Ketch Irene leaves North Devon

Three captains of the old sailing tradition formed the crew of the ketch Irene which set sail from Bideford Quay to meet her new owner, Mr Os, at Hamble, in Southampton Waters.

They are Capt. W Schiller, Capt T Jewell, whose three-masted schooner Kathleen and May was sold earlier this year with an ultimate destination believed to be the West Indies, and Capt P Herbert, master of the Mary Stewart at present alongside the Quay.

“We are all three engineers” Capt Jewell told the Bideford Gazette, “and we shall be a happy ship for the 48-hour voyage with much in common. The master was once a boy under my command when I sailed the old Dolphin.

Both Capts Jewell and Schiller are Appledore men.

Gazette article dated 1 September 1961