Report by: Sally Chiverton

At 10 am on Friday 7th June, Scotch Mist, Lady Farrington and Zephyr left Penton Hook Marina enroute to Baths Island, Windsor, whereupon we moored up and enjoyed a late lunch on the river bank in the sunshine. Tony’s initial concerns of having to cruise solo up to Windsor on account of Sharon having to work on the Friday, were resolved when Tracie and Nick offered to crew on Scotch Mist for the weekend.

After a lazy afternoon, we set off for a delicious dinner at Prezzo in Windsor that was further enhanced by Mandy’s Gourmet card which provided a 25% discount on all the food and wine. Thanks again Mandy!

Our initial panic that this weekend was the Windsor Triathlon Competition with approx. 2.5K swimmers, was calmed by the subsequent discovery that though there might be a few swimmers from 6-8 a.m. on Saturday, the main event was on Sunday … phew!

We duly departed Baths Island and after a pleasant cruise, arrived early afternoon at Hedsor Water. The afternoon’s schedule had to be adapted to another riverbank lunch as the Lockie, i.e. he who knows the combination lock number for the gate to exit the lock island, had just gone to lunch!
All was not lost however, as we played silly games and made helicopters on the river bank which, I think, everyone enjoyed.

Back on schedule, we dined on our
respective boats before gathering onboard Scotch Mist for Gin Tasting.
A variety of gins and palate
cleansers/nibbles were presented and everyone was encouraged to taste whatever they fancied, and score the gin either with emoji’s or numbers, according to it being:
❖ Horrible
❖ Drinkable
❖ Quite nice
❖ Delicious

Ultimately, there were 9 different Gins, of which the two clear winners were Whitley Neill – Rhubarb & Ginger and the Commodore’s favourite which was the Gordon’s London Dry White Peach Gin

Zephyr enjoyed a more leisurely start and left Hedsor Water just before 10 a.m. before reuniting with Lady Farrington who had been moored overnight at Windsor Marina, whilst attending the family event. The final stop was for lunch at the Runnymede Memorial Park.
All the boats were safely back on their home mooring at Penton Hook Marina by 6 p.m.

Report by:  Chris and Lin Barry

At last, ... the river behaves (sort of) and Albany heads down river to Teddington moorings for the weekend, the forecast wasn’t great but we were all just thrilled to be afloat. Friday evening featured a towpath party as we donned coats and sat and enjoyed a few drinks ... suddenly a flying pig appeared! Or was it a horse? Just a big escaped balloon!

​The evening finished with a meal at Cote where we were joined by Emilia and boys.

Sunday and the sun was still shining (inbetween the downpours) and all crewsassembled for the treasure hunt briefing and off they went looking for clues and answering questions.
Two hours later aboard Enterprise,
Prosecco was drunk and toasts were
made and Mary and Russ were crowned the worthy winners of the treasure chest filled with gold! (Golden sweets!)

​After a wonderful Sunday lunch in the
Anglers the happy boaters made their
ways back to boats or home moorings.
​
Lin and Chris

Report from:  Chris and Lin
​
We parked in Kingston and walked down to Teddington to watch the pageant ceremony. Great
weather and a colourful sight to see.
The procession had two support boats and apart from the main boat with eight oared men in red, there
were several other boats representing various Guilds of London. There were men and women
represented in the procession boats.
How the guy in the big red coat coped with the heat I don’t know.
We cheered them off on their way to Tower of London.

​The main event programmed for early May was the club cruise to Chatham Maritime Marina for the Rochester Sweeps Festival over the May Bank Holiday weekend, 3rd to 6th May.
Three boats were originally booked into Chatham for the event, namely Ginista, Laird Tommy and Enterprise. The river conditions in the week leading up to event were hovering around red boards, with some stretches going briefly yellow, but returning to red as more rain fell in the upper Thames catchment area, leading to a “do we, or don’t we go” discussion among the crews.
In the event, Laird Tommy could not take part, anyway, as a pair of coots had made their nest on one of her trim tabs! John even received an email from the marina office reminding him of the regulations preventing disturbance of the nest until the chicks had fledged. Three boats now down to two!. John and Geraldine agreed to crew on Ginista, and all eyes were on the river conditions. Chris and Lin, aboard Enterprise, decided to make an early start and set off on the Monday, in a brief window of reduced river flow. Unfortunately, their journey was interrupted by mechanical issues when one engine overheated at Shepperton. They pulled into Shepperton Marina and contacted Mike Hone to sort them out with a new impeller and water pump, resuming their trip the next day. By midweek, the river was once again all red boarded, and with even more rain forecast for the weekend, Tony and John reluctantly decided not to set out. Tony was particularly sorry not to go, as this was to be his last cruise aboard Ginista, which is now up for sale at TBS , to make way for his “new” boat, “Scotch Mist”.
I will leave Chris and Lin to report on their cruise, and how the Sweeps festival faired.
Suffice it to say that the weather, once again, got the upper hand in this year’s dismal start to the season.

​

​Following Tony’s report we left Teddington at 6 am on Wednesday 1st May in misty and gloomy conditions but had an excellent calm journey all the way to Chatham to be greeted 6 and a half hours later with Sunshine and a warm MDL welcome, including a berth at the furthest from the entrance and facilities ! 

​The sweeps festival was its usual wonderful mix of music, beer and colour. Friday, Saturday and Sunday the sun shone and we had fun.
Bank holiday Monday it rained all day so we hunkered down aboard enterprise and read the papers and our books.

​Tuesday dawned fair we left at 6am and were rewarded with a great trip back and London sparkling in the sunshine and yippee due to spring tides the Richmond barrier was open early and we returned to Teddington.

