In the early fifties, the Combined Cadet Force in its Naval uniforms was a vibrant organization under three Officers, ‘Scruff’ Golding (Navy), and when he was in uniform he was very smart; ‘Milky’ Milne (Navy) and ‘Jammy’ Jamieson (Army).
We had a 27ft Naval Whaler (2 masts, 3 sails) that was kept on the Northern reaches of Southampton Water. A very muddy creek in Marchwood. The trick was to go out and come in on the tide. There was also a hut where our equipment could be stored and we could sleep and cook. Throughout the summer we had sailing weekends when either ‘Scruff' or ‘Milky’ would take 8 to 10 Cadets and sail down Southampton Water, past all the big liners coming and going, into the Solent.
I remember my first sail well. I could not swim and lifejackets were not even thought of! As the youngest I was in the bow as lookout, and as we progressed down the Water, the waves seemed to be growing larger and larger, and as we caught the wind, the boat heeled over further and further. I was scared. I heard one of the older boys say to ‘Scruff’ “Harris looks pretty frightened Sir”. I heard him answer “He’s just being christened by the sea”.
Later on in the Solent, the waves and wind really picked up. We were probably hitting maximum speed of 6 knots, well heeled over and shipping water. So exciting I came to love it, however I did decide to learn to swim!
The Crew members were pretty consistent and we became experienced; so much so, that when ‘Scruff’ was with us, he would settle down by the stern and fall asleep. He left the decisions to us and off we would go to catch the wind. In the evening as we returned up Southampton Water, he would come to and ask how the day had been.
Our ambition as a Crew was to sail around the Isle of Wight in one day, and early one morning, when ‘Scruff’ was with us, it seemed that the conditions were perfect. We also had an ulterior motive. The older boys had heard that there was a Nudist Colony on the South side of the Island near Ventnor.
In the early afternoon we arrived at the spot, came into the shallow water by the sheltered beach, quietly dropped the sails, firmly anchored the boat and waded ashore. All this without disturbing ‘Scruff’. There was no sign of any naked bodies so it was decided that a trek inland was necessary. As the youngest, I was made lookout to keep an eye on the boat and on ‘Scruff’.
The boys had been gone quite a while and I was almost asleep in the warm sun when suddenly I saw ‘Scruff’ sit up, look around and then check the boat before settling down again.
I whistled and one of the senior Cadets came running and I told him what had happened. He fetched the others and we had a ‘pow wow’. The older boys were worried about what could happen as we had deserted the boat without permission, and left ‘Scruff’ alone while we searched for a non-existent Nudist Colony. Would they be kicked out of the Cadets and the parents informed? Would this be the end of sailing week-ends?
It was too late now to continue with our attempted circumnavigation, and the weather was deteriorating, so we went back to the boat, found ‘Scruff’ sound asleep, quietly raised the sails and returned the way we had come.
In the evening, sailing back up Southampton Water 'Scruff' woke up as usual and asked about the day. Never a mention of us leaving the boat. What a guy!
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