- Sailor Jim Worrington
Jim Worrington (Emma Drabble)
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Jim Worrington sees the Levels from a different perspective when he and his wife are navigating their sailing boat down the estuary.
An experienced sailor, he’s a member and former commodore of the 50-year -old Newport Usk Mouth Sailing Club, originally Newport Sailing Club, and itself a member of the Bristol Channel Yachting Association. “We’ve done Ireland several times, went down to France one year; we do the Channel Islands, the Scillies, the south coast.”
In that time, he’s learned to treat the sea with respect. “On one occasion, we were off Flat Holm when we heard a person shouting for help.” It turned out to be a pair of exhausted canoeists on a charity row. “We towed them back to Barry. You’ve got to be careful, always get your weather first.”
Jim and a mate were themselves rescued at sea when their boat sank 20 miles off the Eddystone Lighthouse. “We got hit by lightning and the boat caught fire.” Luckily, they were picked up by a passing coaster.
But danger lurks even on land. Some years ago, Jim was trying to extricate a boat keel when he became trapped in the estuary mud. The Fire Brigade, which regularly practises rescues at the Sailing Club, pulled Jim to safety. “You have to be careful.”
