It was a friend, Jack’s special birthday, and his wife asked for people’s recollections of him to make a little montage of happy memories. He used to be a pilot (on the sea, not in the air!) and is a very well-respected expert, in all things navigational. There was a harbour festival in Bristol some years ago and we went along to watch. This is the particular wonderful memory of him which I sent to remind him of the event, on his birthday:
Being interested in history I’ve always been fascinated by The Matthew, a reproduction of the iconic 15th century sailing ship which carried John Cabot across the Atlantic in 1497 from Bristol. A couple of years ago,during a sea festival in Bristol, the reproduction Matthew was due to sail, so obviously we went along to watch this amazing little caravel take a trip round the harbour.
Imagine our surprise to see that the captain in charge of the Matthew was Jack!!! We shouted out and waved like mad, and somehow my voice carried! The captain turned and waved back – at me! You can guess how thrilling that was !!!
If you haven’t come across the adventurer, John Cabot and his vessel teh Matthew, this is what I wrote here several years ago:
John Cabot was an Italian navigator born Giovanni Caboto, around 1450; he was a contemporary of Columbus, and he too understood that there might be a way to reach Asia by sailing west rather than the long journey round the southern tip of the African continent. He no doubt believed that after Columbus had struck land in 1892, there was a northern passage round the continent Columbus had found.
He set out once, but had to turn back, and 1497 he set out again on board the Matthew with a crew of eighteen – yes only 18! I have been on the scale replica of the Matthew, I’ve had a little sailing trip on board, and I can tell you, it is jolly small!
He set out in May and arrived in June on the morning of the 24th. No-one knows exactly where he landed, although there have been many guesses and many claims; it could have been Labrador, Newfoundland or Cape Breton. He returned safely to Britain believing he had reached the coast of Asia, and set off again the following year with five ships and about 200 men.
One ship struggled in a storm off the coast of Ireland, and put into port, of the others there is no trace, no-one knows what happened to John Cabot. There are theories, that he died at sea, that he arrived in North America and died there, that he travelled south and was killed by some Spanish sailors and finally that he returned and lived in London… The first and the last idea are the most likely, but at the moment, no-one knows!
Lois Elsden 