Ocean Cruising Club-Friendly Face in Faroff Places

by Nancy Knudsen on 28 Dec 2006 Arriving in strange ports is something long range cruisers get used to – Customs, Immigration, paperwork galore, standing in queues, sometimes in sweaty tropical heat – one of those aspects of cruising you just have to tolerate with good grace. BUT the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC for short) often makes it a much more pleasant experience.

A friendly face, tips on the best places to go, how to get the best deals, what to avoid, where the best parties are… all these are within the normal role of the Port Captain in any one of many international ports where cruisers are likely to be.

When we recently arrived in St Lucia, Windward Islands, in the Caribbean, there were the friendly faces of Johanna and Tim from Rose Rambler of Devon, to invite us for a drink and give us all the tips on the local scene. With their help, we even visited our first ‘Jump-Up’ – ‘St Lucia speak’ for the local Friday evening Street Party.

Jo and Tim are typical (which is atypical) cruisers, having quit the rate race of London, sold everything and embarked on a three-year sail. They even had to learn to sail first! They set off in April 2004, and after various adventures, some about sailing, some about boat maintenance, they have ended up here in the Caribbean.

To be a member of the OCC, you have to complete a 1000 mile ocean Passage, and Tim and Jo did that with their passage from West Africa to Brazil in March 2006. Since then they have come north to St Lucia, and as you read this are on the hard stand having boat maintenance carried out (sound familiar?).

A small introduction to the history and facts about the Club goes as follows:

As an International Club administered from the U.K., the Ocean CruisingClub (OCC) was founded in 1954 by the late Humphrey Barton not long after his epic crossing of the Atlantic in little Vertue XXXV. In those days long passages in small yachts were nowhere near as commonplace as they are today and the early members were an elite band of ocean voyagers whose achievements formed a common bond.

Today that same common bond continues to give the membership its raison d'être although without the same pioneering element that drew the founder members together. Although established in the UK, membership has spread to many countries and the UK members form slightly less than 50% of the total, which is steadily growing and now numbers over 1500. There is a strong element in the USA, particularly on the eastern seaboard. National Rear Commodores organise local events in Australia, Canada, Ireland, UK and the east and west coasts of the USA. With these events and a significant number of members on passage, the blue and yellow burgee with its Flying Fish motif is carried proudly throughout the cruising waters of the world.

The club has no premises. However, through excellent relationships with other clubs there is no lack of social occasions. Here in the UK the Annual Dinner is held in alternate years at the Royal Thames YC in London and at a Club on the South Coast of Engalnd. An evening party is held in a London Club at Boat Show time, a Beaulieu river meet in May is hosted by the Royal Southampton YC at Gins Farm and a West Country Rally is held in Falmouth over the August Bank Holiday week-end with a very popular dinner in the Royal Cornwall YC. The last event is a great opportunity for members who have been far afield during the summer to meet and compare notes.

Notable passages and expeditions, of which there have been many in the Club's history, are reported in Flying Fish - the twice-yearly journal of the OCC - and the Club's annual award citations reflect the amateur traditions within which these often ambitious voyages are quietly and competently achieved. In addition to Flying Fish a regular newsletter is issued to members and serves a wide range of interests, including: news of voyaging members and families, requests and offers of assistance, proposed voyages and expeditions and a Diary of the Club's social and cruising events throughout the world.

The club has around 100 Port Officers who welcome members in harbours all over the world and provide help and introductions that are invaluable to new arrivals.

Details of club events, Port Officer contacts, newsletter information, extracts from Flying Fish and a picture gallery are just some of the items that can now be viewed by club members, including this introduction on the Club site, which you can view by clicking HERE