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Kraken

From: Dublin Bay

Registered: 2011-02-24

Posts: 333

East Coast Rally to Burnham 2009

East Coast Rally to Burnham 2009, 26-27 September 2009

When I decided to organise a rally to Burnham on Crouch in September, I did not realise it was Burnham Carnival.  However, this did not interfere in any way with our weekend - in fact, for the crew of one boat, it provided an excellent evening’s entertainment!

The harbourmaster very kindly made spaces for us right at the shore end of the marina, so we were able to display our Victoria Yachts to one and all!

Arnold Robinson’s Shikara moved from her permanent berth to the allotted space and Francesca, with Jonathan Hopper and his ten year old daughter Emily, joined her after a night on a mooring outside.  She had sailed up from Gillingham on Friday evening.

'Shikara' and 'Francesca' - photograph by David McClellan

All of our rally boats - photograph by David McClellan
         

'Rosy Brier' and 'Redwing' - photograph by David McClellan

Jonathan, Martin and Anne - photograph by David McClellan
   

Arnold and guest aboard 'Shikara' - photograph by David McClellan

Owen Clarkson, with Bill Appleyard as crew, were the next to arrive in Rosy Briar, also from Gillingham.  He had a tricky mooring right at the end of the fairway, but with skill and help from the shore party, was soon installed.

The final boat to arrive was Redwing, having had a long sail down river from Creeksea - all of three quarters of a nautical mile!

John Raine had decided not to sail down from Woolverstone in Louise, as there was no wind at all, and he  had work constraints as well.  However he joined us by land, as also did Peter Allen and his crew.

Twelve of us collected on and around Shikara in the beautiful sunshine for refreshments and the usual chat.

The boats as seen from the grassy bank - photograph by Anne Grubb

Jonathan and Emily decided to go to the Carnival, which they reported as being great fun, and the rest of us went up to the Swallowtail Restaurant in the Marina.  We had a lovely meal but were defeated after the main course and had to miss out on the desserts!

Emily, Jonathan, Martin and Peter - photograph by Anne Grubb

On Sunday morning, Francesca left us as Emily had to be at school on Monday morning.  Anne accepted the offer of a sail on Redwing and we left Rosy Briar who was going to sail up the Crouch on the tide.  It was their first visit to Burnham.

Emily and Jonathan depart aboard 'Francesca' - photograph by Anne Grubb

A small gathering but I am sure we all enjoyed it - made better by the beautiful weather and extraordinarily clear water - everyone was able to check out the fouling on their props!  Thanks to Arnold who liaised with the Harbourmaster and let us use Shikara as host boat.

Martin aboard 'Redwing' - photograph by Anne Grubb

The account was written by Anne Grubb, East Coast Regional Organiser, who also provided many of the photographs and organised the event. Thank you Anne.