Joint Commodore’s Sail PastThis was held on Sunday August 31st at Weybridge Mariners clubhouse as part of a weekend of joint activities. Russ and Mary attended WMC on Friday evening, along with Terry and Mandy, and were instructed on manning the bar. By all accounts, they performed admirably, and will be an asset to WMC in this regard in the future. Members gathered variously at the Thames Court moorings (or, in the case of the Commodore, at the WMC mooring) on Saturday, in preparation for a supper at WMC that evening, organised and catered by Mandy, with the able assistance of Sharon, Sally and Terry. This was a splendid event, with a choice of chicken or lamb shank (with veggie option) deliciously cooked by the aforementioned “crew”. We were well entertained during and after the meal by a talented singer / guitarist. The following morning, members moved their boats to the bank side moorings opposite WMC The dress code was “club formal” with gentlemen in whites and club blazer and ladies in club polo shirts and white slacks or wearing club scarves. Rob Fry (WMC club secretary) had provided a Program and Order of Passage as detailed below:- Sail Past2025 Program 1100 hours. Assemble at the EA Weybridge Riverside. 1130 hours. A briefing may be held for skippers, if requested. 1200 hours. Depart from the EA Weybridge Riverside moorings at 1200 hours, cruising in line astern through Desborough Cut, returning to the clubhouse via the main river passing Lady Lindsey's Lawn to the north of Desborough Island and D'Oyley Carte Island to pass the clubhouse at 1230 hours. While cruising in line astern all boats should keep station at a safe distance, "three boat lengths" astern of the boat they are following. Keeping station is important to ensure that non-participating craft cannot join the flotilla. 1230 hours. Pass the clubhouse and salute the Commodore (Commodores) by lowering your boats Red Ensign, raising it again after passing the clubhouse. The red ensign flying on the clubhouse flagpole will be dipped "lowered & raised" to return your salute. While your ensign is lowered, all skippers & crew should greet their Commodore by raising a glass (or saluting with the traditional naval salute if wearing a nautical cap) or in any other way you feel appropriate. Immediately after raising your ensign, proceed upriver to a safe distance from other boats to come about and return to the EA Weybridge Riverside moorings. After mooring, take the ferry across the river to the clubhouse where a buffet lunch will be served from 1330 hours. 1330 hours. Reception and complimentary buffet lunch. Flag Etiquette. All craft should fly their club burgee from the main mast and their ensign on the stern. No other flags, burgees or bunting may be flown. Fenders. All fenders must be up while sailing past the clubhouse & saluting the Commodores. Dress code. Gentlemen should wear no' 1's “club blazer, club tie, white shirt, white trousers”. Ladies may wear whatever they feel is appropriate, adorned by their club scarf & lapel badge if they so wish. Order of Passage Alouette (WMC) Festivity (WMC) Lady Farrington (Terry & Mandy) Lotte (WMC) Santiago (WMC) Muachina (WMC) What Knot (WMC) Scotch Mist (David, Linda, Sharon) Laird Tommy (John & Geraldine) Zephyr (Geoff & Sally) Beatrice Rose (Robbie & Jill) Blue Dimension (Russ & Mary) Lady Farrington (Terry & Mandy) Kalipso (Rob Fry. WMC secretary) Lady Farrington sailed past twice, as Terry and Mandy belong to both clubs. Roy Nash (Commodore WMC) and Tony Rogers (Commodore Albany MYC) accepted the salutes of the participating vessels from the balcony of WMC’s clubhouse. The event concluded with a very convivial buffet lunch, catered by Mandy, once again. I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to all Albany members who attended, making it a truly memorable event for me. I would also like to thank David and Linda for attending and crewing Scotch Mist for me.
Special thanks must be given to Roy Nash for the original invitation to Albany to join WMC for this event, and to Mandy for suggesting it be extended to make a full weekend of activities. Mandy must also be congratulated for the excellent catering throughout the weekend (ably assisted by Sharon and Sally) As this was such a marked success, I will be in touch with Roy Nash to see if we can make this an annual event.
