The search

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It was back in October 2009 that we first talked of buying a boat and sailing an Atlantic circuit. We drew up plans with milestones and budgets and started researching boats. In December we drove down to the Solent and started looking at boats, staying in Winchester and Arundel.

That same weekend we were engaged! John proposed in the idyllic setting in his very low key charming way.
The search was then put on hold as Laura’s house was sold and the buyers wanted to be in there before Christmas so a house move was completed before returning to the search in January 2010.

There was a steep learning curve to undergo before making the decision on the type of yacht and thankfully we gleaned a lot from interested brokers, most of which admitted to us that our budget was on the outside of what they may ordinarily be selling (their wares are usually much bigger/newer, generally much more expensive). A trip to the London boat show left us feeling a bit down on the project. We headed there with high expectations of being able to learn a lot and may even find something that would be of interest. In fact we left the show feeling a bit despondent as to whether this would be achievable. The ARC seminar we attended in the morning was quite useful, but we still had to get ourselves a boat to do it in. From our original plans, we needed to have something by the end of January if this was going to work. So taking a week’s holiday from the 25th Jan we shortlisted a number of yachts that might be suitable and mapped these out for view. We headed down to Lymington looking at a range of yachts including Sigma 38, Sadler 34, various Westerleys, a number of Moody’s, a couple of Van de Staadt’s, roaming from Lymington, the Hamble, Cowes, Chichester and finishing our tour in Wisbech. In that search we found an Oyster Lightwave 395 being sold in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

The Oyster was sitting out of the water in Cowes Yacht Haven being sold by a young London banker. Now at first sight, this wasn’t the yacht we would have wanted. After reading accounts from previous ARC events, one of the main reasons for people needing to pull out and abandon ship part way through the race, was due to rudder loss. For this reason part of our criteria was for the rudder to have a skeg - which would provide extra support and reduce the risk of loss. Also, because we’d be taking the yacht for some extensive ocean passages, we wanted a long keel to help her cut through the seas. This boat has neither or those, holding a spade rudder and fin keel instead.

However, the feeling of excitement that rose in both of us as we scrambled round the boat once up the ladders was undeniable. The same boat had completed the Atlantic Rally for Cruises (ARC) in 2004, as well as numerous RORC races. It was quite a moment finding it after spending weeks trawling round “projects”. A lot of what we had so far seen would have been very sturdy and looked after us well but they lacked quite a lot of love and quite frankly the flair of Rainmaker.
We were further convinced of its suitability mainly thanks to Pip Hildesley’s blog. Pip had completed a single handed ocean race in a 395 from Uruguay to the UK sailing her back to Ipswich. It was obviously a proven design, with the Oyster pedigree to boot.

In March we finally took ownership of her, and Cowes became our second home. Half a dozen visits later the boat was launched and we sailed her back to the mainland, to Shamrock Quay in Southampton with the help of Tony Cromby, Peter Deeley and Eamonn Healy on the 11th April.

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Photos

11th April
Ready to take the boat from Cowes to Southampton

11th April
Eamonn was soon to become close friends with the stowaway...