(10) Rum, Jameson and a cautionary tale from my old mate Captain Brooks

It will probably not surprise anyone that knows me even slightly that I/we couldn't do all this without someone pulling the strings and helping us puppets move.  Technically we refer to this as "Shore Support"  DRINA'S Shore Support crew includes a number of very special (to us) specialists.  They are scattered around the Globe and are called on from time to time to provide assistance and advice within and without their particular area of expertise.  As the adventure progresses I'll introduce each of them to you as circumstance bandwith allows.  

Just now my old mate Captain Brooks  (Drina's Weather Guru in Sydney)  has provided a piece of advice that has come in very handy.  So handy in fact that I've decided to share it with you all!  Earlier in the day I wrote to John by way of an update on our suitation, being weathered in at St. Peter's Harbour.  I included a few other details including a commentary on how well the supply of Jameson was lasting!  

Quick as a flash John replied with a cautionary tale that, for the sake of accuracy, I've included here verbatim.

"Kerro,

Defiance & the rum barrel:  Marshall Phillips had owned a string of competitive ocean racers named Sweet Caroline. After selling the last one he bought Defiance, a Swan 46, in which he planned to cruise around the world. Before leaving, however, he decided to do the 1985 Sydney-Hobart Race with most of his old Sweet Caroline crew, plus me. This beautifully fitted-out yacht had a wooden keg, about 5-6 litres in size, built into the furniture. Marshall’s racing boats had always been “dry”, but he consented to filling the keg with rum on the strict proviso that nobody touched it until we got to Hobart.

 

Defiance pounding south

 

In this race Col Betts was the navigator, with Marshall Phillips, Norm Hyett and a forward hand on one watch and Jimmy Bourke, “Kooka” and I on the other. On the first night out we ran into a hard southerly and after coming off a cold and wet watch at 03:00, Jimmy, Kooka and I eyed the rum barrel and decided that a tot each would do no harm, but not a word to Marshall or we’d be in big trouble. So we had our tot and bribed the navigator, Col Betts, with one to keep his mouth shut. It turned into a couple of tots and we repeated this practice each night when the other watch wasn’t looking.

When we got to Hobart the rum barrel was broached in Constitution Dock with much ceremony only to run dry after a shot or two each. Jimmy and I looked at each other nervously – surely we couldn’t have drunk 5-6 litres of rum over 3 nights. It took some tongue-loosening hours at the Customs House Hotel later that day for the truth to emerge – that the entire crew, including Marshall Phillips, had been getting into the rum barrel from the very first night at sea. It’s a mystery how Col Betts ever found Hobart as he was being bribed with rum by both watches."  John Brooks.

I've just checked the Jameson supply, someone has been putting the empties back in the grog locker! Probably to stop them rolling about while we are at sea....

PK, alongside the Canal at St. Peter's Harbour, Nova Scotia.