I interviewed Bruce Hitchman in his home in Fairlight. As we walked there from the Manly ferry terminal, he talked about working with Sailability, describing the specially designed dinghies, which enable people who lack mobility to sail. The reward of seeing the look of pride of accomplishment on their faces is an aspect of Sailability that keeps him involved.
Bruce was born in Wellington on 9 November 1927 of parents who had emigrated from England. His father was wharf superintendent in Napier, where Bruce spent most of his childhood. When he was 16 years old his father helped him get a job on the four-masted steel barque Pamir. Bruce's first voyage was as deck boy and by the time he left after six voyages he was rated AB.
During his last voyage, in 1947, Bruce considered staying in Pamir. It was the romance of sail, he said. But he took his father's advice and instead went ashore to navigation school in Auckland, to gain the knowledge necessary to become mate or master. He then worked for two years as third and second mate on foreign-going Shell oil tankers of 12,000 tons, afterwards joining the Union
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Steamship Company (USS) of New Zealand for 6 years. During this time he got both mate's and master's licences with square-rig endorsements. Next he worked for Manners Navigation of Hong Kong, and commanded 700-ton Paloma, travelling to such ports as Canton, Wampoa and Phnom Penh, often accompanied by his wife Nanette, whom he had married in 1955. Bruce finally came ashore in 1964 and was employed |
by the Maritime Services Board of NSW as Sydney and Botany Bay pilot until retiring in 1987.
While a pilot Bruce also designed, built, sailed and raced catamarans, including the 18-footer Stingray, which became a national class. In 1988 he bought his first mono-hull, Pacific Breeze, which can be seen from his living room window. He has sailed the vessel in numerous races to New Zealand and Lord Howe Island as well as in the 1988 Sydney to Hobart and 1991 Melbourne to Osaka.
Bruce became involved with the SHF when Captain Ken Edwards, a fellow Bar Bounder, invited him to come sail on James Craig in 2002. Would he be willing to serve as one of her captains? He described his first time docking the ship: "Ken warned me not to come in fast, thinking she's going to behave like a twin screw, but I wanted to try it because I've done a lot of ship handling. She just wanted to go the wrong way and Ken was right. So I put both engines astern and started again slowly. She doesn't like to be pushed. It's an honour to be able to sail in her and treat her as a precious lady."
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