HIGH ENDEAVOURS

A heavy squall blew up in the Bay of Biscay. I was right out along Tzu Hang’s bowsprit and all my parents could do was to shout for me to hang on while the spray soaked me. From my perspective it was better than being on a roller coaster.’ Clio Smeeton, the only child of the trailblazing cruising couple, Miles and Beryl Smeeton, looks back warmly on an adventurous childhood. ‘Growing up with my parents certainly gave me confidence,’ she recalls, as she described the voyages she undertook with them. Now approaching her 80s and hanging up her sailing boots with the sale of Pescadou, the double-ended, 40ft steel ketch she owns with husband Ken Weagle, seems an apt time to look back at the legacy of this remarkable family.

Clio’s parents, Beryl and Miles, were both destined for the Army, a lifestyle which kindled each of their appetites for adventure.

‘My mum was born into a military family that travelled around a lot, returning at intervals to the huge house they had in Devon,’ explains Clio. ‘My grandfather was killed in the First World War and my uncle Myles was severely wounded. My mum