Sue Stott, the winner of the 2019 Nancy Blackett Trust raffle for a day-sail on Nancy Blackett, and a life-long Arthur Ransome fan, joined Nancy Blackett with her husband Peter for their prize sail on the 18^th August.

With Sue Coales and Mike Hilton as skipper and mate, they sailed down to Harwich in rather gusty winds and picked up a buoy for lunch in Bathside Bay. As sandwiches were munched, Sue Stott looked at the framed photo of Arthur Ransome on Nancy Blackett’s bulkhead and casually announced that she had once met him. Skipper and mate were delighted and pounded her with questions.

Here is Sue’s description of her encounter with Arthur Ransome:

“A friend and I were avid readers of Arthur Ransome and her mother heard of an event at Foyles bookshop (in London) to meet him. We were about 12 so it must have been the late 1950’s. He talked about writing the books and answered questions. It was a long time ago and I can’t remember much about what he said but we were allowed to take 3 books to be signed. I chose Swallows and Amazons, Winter Holiday and We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, which still sit proudly with the others on my bookshelf but are no longer in pristine condition, as I read them so often. He did look very like the picture in the cabin.”

The return up the Orwell felt even more special – and Arthur Ransome felt closer than usual…

– Story and photos by Sue Coales