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August Club Meeting and BBQThe scheduled club meeting on 12th August was replaced with a BBQ held at the Penton Hook BBQ area. This was a “bring your own food and drink” event, with the cooking facilities provided by the Commodore. Unusually for a British BBQ, the weather was excellent, almost too hot, in fact, and umbrellas were raised for protection from the sun, even as it sank as the evening progressed . This event was very well attended. From memory, I think there were 18 members present ( though no formal attendance was recorded). It was particularly nice to welcome Ann Marshall, and also Martin and Amelia. As far as I know, nobody suffered food poisoning, so the cooking appears to have been a success, despite the fact that the cooking area available was rather limited for such a large number. As the event drew to a close, Vice Commodore, John ,made a presentation, on behalf of the club, to Tony and Sharon to mark their Golden Wedding Anniversary. This consisted of tickets to a Warner’s Hotel stay, at a venue of their choosing, valid for a year. And a bottle of our favourite ‘Guvnor’ sparkling wine. It’s fair to say that Sharon and I were completely blind-sided and very emotional at such a heart-warming gift. We were neither able to say much on the night, but I have included the text of our ‘thank you’ email to the club A Thankyou to members from Tony and SharonDear Albany Members,
Sharon and I would like to express our (slightly belated) thanks to everyone in the club for your wonderful gift for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. We were completely blown away at the last meeting by your generosity. It was rather overwhelming on the night, and we could not really believe you had all been so thoughtful. Our 49th anniversary was marred by the events surrounding my accident, and I know Sharon has had a bit of an issue with wanting to celebrate this year. (Too many unpleasant memories of last year). However, with the idea of a Warner’s break, you have provided us with the perfect solution! We've decided that a Spring break, just before the start of next year’s boating season, is going to be the best time for us to make use of your gift. This also gives us time to research the various Warner’s resorts. Sharon is all for the biggest pool and interesting grounds. I am more into the axe throwing and gin tasting. It will be a great way to celebrate the start of our 51st year together. We will keep you updated on our choice of resort. Thank you all, once again. Albany really is the best club either of us have ever belonged to! Tony and Sharon. Cruise to Hedsor Water and Pirate DaySally & Geoff organised a cruise to Hedsor Water on 7th – 11th August. Hedsor Water is the name of that stretch of the river below the weir pool and behind the lock at Cookham and is an idyllic setting. Sally had pre-booked bankside moorings with the lock keeper. Five boats made the trip, namely Kerry Anne, Lady Farrington, Laird Tommy, Scotch Mist and Zephyr. The boats first gathered at Baths Island in Windsor on Thursday evening. Members ate that evening at the Windsor & Eton Brewery The following day we enjoyed the gentle cruise to Cookham and the stress-free mooring arrangements at Hedsor. Unfortunately, the path into Cookham village over the weir has been closed this season for Health & Safety reasons, but we were able to enjoy our own facilities on the bank. The Saturday activities were Pirate themed, with everyone in pirate costume – a truly terrifying sight! There was a dinghy race and water pistol battle, with old technology (in the shape of a 60-year-old Seagull outboard on Zephyr’s tender) versus new, in the form of electric outboards powering the tenders of Laird Tommy and Lady Farrington. Sixty-year-old technology won! (albeit in a cloud of exhaust fumes!) Even the Commodore was able to partake in the dinghy activities after shedding his prosthetic leg. An unflattering photo of said leg appeared on WhatsApp with the caption “The Commodore, legless as usual!” Sharon and Sally provided much amusement by their efforts to find the right forward facing seating position when it was their turn in the dinghy. The highlight on Sunday was lunch at the Ferry Inn in Cookham. Due to the aforementioned closure of the walkway over the weir, we all piled aboard Lady Farrington to be transported around the island and through Cookham lock. Mandy once again came up trumps with canapes aboard during the short journey. Fortunately, Terry was able to moor on the Ropeway bankside, upstream of the pub so the walk to lunch wasn’t too demanding. The Sunday Lunch offered by the pub was excellent, especially the “Three Roast” option! Calorie consumption for the day was not finished yet, as we adjourned back to Hedsor for a slap-up, bankside tea, with cakes and pastries, to which everyone contributed. This was a magnificent way to end what had been a terrific event, blessed with excellent weather. Many thanks are due to Sally and Geoff for the overall planning, Mandy for the canapes and lemon drizzle cake (doused in Limoncello) and Terry for offering Lady Farrington for the trip on Sunday, and to everyone who attended for getting into the spirit of the Pirate events.
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