During the day we attended various informative seminars and the AGM. We then had a few hours to ourselves, before the evening's scheduled activities, to view the excellent museums adjacent to the ship.
One of the museums had only been open three weeks and is dedicated solely to the life and accomplishments of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The 'Being Brunel' museum was excellent, providing access to many personal possessions, documents and artefacts.
We boarded the ship around 18:00 and were given a lively, private introduction and tour of the ship by one of the stewards.
After the introduction, we were able to roam the ship at will. It was available only to club members for the evening. By today's cruise ship standards, the ship was very basic, but, fascinating. All the displays were very well done.
The largest passenger area in the ship was the first class promenade.
The first class cabins, with windows and privacy, were all adjacent to the promenade.
However, the first class cabins didn't look much better than the bunks in steerage.
The galley was very realistic with images and sounds of rats scurrying in the backs of cupboards.
The opportunity to meet other members was inspiring. Everybody had very interesting stories, but, there were a few members and award recipients in attendance who are true sailing legends.
We were very interested to meet James Wharram, now 90 and his partner Hanneke Boon.
The captain of the Queen Mary II, Christopher Wells, was present to receive a special award for coordinating the rescue of an OCC member and Ostar competitor, in mid-Atlantic, when his boat began taking on water.
David Scott Cowper was also present to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. David is legendary not only for his multiple solo circumnavigations, but, to North West Passage sailors he's a superstar, currently holding many world firsts for transits in the area. We also met Jane Maufe, Cowper's crew and partner for his 2012/2013 NWP transits. Jane is the four-greats niece of Sir John Franklin (she was named after Franklin's wife, Lady Jane Franklin). She has just published a book of these voyages: The Frozen Frontier: Polar Bound, through the Northwest Passage. In her own words, "[the book is not] a monologue of dreary course alterations, wind directions, sail changes, reefing points and compass bearings...it is a personal account of our experiences voyaging together...in the hope that we and our hull would still be intact when we came out the other end". I haven't finished the book yet, but, have found it so far to be charming, revealing and quite entertaining as Jane has a rather droll sense of humour.
Here is David receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award, from Anne Hammick, Commodore of the OCC.
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