My build up to one of the best planned and organised Laser Masters World Championships was prompted by a facebook message from Terry Scutcher. Terry is a past World Masters Laser Champion. His partner Eve, of “Yoga Eve” fame on You Tube. Eve had photographed Terry pulling his boat down the slipway to launch at Shotley Sailing Club. Training in the River Stour, adjacent to the North Sea on the 4th January. The air temperature was 8 degrees that day and the sea temperature would have been very similar.

In Eastbourne the conditions were similarly chilly. Hunkering down in my freezing cold workshop with the fan heater on full power, I was glad I had the excuse of still nursing a Meniscus tear on my right knee to delay my own personal training regime. While others from the Laser Masters Jet set were off training in warmer climes; Miami and Southern Europe. I pushed my own boat off the beach of Pevensey Bay SC just two weeks before setting off to Geelong, Australia. Departing shortly after the Alexandra Palace Dinghy Show on the 10th of March, I was the last British competitor to make it into Australia before the Covid 19 (Coronavirus as it was originally referred to) quarantine borders started to fall.

The Australian Worlds organising committee led by Volunteer Principle James Mitchell, had already run 4 other Laser National and World Championships from Sandringham Yacht Club nearby, prior to the Masters events. They were deeply impressive with every aspect of the organisation running like a finely oiled machine. Before setting up for The Laser Masters Oceania and World Championships In Geelong Australia I made a brief stop over in Hong Kong to visit my eldest son Will. I recall being surprised at how deserted everywhere was. I was the only person transiting into the Central District of Hong Kong on the subway.

The only people I met were masked, dressed in white full length overcoats and usually wiping down handrails or cleaning floors and windows. Will seemed unperturbed by the apparent oddity of the situation and put it down to Asian paranoia. I spent a fun night out in Hong Kong in a restaurant and bar with Will and his friends, noting once again that we were the only non-masked people; of the few others we met.

I arrived in Melbourne Airport and was pleasantly surprised to see everything seemed normal, after being packed on a plane full of more mask clad people, on this occasion I joined in. James Mitchell arranged for his wife Chris to pick me up from the airport and carted me off to a comfortable apartment the organising committee had arranged for me. A barter we had agreed in return for me giving a few talks about my trip round the UK last summer. After the first day it started to become apparent Australia was moving into a higher state of alert about Covid 19 than I originally perceived. The event organisers were in deep discussion most days. Social distancing rules were shortly after introduced within a few days of my arrival. Stories of other Brits being concerned about their ability to get back from Australia even if they could get in just seemed surreal to me at the time. I couldn’t see what the fuss was about. It was great weather, an amazing club venue and picturesque bay. They even named a street Pevensey after my home club Pevensey Bay to make me feel at home.

The significance of the issue started to sink in when I was asked to report daily to the organisers for a health check after transiting through Hong Kong, incorrectly listed as one of the high risk countries requiring competitors to self isolate for 14 days. The following morning Hong Kong was removed from this list and replaced by China after further clarification was sought from the Australian government's website. A great relief. Nevertheless it was a wake up call. On the same day I received an email from Cathay Pacific Airlines stating my return flight was cancelled and advising I will be notified by them of an alternative. I am still waiting!

While all of this was playing out the organisers of The Australian Oceania Championships, a four day National Championships designed also as an open invitation warm up event for all Worlds competitors, being hosted by the same Royal Geelong Yacht Club, were carrying on with plans as normal.

Initially, the only obvious sign of anything being unusual in the sailing venue was that elbow touching was to be the method of greeting, instead of normal hand shaking and back slapping. None of the current 2 metre distance rules were in play at this point in time. Following on from the Oceania Champs practice race we started hearing rumours the event may be cancelled. After lengthy discussions between the organisers and the club behind closed doors, it was announced the next day that all social events would be cancelled. At the same time it was decreed that all competitors were to observe the now familiar 2 metre social distancing space and not to sit inside the clubhouse.

Meanwhile the first race went to the forecasters form book, with shifty tricky conditions across the bay of Geelong. The top sailors always seemed to pick the correct side of the course. Somehow the results started to look increasingly irrelevant after day two with the imminent cancellation of this event and The World's cancellation also looking inevitable. The Organisers were managing a near mutiny amongst the Clubs volunteers, many of whom were by today’s definition high risk, and becoming increasingly aware of their potential vulnerability. Cooked food was removed from the menu, catering staff were now fully gloved and distanced from the customers. All food was pre packed.

