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y Eddie Scougall - <strong>Oyster</strong> Customer Care Manager<br />
THE DELIVERY<br />
Antigua to Ipswich<br />
Being sent to Antigua to deliver an<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> 53 back to the UK is not as<br />
bad as it sounds and, before letters of sympathy<br />
start flooding in, this is not the worst job I’ve had<br />
to do in my six years with <strong>Oyster</strong> Marine!<br />
Crackerjack had been taken in part exchange for a new <strong>Oyster</strong> and was to be returned to<br />
<strong>Oyster</strong> Brokerage for sale. A gap had appeared in the CCM diary and it occurred to me that<br />
I could save the full cost of a delivery skipper and make good use of CCM time by<br />
volunteering for the job. I was astonished and delighted when the proposal was ‘command<br />
approved’ and I was asked to find a crew.<br />
This wasn’t too difficult either. Mike Rose was first on the crew list. A veteran of 19 previous<br />
west to east crossings, with east – west, north – south, south – north, etc. too numerous to<br />
mention. Next, Jeff Robinson, a friend from the 1995 Trade Winds Rally and top engineer,<br />
who was looking for something to do before his next appointment as skipper of an Azimuth<br />
100 in the Philippines. Great! But the ace was still to be played. Richard Matthews gave me<br />
a call and asked if I would take Jo Chatterton on her first transatlantic as cook. I had met<br />
Jo, a life long sailor, during the 2003 UBS <strong>Oyster</strong> regatta in Antigua, where she had proved<br />
herself with honours. A cook too! With the exception perhaps of just being told to keep the<br />
boat, this couldn’t get any better!<br />
46 www.oystermarine.com
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