Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
On a few occasions in the last week ‘Mischief’ has been depicted or mention in this Blog, with Frans Loots advising that she belonged at one point to Major Bill Tilman.
The name probably means little to most, yet he was an extraordinary man who was a mountaineer and explorer, renowned for his Himalayan climbs and sailing voyages.
He purchased the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter ‘Mischief’ 1954, and subsequently had other pilot cutters named ‘Sea Breeze’ and ‘Baroque. He voyaged to Arctic and Antarctic waters in search of new and uncharted mountains to climb.
In late 1957 he and his crew left Cape Town bound for the Crozet Islands when they were struck by a massive storm on about 26 November which severely damaged the vessel.
Rather read the full account of this passage to get a feel for the drama and seamanship displayed to get ‘Mischief’ back to land safely. It’s a fascinating account.
READ IT HERE: Pages from 1958 01-02 – SA Yachting – OCR-2
