Sailing a 100 year old Brixham Sailing Trawler from Scotland to the South Coast

Steve Jones and Morag Slesser sail Provident, a historic Brixham Sailing Trawler, on a centenary voyage from Scotland’s west coast to her roots on the South Coast

Eight days after leaving Oban on the west coast of Scotland, we arrived at the Fowey estuary on the Cornish coast. The guests and crew on board were oblivious to the magnitude of the occasion for us.

For them, Steve’s dash ashore to Polruan’s Lugger Inn to procure ice for the celebratory gin and tonics was simply ‘part of the service’ they had come to expect from a Provident voyage where food and drink rank easily as highly as sailing and adventure.

Polruan marked the end of a two-year journey; the place where, during a damp and freezing January in 2022, we had first hauled our newly purchased boat out of the water; where the magnitude of the task before us became clear, and, where eventually, with a gang of friends, supporters and local workers we began our mission to keep Provident sailing.

The surveyor, a dour Scot, had not approached the boat with enthusiasm. We waited anxiously for his report. Was it going to be the beginning of an epic adventure?

The journey from Oban to Brixham had passed in the haze of sailing, sleeping and eating that comes with a long voyage. A sleep in the middle of the day after a four-hour watch is one of the joys of passage sailing. Of the eight guests on board, four had sailed on Provident before; some drawn by the romance of taking her back to her home port on a centenary voyage and some for the sheer joy of sailing a 100-year-old, 85-tonne boat.

Under engine (something that only got added to Provident in the 1940s), the boat steers sharply to port. Under sail, the boat is transformed into a sailing wonder – with each added sail she sets into a groove ready for whatever nature has in store.

Before launching into a big journey we like to take time to get to know our guests. Everyone soon settles into being on board and begins to learn the ropes. By the time we were on watch systems in the Irish Sea, we had made stops at the island of Easdale, West Loch Tarbert on Jura, and had negotiated the challenge of entering a fog-bound Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland. ‘Watch the tides around the pub,’ said the owner of Family’s Pride, another historic ship moored in the harbour ‘they can suck you in’.

Two bleary-eyed nights followed, some beautiful sunsets and dawns, and a nasty night rolling in windless fog. We were close enough to the Isle of Man to get a weather update and headed for a day’s rest in Arklow, Southern Ireland to wait for the predicted westerly to appear. The harbour master’s welcome was casual and friendly and the yacht club showers were a delight.

The winds picked up enough for us to set sail and we cruised happily on a straight course towards the southwest of England. Taking turns at the helm, the main challenge became the fast moving shipping converging on the traffic separation schemes in the St George’s Channel and round Land’s End.

It’s amazing how quickly a boat traveling at 20 knots can catch up with you. An ongoing watch on AIS became essential as we spotted lights in the distance, figuring out their speed and course, and nervously considering our options if we went unnoticed.

The trip along the south coast to the river Fowey passed in spring sunshine. The excitement built as we approached Brixham and despite there being next to no wind we put up the sails one last time.

We floated off Scabbacombe Head, unwilling to end the journey and unsure about the kind of welcome that awaited us. In the end we slipped quietly on to Brixham’s town pier. Next morning, the town woke to the sight of one of its favourite ships lying peacefully on her old berth.

Owning Provident is a privilege and a responsibility. We know we are simply custodians; really she is owned by the town of Brixham and all those who have sailed and nurtured her over her 100 years of service.

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