GBRT : West Indies 2013

Twelve of Great Britain's finest met at the Surrey RA at 7am, most of them having squared off and weighed their luggage the evening before. Captain Nigel Penn was there to see the advance party off and to ensure we were all organised.

However, there was one incident that morning that took everyone on the team completely by surprise, nearly resulting in Debs Fenn having to take some extra hand luggage on tour with her. Her boyfriend Alex, who had been with us on Tuesday evening but gone home fairly early, had returned and was waiting for Debs when she emerged from the North London RC... to propose! So now Debs is engaged. Alex has taken the ring back though, for safekeeping...

The rest of the day was spent travelling, with arrival in Kingston (surely just a quick bus ride up the A3?) only coming at 11pm (5am Bisley time after a 23 hour day). We flew from Gatwick to Montego Bay with Virgin, and the captain of the plane was none other than Andrew Lothian! Champagne all round after take off (which was a very good take off!). The Captain's pre-flight PA announcement was most entertaining:

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, it's the captain; my name is Andrew Lothian. With me on the flight deck today are SFO's Adrian Leonard and Mike Copplestone. Looking after you in the cabin today is our flight service manager Denise Dolan her and more than capable team. Welcome aboard; it's nice to have you with us. We shall be departing ontime today, if not even slightly early.

"We have one door to close in order to make the Hull airtight. Once that's done we will pass message 1 to air traffic control and get the Shaw on the road. Once lined up on the westerly runway here at Gatwick, we'll open up the Taps and get airborne. During the early part of the climb, those of you with window seats may be able to see the Calvert across the River Mole shortly before the Surrey
villages of Century and Stickledown appear out on the right hand side. Our route will then take us towards Southampton via Odiham, well known for its Sparky solicitors. During the latter stages of our climb, we will be overhead the Somerset Fenns and the Charlton orchards in Taunton as we track toward the ocean, flying over the Underwood forest on Dartmoor and the Rylands holiday
cottages in Cornwall.

"Our predicted flight time to Mo Bay is 9hrs 23 mins. We shall be routing overhead Bermuda, the Bahamas and the eastern end of Cuba. As ever, the forecast for Jamaica includes a chance of some tropical rainfall, when the Evans seem to open, tho' Mo Bay will be fine and Rosey for our arrival. Enjoy the flight, the galley ovens will be Crispin your meals to perfection. If you want to see where
we are at any stage, you will be able to find that on our IFE system. I'll speak to you again prior to our arrival in the Caribbean."

The flight was at least blessed with a good entertainment system. Quote from the movie Jack Reacher (which, by the way, features an ammo press more heavily than Tom Cruise in its early stages) on the plane: "Who's your best shooter?" "James Barr." Now if we can just persuade our ex OURC and Scotland friend to unretire from TR...