Before being rescued, your brother and mate asked (through us on the Nimrod) if the SK crew would allow them to each bring a small rucksack of personal belongings on the winch. Whoever answered from the SK asked us to check whether those belongings might include a Decca Navigator, as he wanted one for HIS yacht...
those two 'small rucksacks' became the largest Head Bags any of us had ever seen - and as the only yacht owner on my crew I might have enquired as to the availability of a 'written off' decca; which sadly wasn't forthcoming!
As for top cover, 200 miles was quite a relief compared to our max range (280 ish) and the Nimrod was always a very welcome and comforting sight , especially at night, and you also saved a lot of searching on our part. I wonder what the present and future guys get to make them feel safe n snug?
BTW, I think it was on that return trip with the Nimrod just above the stall and our SK going b@lls out (125kt, we were almost in formation) that our RADOP announced "ere, that's my Cappy in the Nimrod, can I have the UHF for a minute?" and following a greeting call the laconic reply from the Nimrod went something like "is that P...S.....you can keep him" and at that point four RR Speys belched smoke and 'you' disappeared out of sight! He was quite hurt for a minute
Happy Days - and a big thank you T78 and ALL our Nimrod mates
