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Xplorer of Hamble - The Xplorers - About My Shipmates



Hello! Tin Tin the Bear here again. I thought on this blog I’d introduce you to my shipmates, the four ‘Xplorers’ which I’m forced to share my boat with on this voyage across the Atlantic. You can tell a lot about people by what they read.


 First up we have Peter ‘have you seen my glasses’ Bamford. Despite bringing at least five pairs of reading glasses on the boat he can never find them. Peter likes to think he is in charge of this ship….little does he know that Val is sending messages via a remote sewn in my paws which directly controls the autopilot. Peter lives in the Bamford Suite, a luxurious cabin in the front of the boat which he shares with the emergency food, rotting vegetables, kitchen roll and the spare saloon carpet, which is on board just in case Moneypenny Warren goes drinking again. Peter is a caffeine addict insomniac who prowls the boat at night by the light of his headtorch, temporarily blinding anyone who is on watch. Currently reading a book about serial killers, but he is still my favourite.

 Tony ‘Biscuits’ Brown is a salty old seadog with a hidden stash of biscuits. He lives in the biscuit tin in complete squalor surrounded by crumbs, and has an appetite even bigger than the boss. On the odd occasion he is not eating you can be sure he is planning what to eat next or snuffling around looking for food. Something of a whizz in the kitchen and is Chief Chef. Even Tom could not ruin his Pork and Cider.  Keeps playing with his antique sextant whenever the sun comes out, but claims he needs to read the book on how it works as he hasn’t used it for ten years. Tony is a real sailor and talks about ‘thermal activity’ and ‘precipitation’ rather than clouds and rain. Currently reading a book longer than War and Peace which looks very grown up. It has very small letters.

 Tom ‘Farmer’ Brown. Lives in the tidiest cabin in the boat surrounded by a not very well hidden stash of San Miguel. Tom got blamed (unfairly some may say) for breaking half the crew on a night out in Las Palmas. Or perhaps it was planned – Anna has not drunk since then so everyone else’s beer ration has been increased. Tom is Chief Engineer, which mainly consists of fixing things Peter has broken. He is currently reading a book with the charming title ‘Don’t tell Mum I work on the Rigs', she thinks I’m a piano player in a whore house’. It is 10 pages long and has very big letters and pictures. However, it is more intellectually demanding than the colouring book he has brought for next week.

 Anna ‘Moneypenny’ Warren. Annoyingly still holds the record for boatspeed aboard Xplorer. This bear is convinced she is a spy. She knows where every single piece of kit on the boat lives (except for the Dymo) and about all the hidden food stashes. Cruelly rationed the chocolate and sweets into four separate bags with each crew member’s name on. Usually found reclining in Moneypenny’s saloon, pretending to be asleep but actually has one eye open at all times. Currently reading a book about Brexit and the only one on board who can get past puzzle number one in the GCHQ puzzle book. I don’t trust her one bit and I’m keeping my (button) eyes on her every move.

 Affectionately, Tin Tin the ARC Bear


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