Denise Evans

(Dunlin of Wessex) - has made many ambitious voyages, often to high latitudes, in her Tradewind 33, but last year, at the age of 71, she had a crew of two young men, one of whom was later exchanged for a young girl student. They went north from Scotland and broke a chain plate off Norway so had to go into Bodo for repairs. They then went on to Spitzbergen and spent three weeks circumnavigating the island. They encountered a lot of ice and were eventually caught out on a lee shore in a gale in the ice in fog. They held off and on for 24 hours tacking in a lead till they found a way out. They eventually found an anchorage after five days at sea in confined waters.