Waverley's 1997 Solent Season
by Martin Longhurst
This year Waverley was commanded throughout her Solent season
by Captain Peter Tambling, ably assisted by his Chief Officer
Graham Gellatly. Captain Tambling took this opportunity to fly
some flags not normally seen on the Waverley. At the bow the
Guild of Master Mariners flag, above the bridge on a halyard the
pennant of the Weymouth Yacht Club and at the stern the Blue
Ensign. Graham was able to obtain a pilotage exemption
certificate for the Port of Southampton having previously made
numerous trips on other vessels and passed a searching
examination. John Megoran, Kingswear Castle's master and general
manager, was fortunate in being granted an exemption certificate
for Portsmouth as he had previously held a pilot licence under
the Trinity House regime. Again he had to make numerous
re-familiarisation trips and pass a detailed examination.
Although September 1997 reached the record books for its good
weather, Waverley's passage south was marked by rough seas and
she had to divert to the Bristol Channel for additional fuel on
the way. Consequently the first couple of sailings were lost and
she started her September season at Weymouth on September 5th.
The following day was the occasion of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. A short Act of Remembrance was held on board Waverley just before her departure from Southampton Town Quay. A chaplain from the Mission to Seamen officiated, and Captain Tambling read the lesson, by an altar placed on the port paddle box. This touching tribute was filmed by the BBC and was shown on that evening's "South Today." Throughout the day, Waverley's flags were flown at half mast.
Wednesday September 10 saw the final departure of the SS
Canberra under the P&O flag. Waverley's normal weekly cycle
of sailings was varied to allow passengers to view the event.
Instead of turning back at Cowes, she continued eastward to Ryde
and Portsmouth and then up Southampton Water. Shortly after
passing Calshot Spit the familiar silhouette of the QE2 came into
view as she set off on a liner voyage to New York. Whistle blasts
were exchanged in salute she passed by under the command of
Captain John Hall, who had been a fellow student of Captain
Tambling at Pangbourne Nautical College. Waverley continued
northwards turning just past the Canberra, lying at berth 106. As
there was a little while to go until Canberra's sailing time,
Waverley went alongside Town Quay to keep out of her way. This
proved rather unpopular with the public already on the Quay, some
of whom had been waiting two hours to take pictures of the
departure. Fortunately Port Control was able to allocate an
alternative - nothing less than Berth 101, the Ocean Terminal
just vacated by the QE2! Finally Canberra steamed majestically
past into the sunset accompanied by a vast fleet of small boats
with tugs sending up fountains of water. We sailed side by side
past Fawley exchanging whistle and siren salutes. Our courses
parted at Calshot as Canberra took the deep water channel around
the Bramble Bank while Waverley took the shallower channel
towards Ryde. However, there was a chance of a final steam past
as Canberra put on speed for the open sea.
Sunday 21 September saw the start of the final Whitbread Round the World Yacht race. Waverley had been engaged for a very lucrative charter. The trip was simply from Portsmouth to Calshot, anchor for the start and then straight back to Portsmouth. The brevity of the cruise was because the charterer's guests had planes to catch from Gatwick where they were conveyed by coach from Portsmouth Harbour Station. The preparations for the Race also meant that SS Shieldhall had to vacate her normal berth at Ocean Village and take up temporary residence at Town Quay just ahead of the Waverley's berth. Although there was not a joint sailing this year, the two ships did meet at sea. On September 27 Waverley overtook the Shieldhall while heading east along the Solent. She made a fine sight making a good speed, again whistle and siren blasts were exchanged.
On Tuesday 23 September Waverley was able to help save a life
at sea. She was passing Old Harry Rocks whilst a search and
rescue was being undertaken for some canoeists. One man had been
swept away from the main group. Fortunately his cries were heard
by some passengers on deck who alerted the Bridge. The Swanage
Lifeboat was then directed to the man's position and he was
successfully recovered.
Tuesday 30 September, the day of the Canberra's return, started with a shroud of thick fog in contrast to the brilliant sunshine which marked her departure. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, Waverley was able to sail in conditions which would have left her fog bound when she was built. She left Southampton for Portsmouth and Ryde at 7 a.m. with a very good load despite the early hour. In the event it was decided to bring the Portsmouth passengers to Ryde by Wightlink catamaran because Waverley's speed had to be reduced considerably as visibility varied.
This change minimised delay and the hunt was on to find Canberra in the fog. Soon Graham Gellatly announced that the fog signal that could be heard ahead was that of the Canberra - invisible to us but only three-quarters of a mile away. Momentarily the fog cleared and she was glimpsed briefly as a warship crossed our bows to fall in astern of Canberra.
As before, Waverley cut across to Calshot while Canberra rounded the Bramble Bank. Approaching Calshot the Shieldhall loomed out of the mist with a full complement of passengers. As we entered Southampton Water the fog started to clear and there were increasingly good views of the Canberra as she caught us up and passed by, escorted by HMS Cornwall. We joined in the escort amid a fleet of small craft and other excursion vessels. Shieldhall appeared from astern steaming rapidly through the fleet with an impressive bow wave.
To avoid the congestion as the Canberra was turned to come alongside Berth 106 for the final time, Waverley tied up at Town Quay for some time. At 12.15 three things happened: Captain Rory Smith of the Canberra rang "Finished With Engines," HMS Cornwall fired a salute and Waverley became the only sea going steam driven passenger ship to fly the red (or blue) ensign. Then it was out turn to pay our final tributes to the Great White Whale. We steamed up to the Western Turning Ground, cheering ship as we passed and waving to those on board while Canberra replied on siren. Finally, as we returned some Canberra passengers returned the compliment and cheered us and we replied with three long blasts.