Giving up sail
Martin Yates explains why he changed from a Leisure 17 sailing yacht to a classic Elysian 27 river cruiser to keep himself on the water
Why Martin Yates changed from a Leisure 17 to a classic Elysian 27
Isuppose the first thing to ask is why change? There are several reasons: while we still enjoyed sailing and retained a great affection for our Leisure 17, her high mast restricted the distance we could travel up or down the River Avon from our mooring at Tewkesbury Cruising & Sailing Club. We could go under the M5 bridge at Bredon (with a little room to spare), up as far as the gas pipe bridge at Strensham.
A river cruiser would give me more flexibility to travel for longer without venturing far from home. If the boat is moored at Tewkesbury Marina, I can travel on the Avon as far as Stratford-upon-Avon. The River Severn is a lock away, Stourport is to my right, Gloucester to my left.
I have joined the thousands of others who find themselves quite suddenly a carer for a close relative. The decision to change was partly due to my mother who
fell and broke her hip in 2017; in recent months her health has deteriorated rapidly with multiple dementia, (a combination of both Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia). So, I wanted a boat that would enable my mother to come on board, I could handle single-handed, and take any moorings close to home.
Make a List
First I wrote down a possible list of requirements:
I’m left-handed so the helm position would need to be central or on the port side. All the controls would need to be on port or directly in front of me. I couldn’t afford to be searching for a control during a manoeuvre!
My wife Moira wanted to have separate bedroom and living cabins, not a walk through or making the bed up every night; we’d had enough of this with caravans, so we opted to look for a mid-cockpit configuration. We wanted headroom in both cabins, a separate heads with shower and a sink unit.
I needed a large and flat helm deck area with space to move.
Inboard or outboard, which type would best suit our needs?
Handling a cruiser
Could I handle a motor cruiser with my type of disability, cerebral palsy, which affects my right side? Answer, honestly, I didn’t know.
The only way to find out was to try it! I looked on the Internet for a local qualified teacher and found Willie Arnold, a RYA qualified instructor for the inland waterways. During our telephone conversation about my requirements, I mentioned my wife, Moira, to Willie – The Lady Moira turned out to be the name of his boat, a Broom 30.
Both Moira and I thoroughly enjoyed our day with Willie. We realised that working together the pair of us could manage the locks and mooring up. My concerns over my disability and using just one hand proved not as much of a disadvantage as I
feared it might. Together we could safely operate the locks and, if need be, I can even manage it myself.
Hire before you buy
My advice is to try it first – hire a cruiser or narrow boat for a week. Does it tick the boxes you hold in your head?
If you are a purist and love sail, then it may not be for you. Or, maybe like me it’s a compromise and enables you to do things albeit a different way.
We decided to try cruising The Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire. I called a local boatyard in Ely to see if they had a suitable cruiser. We had an enjoyable week on an Elysian 27, not a boat I had ever heard of before.
The Elysian 27
The boat ticked most of our boxes, even one we had not really considered, the side decks were wide enough for me to hold on and walk completely around the boat easily.
While on holiday we saw a similar Elysian 27 called Oasys for sale at a local marina, and took her out for a test run. She’s a 27ft river cruiser which chugs along quietly making very little wake, a real classic cruiser.
Oasys was built by the Appleyard, Lincoln & Co Boat builders Ltd, at the Riverside Boatyard, Ely, Cambridge around 1976. Length overall 27ft 0in (8.20m) Beam 9ft 6in (2.90m) Draught 1ft 10in (0.56m) Air draught with windscreen folded 6ft 0in (1.80m) Engine 1.5lt BMC diesel with single shaft drive prop
We bought Oasys after going home and considering all the pros and cons and of course having a survey. The report highlights areas of concern or boat safety failures. It’s not perfect, but it really does help. Even if you know all about boats, a fresh pair of eyes without emotion is a good thing. I raised some points highlighted in the survey, which were soon resolved by the owner.
When you change from a sailing cruiser to a motor cruiser there is a learning curve.
With the Leisure 17 you are sat in a rear cockpit and the boat pivots around the stern. With the Elysian centre cockpit, the boat pivots from the centre of the boat. You have to remember that there is as much boat behind you as there is in front.
Going backwards is another challenge: the Elysian 27 does not steer in reverse like twin screws, stern drive or an outboard. So, having practiced I was still finding control of the boat in reverse tricky. I asked Willie Arnold for help.
He came to Tewkesbury and we had a session on Oasys. ‘Remember,’ said Willie ‘the prop has to be in drive and turning to have steerage and control. Forward turn then reverse.’
By lunchtime I had mastered the basics enough to practice myself. It pays to be prepared to ask for help from someone who knows, followed by lots and lots of practise on your own in calm waters.
Wind against the hull of a narrowboat or river cruiser is something to bear in mind, especially when arriving or leaving the mooring or pontoon. The vessel’s flat side presents a sizable area to be blown off course or into the riverbank. I found that fitting a pulpit rail and a small pole for a flag or pennant helps show the general wind direction.
Things will go wrong
In our case one of the things to go wrong was caused by the smallest split-pin, and everything happened in a second.
For our first venture out, I decided to fill up with fuel. I could practice coming alongside and stopping at the fuel pump.
But putting the engine into neutral did nothing – the boat kept moving under power. A burst of reverse, the boat continued forward.
Ahead was a moored cruiser. Disengaging the engine had no effect. The marina staff watched as Oasys kept moving, her bow gently nudging into the cruiser’s stern ladders while my pride took a severe dent.
It turned out that a small split-pin had broken, the engine stayed engaged and stuck in forward gear.
Disability and Help
Pride in one’s own ability to overcome problems is a wonderful attribute. However, asking for help does not diminish the person. Sometimes it takes a lot more courage to admit you need help, which I know from my lifetime of experience living with cerebral palsy.
My advice is swallow your pride. Find the help you need and start enjoying your boating. There are lots of groups out there to help; UK Sailability, boat owners clubs, CanalAbility. Seek out these and other organisations. Never accept defeat.
You never know
I hope I have encouraged some readers to at least try and take to the water. If like me you are, or become, disabled there is often a way to work around it.
If you see Oasys on the River Avon, give Moira and me a wave and say ‘hello’.
For more on how Martin overcomes his disability see his article ‘Sailing single-handed with cerebral palsy’ from page 36 of PBO’s October 2016 issue.