I Did Mean to Go to Sea: Sailing Nancy Blackett in Holland – Part 2

From the Nancy Blackett Trust

Sophie Neville, President of the Arthur Ransome Society and “Titty Walker” in the 1974 “Swallows and Amazons” film, spent a week sailing Nancy Blackett in Dutch waters earlier this summer. Here’s the second half of her story…

Nancy Blackett, the 28-foot cutter that Arthur Ransome bought with Spanish gold, as he called his royalties from “Swallows and Amazons”, is an old lady now. Built by Hillyards of Littlehampton in 1931, she turns eighty-five this year and yet looks pristine. If you ever wanted to sail the Goblin in “We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea” you must know that it was Nancy who took this starring role in Ransome’s novel, first published eighty years ago.

Continue reading the original story…