Wednesday 3rd March
Jenny Crickmore-Thompson and John Franklin
The Right Knots for Red Knickers – and – The South Africa Route
John and Jenny are members of GXSA but live in South Africa for part of the year. Some years ago, having never sailed before, Jenny replied to a skipper’s advert for crew and now she is married to him. Jenny has been Rear Commodore for the Ocean Cruising Club and received the 2019 OCC award. She will tell us about some of their recent sailing experiences (from her point of view…).
As part of their OCC roles (John has been Commodore), they kept contact with ocean sailors, particularly those crossing the Indian Ocean. John will describe traditional and recent routeing options for circumnavigating boats crossing the Indian Ocean and heading for the Caribbean, USA and Europe, and the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on cruising yachtsmen in 2020. Remarkably, a small group of ocean sailors were able to influence the South African government to allow access to foreign yachts on humanitarian grounds – John will tell us how.