top Cruise'. There were 40 entrants. All were from offshore, with the exception of Ceilidh and about six other Australian flagged yachts. They met Pehr and Marta, a lovely Finnish couple who were on their third circumnavigation and were very traditional sailors using only the sun and stars to navigate. Deciding to follow their dream and go offshore, they departed from Darwin. They sailed to Christmas Is and then Cocos Is.

Their first long passage was to Galle in southern Sri Lanka where they remained for three months. "It was a beautiful island with the gentlest of people", remarked Jim. The Rector in the local church punctuated his sermon in English and always insisted the congregation sing the hymn 'For those in Peril on the Sea!'

Leaving they sailed north to Cochin in southern India. "Entering is quite a procedure, recalled Jim. "The Brits invented bureaucracy, the Indians perfected it."

Morning Tide was anchored amongst the Hyacinths, with the Bolgatty Hotel, a past governors summer palace, close by. Cochin is very historical, with strong Portuguese and Chinese history. Christmas was spent in the hotel in company of other yachties.

Then it was on across the Arabian Sea to Oman. In the port of Sallalah they were in curfew from 18:00 to 06:00 daily. Travel to the nearest town necessitated 'thumbing a lift'. "One day the driver was an immaculately dressed Omami driving a Mercedes and speaking perfect English" said Margaret. "Another day it was a robed Palestinian refugee driving a petrol tanker."

Aden was bullet scarred from civil war and unification of north and south Yemen was taking place. They were lucky, a local taxi driver took them under his wing and they were treated to a Cook's Tour of the places of interest, such as the Queen of Sheba's bathing pool.

They then sailed to the section with the worst reputation, the Red Sea. The only pilot was a very early Alan Lucas plus plenty of notes gleaned from others. It took 60 days to reach the Suez Canal, and someone told them, "you could have walked it faster."

It was so different from what was expected. The water is pristine, the marine life super abundant and the local Sudanese and Egyptians very friendly. "Poverty was all too apparent in the villages", Margaret said, "but the children all wore sparkling white clothes to school. The Cairo Museum is an absolute must."

Passage through the canal was well organised and uneventful.

Cavus Liman, Turkey

They had become good friends with a young Israeli couple in Galle. On arriving in Tel Aviv they felt very honoured to be invited to join the parents and family for the 'Feast of the Pass Over'. Then it was on to Cyprus and an indulgence in a surfeit of English beer and 'home style nosh up'. Larnaca is a meeting point for many yachties. "The social life is a favourite aspect of sailing, you meet such a great variety of people", Jim said. "We established lifelong friendships during our travels and have enjoyed having many of these friends visit us in Perth."

They loved the Mediterranean, first sailing north to enter Turkey at Kemer. The eastern Mediterranean is a most beautiful cruising area and Jim and Margaret visited places that once they could only dream about such as Ephesus, Gallipolli, and Instanbul. They also visited Greece, the Docecanese, the Aegean Islands, then on to Delphi, Lefkas and Corfu. From Corfu they had to hurry to Southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and finally France, where their son was to be married and they were invited.

Greek Island, Casteglorizo

They left the boat in Martigue and on their return prepared Morning Tide for her new adventure: a six week journey through France. First they travelled the Rhone and then the canals and finally the Seine. For Margaret this was the highlight of their travels. It was spring and the countryside was beautiful. "One memorable stop over was the Arsenal, port de plaisance, in the centre of Paris", recalled Jim with a smile. "About 180 locks later"!

Crossing the English Channel their landfall was Shoreham, and the Sussex Yacht Club, a very memorable day.

Then later, they sailed westward to the Isle of Wight and who did they meet? The Hogans and their new boat heading to France!

Christmas Morning 1992

Jim and Margaret left England from Falmouth. They crossed the Bay of Biscay and entered La Coruna in northern Spain. "Spain was good and we enjoyed the Spanish lifestyle", said Jim. Heading south to Gibraltar, they decided to see more of the Med', so headed east to winter in southern Spain. They stayed in Almerima Marina for $3.00 per day. Once a week a bus took all the yachties to Elejdo to shop for the day. "It was like a Sunday school outing all over again", said Margaret laughing. "We travelled by bus to view the wonderful art in Madrid, visited the Alhambra, the Balearics and Barcelona."

The time came to move on. Returning to Gibraltar they learnt of the impending birth of their second grandchild. Margaret started suggesting they were needed back at home! So commenced their return passage. Leaving Gibraltar in August, the plan was to arrive back in Queensland one year later.

Their first landfall was Lanzarote home of the moon buggy. The Canaries was a buzz of activity. It is the starting point for Jimmy Cornells ARC. An annual event when hundreds of yachts sail in company to the Caribbean. It has a great social calendar. Morning Tide's point of departure was the small island of Gomera, where they visited the same church as Columbas and possible said similar prayers. "What courage he had" said Jim. "No proper charts, no GPS and no certainty that there was going to be land there anyway!"

Morning Tide took 22 days to reach Barbados and just in time for Christmas and Mount Gay Rum. Jim joined the Trans Atlantic radio net for the crossing and they were invited with others to the home of 'Trudy' the Barbadian operator. "It was always a great pleasure to enjoy a daily sched'", said Jim. "Operators such as Trudy are very dedicated and give an enormous amount of their time. The 'net' is a valuable source of information on a range of items as well as weather updates."

