Ruth was raised in Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, a land of archaeology, white sand beaches and interesting weather. At an early age, she sailed around Kirkwall Bay in Laser dinghies and participated in an expedition on a Norwegian tall ship, the Soren Larson. Having completed her degree in "Wildlife and Fisheries Management" at Edinburgh University, she discovered that employment in this noble trade was difficult to come by and appallingly paid. With a firm sense of adventure, she sent her details to Crewfinders and had three years of nautical adventures including two trans-Atlantic crossings before ending up as a 'Hostie' with the flotilla holiday company Sailing Holidays.
From an early age Angus spent many weekends with the family sailing out of Newhaven in East Sussex on his father's wooden motor sailer, Teranghi. The boat was sold in the early seventies and the next opportunity was a 'gap year' spent working (in the loosest sense) for the legendary Tony Snell at the Last Resort Bar and Restaurant in the British Virgin Islands. On his return to the grey skies of the UK Angus joined the RAF where he did some sailing through the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre (JSASTC) in Gosport, Hampshire, including a trans-Atlantic crossing from the Canaries to St Lucia and Barbados.
Angus and Ruth met in Corfu when Ruth had to brief Angus, as a newly arrived Sailing Holidays client, on the internal workings of a marine lavatory. It was love at first sight. Actually, it took about three days before Angus cottoned on the fact that staff were not off limits to customers. A year and a half later, wedding bells were ringing. It must have been love, Ruth gave up a job working on boats in Greece to become an IT Programme Manager for O2 in Slough. Fortunately for her sanity, after 7 years of good behaviour, she was moved to work in Winchester, a pleasant change.
In 1996, I developed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia. In the early stages, treatment was not required. However, in 1998 its progress accelerated requiring action. Being young for this condition, I underwent a 9 month experimental treatment (experimental for the UK, it had been used in the USA for a while) involving Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide and high dose radiation coupled with an autologous stem cell transplant under the excellent care of Dr Andrew Duncombe, Joan Newman and team at the Royal Southampton Hospital for whom I have the highest regard. The hospital food on the other hand was another matter. The treatment was successful and I was back flying within 5 months of leaving the isolation ward.
Some of the experiences during this time recalibrated my views on the importance of various ambitions and crystallised our thoughts on a plan for a long sailing trip. Having been the Principal Rotary Wing Tutor at the Empire Test Pilot's School at MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, I retired in March 2005.
As mentioned on the introductory page, we purchased Emerillon, a Westerly Merlin, to practice our sailing skills. We had three terrific years sailing her all around the Channel between Bexhill and Scilly Isles. and along the French coast. In 2004, we sold Emerillon and completed the purchase of Do It. See The Boat for further details.
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