Posted by Tony Tuite on February 20, 2002 at 20:51:13 from 216.144.70.231:
Hello, there.
As a ten year old lad, just beginning to notice that girls were not quite so much of a nuisance as I had previously assumed, I got a bit of a crush on Nancy Blacket! She seemed to me to be the better kind of girl, always up to something and trying to ensure that the adults never found out what was going on.
Sixty years later, I have just found that there is a Ransome site with links, which means that I can renew my infatuation with the person that I have never really "got over"! To give an idea of how impressed I was with the young Nancy, I even named my boat after her. We sailed many thousands of miles, together, until such time as advancing years and the creaky joints that come with them finally brought me ashore, for good! The sailing ketch "Nancy Blackett" is still going very strong, in the hands of a much younger Ransome afficianado and, when last heard of a few months ago, had just passed through the Panama Canal into the Pacific Ocean, on her second circumnavigation.
I shall enjoy rooting through the various sites and links and dreaming of what might have been, had I ever really met up with Nancy and the rest of the crowd.
Best wishes to all,
Tony,
North Wales.