A BUCCANEERING Farnham couple will recount their remarkable experiences of circumnavigating the globe in their yacht next month in a fundraising talk in aid of the RNLI Farnham Branch.

Before setting off sailing Bob Hazell had a business in Farnham, and lived locally with his wife Elaine. But in 2008 the opportunity presented itself for some serious sailing, a hobby that they had both enjoyed for a considerable time.

Seven years and 35,000 nautical miles later, the couple recently returned to their new home in Weston Patrick, near Alton, keen to share their experiences and raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Recalling the early days of their adventure, Bob told The Herald: “We sold our Moody 336, and in April 2008 bought a Wauquiez 48PS, a true ocean cruising yacht. We did a quick refit, set off that June on a shakedown cruise to Scotland and the Classic Malts Cruise, and then south via Brittany and Spain, before laying her up in Portugal for the winter.

“Back home we collected our thoughts, decided that the experience was so good we would continue, so planned to participate in the 2009 ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers). After a sojourn in the Med, we left for Madeira in August and then sailed south to the Canaries in time for the start in November.”

After 18 days at sea with three other friends as crew, Bob and Elaine arrived in St Lucia, then spent four months in the eastern Caribbean before sailing south to Grenada, where after a quick refit they set sail in June for the Venezuelan Islands.

Bob continued: “We had decided to continue going west, though never had a grand plan. We took it year by year.

“All the islands we visited were amazing and the city of Cartagena in Columbia was very special. The San Blas islands north of Panama, reminded us so much of Desert Island Discs with their turquoise blue seas, white sands and swaying palms.

“We continued along the north coast of Panama where we spent Christmas, before then committing to continue through the Panama Canal and into the South Pacific in early 2011.

“Crossing this ocean was magic, the best sailing of our lives, with the islands and scenery just making the whole year one of our most memorable.”

The couple’s presentation will cover all of this and the weather they encountered along the way, plus their time spent in a group of Tongan islands, getting up close and personal to hump back whales.

“We arrived in New Zealand in October 2011,” Bob added, “and it was so stunning with so much to see and do, that we decided to spend two seasons there, also taking advantage of the zero VAT for money spent on the boat. A magnificent country, with genuine friendliness from the Kiwis, reminding us of the UK in the 50s and 60s.”

Bob and Elaine’s adventures continued north to Vanuatu, seeing erupting volcanoes, land diving, the incredible bird life on the Huon Reef atoll, coping with auto pilot failure on route to Australia, and then sailing north through the Torres Strait to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Other amazing sights of the Far East to be covered in their presentation include seeing orangutans in Borneo, the world heritage temples in Java, through to the modern city of Singapore, and “historic and beautiful” Penang.

Bob said: “2015 saw us sailing west again across the Indian Ocean, which brought its own unexpected and nerve racking challenges - we were lucky to make it in one piece! But we survived, as did our yacht, taking us on to the Seychelles, then Madagascar and South Africa.

“In January 2016 we waved goodbye to the Indian Ocean, heaved a huge sigh of relief and were made welcome on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic, Jacaré in northern Brazil, stopped for a brief look at the abandoned jungle prisons of Papillon fame in the Iles du Salut, before completing our circumnavigation in April 2016 at Prickly Bay, Grenada. In six years we had sailed a total of 35,000 nautical miles.

“We look forward to holding the audience enthralled for an evening of thrills and spills of sailing around the world.”

Bob and Elaine’s presentation will take place on Friday, November 10, at 7.30pm in the St Thomas Church rooms, with all proceeds going to the RNLI. Tickets are available from branch chairman Nigel Cuthbert by calling 01252 719650 or email [email protected].

The Farnham branch of the RNLI has been in existence for many years and raises funds for the Institution locally through a combination of fundraising events and collections.

The RNLI is entirely funded through voluntary donations and in 2016 saved 431 lives in the lifeboats service and the RNLI lifeguards saved a further 127.