​The weather was kind to us on the Saturday, allowing us to enjoy a walk with the dogs and to sit outside in the sun for pre-dinner drinks, as well as partaking of the freebies provided by MDL.
All in all, those present made the best of the conditions and had an enjoyable couple of days, heading home on easter Sunday.

​Sadly, having to cancel a cruise at Easter seems to be becoming the norm. Let’s hope for better boating conditions to come.

​Entertainment in the evenings is also outstanding, with a resident group and singer and guest acts such as a comedian. Dancing is positively encouraged!
The general consensus was that three days is just about right for the length of stay, and that this should become an annual fixture for the club and an ideal way to start the boating season.

The ATYC Spring Ball 2024 was held on 24th February this year at the Richmond Hill Hotel.
​

The meal was excellent, and the company, of course, was sparkling! There was also plenty of opportunity for “networking” in the bar.  ​

Our annual “Laying-Up” lunch took place at the Three Horseshoes pub in Laleham on Saturday 21st October. The venue was chosen to allow crews to attend by boat if they wished, as there is mooring on the town quay a short walk from the pub. Our usual venue, the Thames Court at Shepperton, was not reachable by boat this year due to the extended closure of Chertsey Lock. In the event, a red-boarded river meant that all members attended by car, with the notable exception of Robbie and Jill who were able to stroll gently from their new home on Thames Side. The three Horseshoes may well be their “local” from now on!
Thirteen members gathered for the meal and were welcomed by Commodore Tony. It was particularly pleasing to welcome Maurice and Ann. Thanks are due to Geoff for collecting them and returning them home. Both the surroundings and the food were excellent. The Three Horseshoes will certainly be on our list of possible venues for future events.

Whilst recognising that the penultimate cruise of 2023 was likely to be thinly attended, it was nevertheless a shame when one of the only two boat crews signed up for this event, succumbed to covid! Consequently, on Saturday 7th October, Zephyr set forth alone, whilst Ginista languished on her home berth!!

At this point, Geoff and I did wonder whether to cancel the event but as Les & Margaret were still keen to come by car and we had a booking at the Italian Concept Restaurant, we decided to still take Zephyr out for what was promising to be a gloriously sunny weekend.
Les & Margaret duly arrived mid-afternoon and we spent the time catching-up, sitting on the river bank in the sunshine, before adjourning to the restaurant for a delicious meal.

On Sunday morning, Geoff & I took the opportunity to catch-up over a leisurely breakfast at the kiosk, with some friends from the Thames Vintage Boat Club who happen to live opposite where we were moored and who also happen to have a wooden Broom Captain!
Then once we were back on-board Zephyr, enjoying a final cuppa whilst considering our return trip to Penton Hook, it was really lovely to see Mandy & Terry on Lady Farrington, who had taken a detour from their route for lunch at the Swan in Staines, to pop by and say hello. The Weybridge Mariners Club Commodore Roy Nash and his Lady, Gillian, were also on board.

To sum up, our weekend moored at the Runnymede Pleasure Ground, was greatly enhanced by continually encountering sociable and friendly boaters from three different motor yacht clubs, the AMYC, the TVBC and the WMC.

Constantly at risk of cancellation in the preceding days due to significant rainfall, the day of the cruise upriver dawned bright and sunny. Regrettably, the expected four boats were reduced to three as covid impacted the cruise.
 
On Friday, at 10 a.m., Lady Farrington and Zephyr left Penton Hook Marina and proceeded upriver on the understanding that Beatrice Rose would catch up soon.
 
Just before Old Windsor lock, Terry asked Geoff if Zephyr’s engine exhaust should be emitting steam, to which the answer was no. However, as the engine temperature gauge indicated all was fine, Geoff decided that the engine filter would be okay until we stopped for the night at Windsor.
 
Shortly after exiting Old Windsor lock, this proved to be a wrong decision as the temperature gauge suddenly leapt from 70C - 95C forcing Zephyr to pull in to moor just past Kris Cruisers to clear out the filter. Lady Farrington also pulled in intending to stand by and unexpectedly ran aground! 
 
While Geoff cleared the filter and restarted Zephyr’s engine, Sally and a helpful passerby used Zephyr and Lady Farrington’s boat hooks, in an unsuccessful attempt to push Lady Farrington off. Happily, a passing EA patrol boat was spotted, flagged down and subsequently assisted by towing Lady Farrington back into deeper water. This delay enabled Beatrice Rose to catch up as we approached Romney Lock.  
​

​At 10 a.m. on Saturday, the three boats set off and arrived early afternoon at our mooring at Hedsor Water, just downstream of Cookham Lock. After a short walk into Cookham, we enjoyed a cuppa and a slice of cake at the Tea Pot Tea Rooms. A fun evening was spent on board Beatrice Rose and included playing Stacking Chairs and Dobble.
 
On Sunday, we lunched at The Ferry and were joined by Tony & Sharon who’d arrived by car to join us for lunch. We decided to complete our meal back at the boats with a banquet of puddings, cake and cheese, sitting on the river bank in the sunshine. I can heartily recommend Mandy’s lemon drizzle cake doused in Limoncello and custard!

After escorting Tony & Sharon off the lock island, our final evening was once again spent enjoying the comforts of Beatrice Rose chatting and drinking!
 
In the morning sunlight at 8.45 a.m., we left Hedsor Water and headed for home. Beatrice Rose opted to travel direct to her home mooring at Laleham, Lady Farrington initially stopped at Windsor for fuel before joining Zephyr who had stopped at the Runnymede Memorial Park for lunch.
 
All three boats were safely back on their home moorings by about 5 p.m. ​