De spite personal tragedy and business setbacks, skipper Amelia Dalton is in full command of life!
WORDS: MAIRI HUGHES IMAGES: AMELIA DALTON
Amelia Dalton’s love affair with the sea started 40 years ago. A young mum at the time, she was sorting out the cupboards in her home in London when the phone rang with an unusal invitation.
Knowing that she was in need of a break, her dad had chartered a small boat on the west coast of Scotland would be visiting St Kilda, an isolated archipelago.
No matter our age, it seems our parents really do know what’s best for us, because this trip changed Amelia’s life!
At the time, Amelia’s youngest son was undergoing health struggles and doctors were unable to diagnose what was wrong with him.
“Digby was two,” Amelia said. “He’d been unwell since birth. I had looked after him night and day, working out how best to comfort him.
“It’s probably the ultimate horror, being a parent and unable to help your child when they are in pain.”
Knowing that she needed a break and chance to relax, Amelia’s family persuaded her to go on the trip with her parents. However, the boat,
Conochbar, was not what she had expected.
“I had imagined a yachty set-up, not a black ex-fishing trawler! But I loved the scenery, the freedom of being at sea and the lift of the swells.”
Cubby, the boat’s skipper, Amelia’s seafaring adventures. It turned out she was a natural on the water.
Just four months later, Cubby and his wife, Kate, invited her to crew with them on a series of trips.
Crewing turned out to be wonderful therapy for Amelia.
“I helped in the galley. I didn’t get seasick and knew lots about the sea birds and flowers,” she said.
Many happy family voyages with Cubby and Kate followed and they became firm friends.
Cubby and Kate quickly invited Amelia to help him on the journey by ticking off buoys on the boat’s nautical chart as they passed them by. Amelia picked up a pencil and happily got stuck in as they rolled on through the night, arriving at St Kilda in the early hours.
This was just the start of bonded with Amelia’s boys, and she has many fond memories of Cubby hoisting Digby up on his shoulders.
Tragically, Digby passed away at just eight years old.
During this tough time, when she was grieving and desperately in need of a distraction, Cubby called this for years, so the NTS knew him and trus