They sailed from Barbados to Bequia, and southwards through the islands of the Caribbean to Trinidad and Carnival. Anchoring in Chagaramas Bay the noise of the many competing floats could be heard 24 hours a day. That year the theme was 'big belly man', the Trinidadians are such fun loving people.

Isla Margareta was the next destination. The attraction was grog at $4.50 for a fully imported bottle of Whiskey or Gin. "Who could sail past?", asked Jim.

Leaving Morning Tide in Porta la Cruz, Venezuala, they flew to the Andes for two weeks. The scenery was magnificent and Margaret was able to see her first Condor. Venezuala was experiencing horrific inflation and how the people coped was a mystery to Jim and Margaret. 20 litres of diesel cost AUS 50 cents!

Their next stop over was the Dutch island of Curacao and the delightful inland anchorage of Spanish Waters. There they waited for good weather to cross the Columbian coast, planning to visit Cartahegna, with the best preserved Spanish architecture to be found anywhere, and then onward to the San Blas Islands. However, it was not to be. One day out from Curacao the weather turned foul and they had to run before it, finally finding refuge in the bay next to Nombre Dios Bay. Jim asked, "Do you remember from your school days singing, 'Drake is in his hammock and a thousand leagues below'?."

Colon and the Panama canal - not the happiest of times. The date for the transit was set and on the appointed day they took on four line handlers, the pilot, his apprentice plus all of our provisioning and fresh water. Entering the Gatun Lakes they all but disappeared in the less dense fresh water.

Leaving Panama they first headed south and then west to the Galapagos Islands. They were expecting a rather barren landscape of volcanic rock. In fact the main island was very green and to their surprise beef is exported. They were allowed to stay three weeks during which time they were able to see the many unique marine and land animals. They recalled it was a most wonderful experience.

The passage from the Galapagos Is to the island of Nuka Hiva, in the Marquesa Group, the longest yet, took 23 days for the 3005 nm. "It was beautiful trade wind sailing", recalled Jim. "The pleasure of enjoying fresh fruit and vegetables; smelling the scent of a tropical island, seeing the beauty of the rain forest and mountain scenery was simply marvelous."

The long passages were never boring. There was always something needing to be done plus of course catching up on broken sleep. They always maintained a 24 hour watch and at 15:00 hrs daily enjoyed their 'happy hour'. "It was a special time when we would reminisce about yesterday, talk about now and plan for tomorrow", said Jim.

Margaret did the provisioning and prepared all the meals during the entire time they were away. Margaret never missed a meal.

"You become incredibly close and very much in harmony with the boat", said Jim. "If there was an unusual noise you knew it was the salt cellar attacking the pepper pot or visa versa."

Cooks Bay, Moorea, July 1996

They recalled French Polynesia as "picture book stuff". They also enjoyed Tahiti and the adjacent islands. They described the anchorages as incredibly beautiful and knowing that they have anchored just where Cook did was very special. Ashore it was all very different, in the company of other yachties, catching up on the news and exchanging information about anchorages and sailing plans.

Time was moving on and they had been given a date when the family would be in Queensland. The passage to Tonga had its moments. "Margaret can sleep through anything but the first flash of lightening and clap of thunder would upset the harmony", recalled Jim with a rye smile. It is the one situation when they did feel vulnerable. "Corrections can be made for changes to wind and sea conditions, but an electrical storm is something different", he said.

Tonga was special and everyone so incredibly friendly. Pigs and their offspring were wandering everywhere. They were told that when a piglet was selected for fattening this is the time the grand parents would check to ensure they were enjoying good health!

They departed for Fiji and the Suva Yacht Club. "No yacht club has quite the same ambience as the one in Suva", said Jim. "We would have stayed longer but Queensland called so we departed for our final Pacific Island of Noumea. French to the last baguette."

Another delight of cruising is the proximity of the harbour to the commercial centre of the town or city. "Port Moselle was no exception" recalled Jim. "It is but a short walk to a bustling market with the colour, noise and activity that characterises such places." Another delight is meeting old friends. They met again a cruising couple from England. They first met when Laughing Jade visited FSC many years ago. They met for a second time when they were waiting to transit the Panama Canal and then again in Noumea.

"Nobby was a very relaxed sailor with delightful sense of humour", Jim explained. "Both yachts departed the same day. Laughing Jade bound for Brisbane and Morning Tide for Bundaberg. Initially their courses were similar. The wind veered and we decided to tack. We called Nobby on the VHF. His reply was, 'Tack, tack did you say? Maybe tomorrow'."

Hinchinbrook, Queensland.

Jim and Margaret made their landfall at Burnett Heads and anchored in the tiny harbour for the night. Relief, and with thanks, they had made it with one day to spare. The following day, the family arrived wearing Morning TideTee shirts. It was the first time Jim had met his grandchildren.

Last year they towed a caravan across to Cairns and then down the East Coast. They were able to meet again with fourteen cruising families; all bar two have sold their yachts and are now following other interests. For Jim and Margaret Morning Tide is family.

Why the name Morning Tide? Having learnt to sail in England they were brought up to appreciate and respect the need to work the tides. The best days sailing was always when you could depart on the morning tide, and return a full 12 or 36 hours later.