Darrell Minards and Carmen Minards, after undergoing surgery and radiotherapy set a goal of reaching the Scilly Isles by 2022
They say ‘do something that scares you a little bit every day’, and while we weren’t looking for fear, we did seek new challenges. We were late to sailing, so we started out on dinghies before completing our Day Skipper course. Kimara, our Beneteau 323. With it, we began to see things differently.
Our first ‘passage’ to Yarmouth was abandoned after just three uncomfortable hours. We knew we could do better so the Isles of Scilly became our season’s objective. No certainty as we had many yard conversations with fellow skippers to ensure our expectations were kept in check.
We began our first voyage after a successful series of shake-down sailings in the Solent. Having harbour-hopped as far as Cornwall’s Helford river, the weather wouldn’t settle, and after three weeks, we turned homeward. The Scillies were still too far.
Darrell at the wheel during the crossing
As we waited, we prayed that an Indian summer would come. But as the days grew shorter and the evenings grew darker, it seemed our goal was further from reach. However, I love the adage ‘persistence beats…
