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One beautiful day, the sea flat calm and the sun burning down on us a large motor yacht came shimmering out of the horizon and as it neared, we realised it was "THE ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA" in all its glory, spotless, and sparkling in the sunshine like a new pin.
I was still cook at the time as I remember having a pot of chips on the cooker and between keeping my eyes on them and trying to take in the magnificence of this sight, that was a chance in a lifetime experience, I decided to switch off the cooker and take in as much of this as I could. (Well what would you have done?) It must have been 1964 as I was only cooking for a short time, learning my trade as quickly as I could to get me away from the galley sink, so to speak and on to the deck full time.
My uncle (our skipper) who was enjoying the experience too, noticed that there was no escort, meaning that no royalty was aboard her, but that meant nothing to us as we would never have seen them in the first place, and secondly, the yacht was of far more interest to us than any royalty. It steamed up past pretty close giving us a good look at the luxury and expense that had went into the building of it and as it disappeared it left us wondering just how much it was costing the taxpayer, with its 220 crew of deckhands, cooks, engineers etc and over twenty officers.
As luck would have it about five years later I had the chance to view this luxury yacht again but this time there were two Frigates, one on each side escorting her as she sail towards the River Clyde, with an Auxiliary vessel on hand (a tender that fueled the frigates and yacht on passage and carried other provisions cutting out the need to stop anywhere unscheduled that would put them in danger) and who knows what under the water or in the air for that matter.
It was obvious that the Queen or some other high up royal figure was on board and had decided to use the yacht to visit the River Clyde where they were most likely carrying out some duty like launching a ship at John Browns shipyard or something similar, then maybe heading for a cruising holiday after.
They never came very close this time but we could see them clearly as they continued on in their formation, the crews on the alert in case of any unforeseen incident that might put the flotilla and the royalty at risk.
We had thought of the expense the last time we saw the yacht steaming on its own, but NOW what was the cost to the taxpayer with three navy ships and full crew on the surface (and as I said who knows what was under the water and even in the air) plus the crew of the yacht, which carried an extra 26 men of the royal marine band, when royalty was aboard?
When the yacht was decommissioned, one of the reasons given was the cost of running her, which was reason enough to the taxpayer but they would only have taken into account the cost of running the Britannia and not the cost of the naval escorts needed every time royalty decided to go for a sail.
I was lucky enough to see her twice at sea and beautiful though she was, she was still a big burden on the taxpayer and an unnecessary luxury even for our royal family.
I was pleased though when I heard that instead of being scrapped she was to spend the rest of her days as a museum at Leith Docks just outside Edinburgh, where she could be admired by the public and respected for the magnificent example of top class yachts from a gone by era.
The rich are still building and sailing around in yachts even more luxurious than the Royal Yacht Britannia, but their beauty and history are no match for that grand old lady of the seas.

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The lights of the QE2 powered out almost like a small town.

QE2)" style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="240" height="109">Image by Michael McDonough via Flickr

The Queen Elizabeth the second was launched in September 1967 and in November of the following year it sailed into the Firth of Clyde to carry out its sea trials, and, as we were working off the Arran coast, I took my camera with me in case she came close enough to get a clear photo of her with my Kodak Instamatic. On the first week of her trials she steamed down into the Irish sea but most nights she would return to Greenock to carry out any adjustments to the small problems that arose, hence the reason for the trials. We heard reports of her every move through the media, but a clear, close up sight of her eluded us for the first week as she always seemed to slip down past us in the distance during the dark winter mornings of November, and the only sign we could see of her was her lights illuminated against the grey outline of the Arran shore. Although large tankers moved up and down the Clyde the mass of lights the QE2 powered out, almost like a small town made her unmistakable, and as I watched her glide south I longed to see her in daylight to admire with my own eyes the beautiful structure I had seen on the television news broadcasts.
My wishes came true the following week when she started her speed trials on the measured mile off Arran's northeast shore. As we began shooting our gear on a Monday morning, we spied her sailing out of the mouth of the River Clyde, and as she neared, the impact of this 70,327 tons of sheer beauty with its black hull, white superstructure and the distinctive red funnel of The Cunard Line, struck us all with awe, so much so that we almost forgot what WE were about until my uncle drew our attention to the fact the net was about to go over the side. As we continued fishing that day, our direction took us further away from the measured mile but we could still see her in the distance going at full steam ahead, first north then south as they timed her over the famous mile that so many, of the ships from John Browns yard had confirmed their speed, such as the Queens, Mary and Elizabeth before her.
I had managed to take some photos of her from a distance but even with its immense size I thought it was still too far away to see it in all its glory but undeterred after two weeks, and a spool used up between the QE2 and other fishing boats I took the camera ashore to get the film developed, but forgot to bring the camera with me when we went back to sea.
Sure enough "SOD'S LAW" in the afternoon on our first day back the Queen Elizabeth 2 came close enough for us to see the men on the bridge and the workmen still caring out some finishing touches around the decking areas, and even in through its portholes where we could see more workmen scurrying about, perfecting the inside to the standard fit for the millionaires that were to grace its plush amenities. My heart thumped as I watched her steam slowly past us, giving me time to study all her wondrous features at close range and thought to myself how lucky I was to be able to say that The Queen Elizabeth passed close by us on that November afternoon.
We got plenty more sightings of her near, and far before she eventually completed her trials and left for her maiden voyage.
I never did get a good photo of her and when I got the pictures back from the developers even the distant ones were so far away, that all that was visible was an indistinguishable dot on the horizon.
The photos, had they transpired, would have been to show other people proof of my close encounter with the most beautiful ship to sail the seas, but the vision of her and the memories of that time will always be embedded in my mind.
I was sad when I heard she was being decommissioned to end her life as a floating hotel in Dubai but glad in the fact that at least she was still around for people to appreciate the great craftsmanship of the Clyde shipbuilders.
About five years ago I crossed the forth road bridge when the new Queen Mary was docked just below and stopped to get some pictures of her but grand as she might be she cannot hold a candle to her predecessor "The Queen Elizabeth 2."
Sentimental I might be, but anyone who was lucky enough to compare them would agree with me because as the saying goes "THEY DON'T BUILD THEM LIKE THAT ANY MORE."

The top picture is of beacons on the measured mile that can clearly be seen from the sea.
The other two speak for themselves.

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