Round-Britain sailors on a 2,000-mile voyage to raise money for young cancer sufferers have become converts to the Arbroath smokie at their first Scottish port of call.
The four-man crew of the Baltic-built Honey Bee set off last month on a trip in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust and aim to drop anchor at some 40 harbours around Britain and Ireland along the way.
Arbroath marina welcomed the crew — Peter Best, Peter Soddy, Mark Bales and Mike O’Brien — this week, when they met local teenager Cameron Adam, who is being supported by the trust as he continues to battle cancer.
The visitors also became the latest recruits to the worldwide fan club for the famous Arbroath smokie after Cameron’s dad, Harbour Nights guest house owner Bill Adam, dished up the delicacy as a hearty treat for the seafarers.
Mr Best said the crew had been overwhelmed by the Angus welcome and the nationwide response to a Justgiving campaign which has already taken the Honey Bee adventure to within reach of an £8,000 charity target.
“We sailed from Blyth to Arbroath and plan to go on to Peterhead, Wick and hopefully Orkney,” he said.
“We have all been touched in some way or another by cancer. It seems particularly worse when it impacts a young person.
“The crew are meeting all the costs of the challenge so everything you donate will go to the charity.”
Mr Best added: “The welcome we have had from the people here has been amazing.
“The harbour staff were there to meet us and show us to our berth when we came in, and then we were given smokies for breakfast by Bill, which were absolutely fantastic.”
Cameron, now 14, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in 2015. It is a comparatively common cancer in the over-50s, but is rare in children.
Mr Adam said: “Cameron has only recently been involved with the Teenage Cancer Trust and he just had a trip with them down to the Albert Hall in London where they put on a big music event for a week.
“He had the chance to see behind the scenes and be on stage with a couple of bands.
“He’s still receiving treatment and has made new friends through the trust so I was delighted to meet the crew when they brought the Honey Bee into Arbroath and hopefully they will get some local support for what they are trying to do.
“We also had to make sure they got to try a smokie when they told us they’d never had one before.”
The progress of the Hanse 345 sailing yacht around the country’s coast can be followed at www.sailblogs.com/member/honeybeeroundbritain.
