This weekend marks the start of the NFYC sailing season with the shakedown cruise, during which owners check that their boats are Rigged correctly, safe, and in good working order.

several motley crews enjoying a pint in The Ferry Boat Inn — Tony, Lee, Young John, Janet, Jo, Barbara, Brian, Bruce, Nigel Senior, Shani, Steve, Ricky, Sue, Dan.

The weekend started the evening before in the Ferry Boat Inn, where club members took the opportunity to catch up with other members.

In reality, they were waiting for darkness to allow them to check their navigation and masthead lights from the FYH Boat Station Jetty. One or two members will need to replace some bulbs this week.

The next morning, the fleet was due to sail down to the River Roach and have lunch there. The sun was out, and the crews were topping up their sun tans and Vitamin D. Unfortunately, compared with the recent weather, today, there was no wind until much later in the day.

In the end, the conditions resulted in the fleet anchoring near the small shingle beach at Cliffe, on the River Crouch. Lunch was taken during which the tide had turned, resulting in a laborious and slow sail back to the FYH boat station, one boat finding out they had a water leak from the engine, which meant some heavy-duty pumping on the way back, but they made it mooring safely, a little engine repair this week.

A big thank you to the 7 club boats and their crews. I hope they enjoyed themselves and have a happy sailing season
Tim

Shakedown25