Benford 34ft Junk Rig Dory
After a summer cruise to the West Coast of Ireland Annie and I decided that Sheila (ex 6m racing yacht) was not really suitable for long distance voyaging. I had seen a small sketch in a yachting magazine describing a Benford plywood dory plan. This looked easy to build, roomy, seaworthy and would enable us to try a junk rig. Badger took us three years to build, in the open, in Lancashire. We both had jobs to pay for the materials and work whenever we had free time while living on the incomplete boat. She proved to be an excellent choice and took us to many remote places over the years. We were enrolled with the junk rig.
Cruising seems to be feast or famine. After the non-stop conviviality of the splendid RCC Azores Meet, we now planned to spend nearly three months on our own, sailing down to Cape Town with only a short stop in Brazil to have a break and replenish our water and supplies of fresh food. On 3 […]
This cruise was awarded Juno’s Cup by RCC. Annie and I crossed the Atlantic to the West Indies for the winter in 1996 and sailed up to Nova Scotia from the Virgin Islands the following April. When we arrived in early May, we were a little surprised to find it frosty and that all the […]
This is the cruise for which the RCC Challenge Cup and the Goldsmith Exploration Award were presented. It was with some trepidation that we sailed from Stanley in the Falkland Islands, outward bound for the Antarctic. Our original plan had been to visit South Georgia and then sail on to Cape Town. In the winter, […]
We don’t usually take crew along on our cruises, but Steve Spring is an old friend and he expressed a desire to visit the Falkland Islands. He thought it unlikely that he would ever get there in his own boat and so the arrangements were made. Steve lives in Ohio and, after trying several travel […]
The cruise for which the RCC’s Romola Cup was awarded. Although we had intended to leave England directly after the Beaulieu Meet, it was not until 26 September that we managed to sail from Falmouth. A minor overhaul of Badger’s motor had turned into a major re-engine job, when the cost of repairs turned out […]
Pete and Annie Hill We have found Badger performs at her best to windwards with a F4-5 and wind over tide – e.g. beating up a river against the ebb, because in a chop the foremast starts to ‘pile drive’ and ruins her progress. We have tacked through 85°, but in the above conditions would […]
Pete & Annie Hill We spent some time in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there we’ve been working our way south. At present we are in St. Michaels. We stayed around a few days and then set off South. It was very cold and we had ice on the dinghy in the mornings. We decided to […]
It was either Greenland or Greece; we hadn’t decided just where to go for our summer cruise. Annie, who dislikes being cold, wet and frightened, felt that Greenland would give her too much of all three; I reminded her that ‘strenuousness is the path of immortality’. She wasn’t impressed. However, we had the good fortune […]
Pete and Annie Hill sailed Badger from the Solent to the Caribbean via the Algarve and the Azores, re-crossing the Atlantic to visit family in Scotland and thence to Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The return journey to Warsash nonstop from Limfiord was marred by a F 9 gale in the German Bight during which Annie […]
In the Caicos and the Bahamas the water is crystal clear and most of one’s navigation is what the Americans describe as “Eyeball”. This was just as well because our echo sounder chose to pack in two days before our arrival in the Turks. Our first anchorage was in Cockburn Harbour, which we shared with […]
The week before we left La Palma we had the most appalling weather there. Due to the way moorings were laid for local boats, we were all anchored so that we tended to lie across the wind. The anchorage was extremely crowded, as Sou’westerlies were still prevailing, with, as yet, no sign of the Trades. […]
We want to add more about building Badger but that is still work in progress. It was a long time ago. Our next major undertaking was the removal of Badger’s keel and the fitting of a new one. The most difficult bit was getting the old one off, as we had glued it on with […]