When just enough races had been sailed for the minimum number to count a series, the event was closed down. The Worlds were cancelled and the clubhouse shut. People were left wandering around in a dazed trance like state. PSA Charter boats were hurriedly being packed five high on trolleys ready for extraction.

My options for getting back earlier looked limited. I had already booked a backup return flight with Qatar Airlines transiting via Doha on the same original date of the 29th March, some 10 days from now. Will, (my son) calling from Hong Kong managed to get through to Cathay Pacific and re-booked my return seat on the earliest available flight, also on the 26th March. I felt covered with two different transiting options. I was hopeful the insurance company might pay out on at least one of these. With the sailing event cancelled and the ILCA Organising Committee and Sailing Club starting to look at each other across a table discussing losses, costs and compensation, my free apartment looked pretty shaky.

Spending an afternoon looking around Geelong harbour for an empty yacht I might decamp to if needs be, I bumped into fellow GBR sailor, Guy Noble. He kindly put me in touch with Mike Hicks, another Master from GBR. Mike had a whole two bed luxury apartment paid for sitting empty very near the harbour. He hadn’t made it out to Australia in time to beat the quarantine rules. One email later and Mike very kindly offered the use of his apartment at no cost. I moved in within hours. I could relax and ride out the time, continuing to write my book from my round UK adventure and enjoy the weather.

I quickly established a routine. Spending the morning hours writing, followed up by a swim in Geelong's outdoor caged sea compound at lunchtime, and strange patterned coffee with Jeff Loosemore chatting about rubbish in the afternoons .

Rob Cage bumped into me in reception one morning looking for an alternative place to stay. He moved in with his wife to Mike's apartment with me shortly after. The days were easy but got slightly stressful if you watched the news too much. Figuring out how, and if, we should make a break for it to go home early. None of the airlines were contactable. No reply from emails. Everyone was telling me to get out of Australia as soon as possible. I couldn’t see why I needed to rush. My Historic Door business in England had a friend running it as well as I could while I was away. I had a free pad and lovely weather. I had loads to do on my book. Why rush back?

Sitting on a park bench in Geelong one morning shortly after the events cancellation I had an inspirational idea. I could self isolate in a Laser and sail around Australia! A quick intro from my Aussie mate Jeff Loosemore to Chris Caldecoat of Performance Sailcraft Australia and we agreed a deal. PSA will supply the boats, I just needed to do the rest. Well that was more than I got at the beginning of my UK adventure. That was how the idea of ”Round Australia in Laser” was born.

That very same afternoon I started looking at maps, and reading up about other adventurers. The first aboriginal circumnavigator of Australia Bungaree (1775 - 1830) from Broken Bay, North of Sydney who sailed around in an eight foot boat with George Bass and Matthew Flinders. It wasn’t clear if his boat 8 feet keel boat was eight feet long or eight feet deep.

Where to start, how to avoid being eaten by the Crocs in the North and the Sharks in the North, East, West and South. Access to food and water, cyclones and vast areas of wilderness. No obstacle that couldn’t be tackled bit by bit I thought. I even had a chat about it on a podcast with my mate Mark Philpott from The Global Travel Channel.

Fortunately or unfortunately for me I was saved by Jon Emmett’s simple one line What’s app message to bring me back into reality once more…

“Stick get your arse to the airport and on standby 1st thing in the morning or you could be stuck until May!”

I did as I was told after my Cathay Pacific flight was cancelled the evening before my scheduled departure date. I got Jeff to drive me to the airport and go for an earlier flight on standby with Qatar. I finally got the last seat on the last flight out of Melbourne. I was at the back of this standby queue below.

The Australian Tour has been parked for the time being… watch this space… or better still look at my website. I will be re-running interviews, posts, videos and comments from my round UK trip from last year and will soon hopefully have finished at least the first half of my story in a book format very shortly.

Perhaps I will return to Australia when this is all over to resume my Bungaree, Bass and Flinders style adventure! Let me know if you fancy joining in.

Yours

Stick Daring

(No longer Down Under)