Christian Williams spends his life either behind the wheel of a supercar or in front of the microphone.
In the latest edition of his monthly auto column, the Virgin radio DJ and “Great Britain’s most hugged man” swaps four wheels for something a little quieter.
Scroll through our image gallery above to see more of Christian’s latest adventures …
Christian writes: I finished last month’s column and said how much I enjoyed my year ‘at the top’ writing this auto column for the County Press.
Christian recently took over the helm – in the truest sense of the word!
Little did I know I was going to take it literally a few days later. Because the rudder is exactly what I had behind me when I swapped the open road for the open sea.
Since working as a summer job at East Cowes Marina as a teenager, I’ve wanted to know how to sail and how to sail properly.
So instead of disappearing somewhere on the green list while on vacation, I decided to take the plunge (not literally I was hoping) and take a day skipper course to make sure I knew my jib by my neck (or neck) .
Ever since I grew up on the island and lived in London, I have had an irresistible attraction to water. It’s pretty clear that the Thames is not enough. It might look blue in the opening credits of EastEnders, but I can promise you it is everything else. So it was a breeze to trade the big smoke for the island’s coastline and The Solent.
Of course, I’m always desperate to learn new things, but it’s been a long time since I took an exam. And this course wasn’t a cruise (* weak pun intended).
It was five days of theory and five days of practice, with a flood of questions on the way. So while at first I thought I could sit with a beer in the back of my head and watch Turner-esque sunsets, the reality was far from.
The theory is all about map work (luckily no mop work) and is based on the premise that despite all the boats that are equipped with state-of-the-art satellite positioning, you must know how to navigate without modern assistance. It’s a bit like turning off traction control and sat nav in the car and then covering the windshield.
Granted, I really liked this part until it came to night sailing when the skipper gave me a series of coordinates and told me to take him there.
Is it portsmouth? No, it’s a passing tanker!
A few minutes later he asked me to identify the lights in the distance. “Aaah, if I’m not mistaken, this is Portsmouth,” I said confidently. I was wrong, it was a passing tanker that looked about the size of a small town as it passed by.
It’s incredible how different things look when some of your normal senses are taken away from you, but after you understand the language of the sea there is nothing more satisfying.
There are rules, and many, but once you have learned the signs and symbols, the feeling of freedom on the open water is indescribable. No traffic jams, no road rage (or the sea equivalent) and no gas station forecourt in sight.
Once I got my sea legs it was time to land on solid ground again, but there was no time for rest and relaxation as it went straight to the runway and a drag race with YouTube motorsport sensation Shmee. I’ll let you know more about this next month, but I can safely say it was a wake-up call that went from 15 knots to 250 mph!
But what a week I had. My job is to give away dream cars with BOTB, my weekend job talks to the nation on Virgin Radio, but I can honestly say that any free time I have on the fringes will be on the water.
To another month in paradise, landlubbers!
