Winning a trophy for writing about sailing
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| Pat Adair handing me the Wild Goose Cup |
As a member of the Irish Cruising Club, I am now expected to contribute to the Annual and ICC Newsletter from time to time, which I have done. My first contribution to the Annual technically did not qualify for any awards because it was about sailing over to Ireland which was too long ago to qualify.
This year, I wrote about our return to Ireland from Galicia. I was totally taken aback to open the hefty tome of the Annual when it arrived and to see my article as the first in the book and labelled as having won the Wild Goose Cup. The award is not for a cruise per se but for the literary merit of the story that was written. The adjudicator thought mine was the best-written log in the book!
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| Happy Daria! |
The silver cup is a hefty one and very shiny. It stays with me for a year of bragging rights, then is returned for the next year's awards. I am the first female recipient and several women members pointed that out and congratulated me wholeheartedly. Perhaps it will encourage more of them to pick up the pen or start 'pshticking' the keyboard as my mom used to say. Yes, I think she'd be proud.
The next day, Winkie Nixon wrote up the AGM and awards in Afloat magazine, which made it even more poignant. I was chuffed yet again to get praise from Winkie, an amazing Irish journalist who I admire greatly.
The story I wrote was about our trip across the Bay of Biscay this past summer when we lost our engine to a disintegrated flexible coupling. There is nothing better than adversity to provide the basis of a good story. Everyone loves to read how people deal with problems - or not. As one magazine publisher likes to say, "Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure." On this voyage, we had some of both.
Now, I can say that I am an award-winning author. Many thanks to the ICC.
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