Marconi Sailing Club
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2009 HEYBRIDGE CRUISE
2009 Heybridge Cruise - By Nikki Camp
Heybridge Watercress Run
Firstly I feel the need to apologise to you all, I feel that having had my sleep disrupted for the last two nights, due to the sound of snoring reverberating around the cabin that the spelling could be even “wurse” than usual.
I stirred on Saturday morning thinking we must nearly be there, time for just a few more minutes sleep, only to be rudely awoken just minutes later by the shrill ringing of Dad’s alarm, we hadn’t even left yet! In my morning stupor I had mistaken the particularly rough tide for sailing. Looking back, I really must have been half asleep, I mean come on, to think that Dad was sailing, what an unlikely event that would be!
The well organised fleet of 14 boats set sail at 9.15am, leaving the not so well organised organiser at the hammer head. Arrival at the lock saw delays, which allowed the stragglers to catch up, but the gathering crowds were disappointed that the entry into the river this year was largely uneventful with everything running smoothly.
No sooner had we moored up and young Christopher from Chemma was out in his boat, tirelessly rowing up and down. The annual pilgrimage up the river to stock up on ‘ship supplies’ followed, with those hit by the credit crunch saving fuel by choosing the nearer of the two Tesco stores. Derek from Verus Amica and his crew were fortunate enough to come face to face with an otter on the river, a wonderful experience for them, which fast became the talk of the weekend, leaving others regretful that the usual full river trip was not undertaken.
Coals were lit at 5pm, ready for the Barbeque to commence. Having packed only my strappy tops, linen trousers and sandals expecting 27ocI was grateful that the cold wind had dropped allowing for one of my fleeces (Dad’s actually) to be removed and made for a pleasant evening. Even Christopher momentarily stopped rowing for food.
A mellow atmosphere was enjoyed by all with lots of friends and families, joining the regulars, a stark contrast to my last trip here, where ‘bad wine’ lead to an unexpected twist in the evening’s events. Thankfully for the rugby lads, who had by late evening taken to stripping off and jumping in the river ‘bad wine’ was not present this year otherwise their drunken bravado would have been severely tested by a bunch of drunken sailors.
With so many grandchildren present this year only a handful of us adjourned to The Old Ship for drinks. Those who did make it witnessed a quite remarkable event, UFO’s lighting up the night sky over Bradwell. Some people thought that this was a ridiculous suggestion, what were actually being watched were eight military helicopters, night flying in formation up the coast! Within minutes there was a general consensus that they were just Chinese lanterns, although one of the party remained insistent it was the military.........the truth is out there.
By the time I left it was strictly men only (who I hear continued drinking into the early hours) but lo and behold, still rowing up and down the river, now by torchlight was Christopher. That left me thinking is he to rowing what Forest Gump is to running, or might he just be the next Sir Steve Redgrave, I concluded the latter!
All escapee boat hooks, enjoying a swim in the calm waters, were returned to their rightful owners and all tenders managed to remain upright, so no candidates for the cock-up trophy on this trip.
As ever another enjoyable weekend was had with Marconi Sailing Club. I mean unless I worked in a care home where would someone like me get to meet and enjoy the company of all of you wonderful characters for a weekend.
Nikki Camp
Southern Hey
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Page last updated: 10/08/2009 19:46:59