SEPTEMBER 2018

Seaward SquadronRallyReport-Portland&Weymouth-June7thto10th2018Each year, themembers ofthe Seaward Squadrongather together for a rally,where skippers and crewcan meet new Seawardowners and renew oldfriendships.This year, 2018, it was de-cided that rallywould takeplaceoverthreedays,witha visit to Portland Marinaon the Thursday and thenonto Weymouth, for themain event on Friday andSaturday.Whenorganisingarallytheweather is of great con-cern, especially for boatscomingfromGuernseyandthe West Country. Fortu-nately, the forecasts weregood this year; severalboatstookadvantageoftheseJled condiKons to makethe passage to Portland onthe Wednesday. LiJle Lucy(Seaward 35) was the firsttoarrive,aRerhertripfromThe Hamble and was soonjoined by Magic (Seaward39), from Guernsey. Otherboats arrived over the nextfew hours. Thursday was arestday,andeverybodyhada relaxing Kme, in theevening,manycrews joinedtogether for an informalmeal at The Cove HouseInn, overlooking ChesilBeach.

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SEPTEMBER 2018

Friday dawned a fine dayand aRer breakfast theboatspreparedtomaketheshort passage to Wey-mouth Harbour. The har-bour staff had been veryhelpful in reserving space,butitwaslimited,soitwasimportant that everybodyknew their place. Skipperswere given numbers andaskedtoproceedinconvey,the larger boats berthedfirst and then the smallervesse l s fiJed in . TheprocesswentsmoothlyandsooneveryonewasseJled.

During the morning theboats, that had not beenable to come to Portland,arrived to join the gather-ingandby lunchKmetherewere fiReen Seawards inthefleet.

Thepontoon,wewereallo-cated, was on the northsideofWeymouthHarbourwhich is a busy workingharbour and there was al-ways some acKvity goingon. Itwas also just a shortwalk to thecentreofWey-mouth with its shops andpubs.

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IntheeveningaPontoonPartywasheldwhereeverybodymettogetherbeforeproceedingtotheWeymouthSailingClubforaBuffetMeal.ThishadbeenarrangedbyEuanMcNair,whoinhis dual role as a Seawardowner andCommodoreof theWeymouth SailingClub,made sureeverythingwentwell.Everyonehadaveryenjoyableevening.

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Saturdaymorning dawnedwith clear skies. ARer breakfast everyonewas free to explore thearea aroundWeymouth as theywished. EuanMcNair kindly arranged to take a party on hisSeaward25“SiriusofWeymouth” foracruise toLulworthCoveand the famousnaturalarch,DurdleDoor.OnthewaybacktoWeymouththeyexploredPortlandHarbourandtheoldfortsanddefences.

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OnSaturday evening, themain event of theweekendwas the gala dinner, arranged at the elegantAlMolorestaurant.Situated intheOldPierBandstand,therestaurantenjoyspanoramicviewsoverWey-mouthBay.Pre-dinnerdrinkswereenjoyedonthebalconyinthefineeveningsunshine.

Before the meal was served, David Harland said a fewwords of welcome to everyone at this the 31st annualrallyofSeawardowners.

DavidsaidhewasparKcularlypleasedtowelcomeAlisonKimber, former director of Seaward Marine and ChrisClayton, Chairman of the Boat Development Company.Chriswasaccompaniedbyhiswife,Karen.

Paul Frampton then said Grace before the meal wasserved. Wine to accompany the meal and for the pre-dinnerdrinkswaskindlyprovidedbyTheBoatDevelop-mentCompany.

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SEPTEMBER 2018

ARerthemealChrisClaytongaveanoutlineofde-velopments at the factory. He said there was asteadyorder-bookwith several newmodels in thepipeline, thenewSeaward27 is inproducKonandwith its integrated bathing placorm, giving accessthrough a gate from the cockpit, sets a trend thatwillfollowinothernewmodels.ChrissaidSeawardSquadron members were always welcome to visitthe factory and he looked forwards to meeKngmanyattheSouthamptonBoatShow.

Then came the presentaKon of the ‘JohnHickmanAwardforAchievement’.Thisawardispresentedtothe skipper, whom it is considered has made themostefforttoaJendtherally.Thisyeartheworthywinner was John Davis. This was John’s first rallyandhehadmadethepassage,singlehanded,inhisSeaward25‘Odin’.

SeawardhadkindlydonatedanumberofSeaward-branded Gill items, a Crew Jacket, Polo shirts andSailing Caps and a raffle was held for these. Theluckywinnersweredelightedwiththeirprizes.

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SEPTEMBER 2018

ThisbroughtthecelebraKonsfortheeveningtoaconclusionandeverybodywendedtheirwaybackalongtheesplanade,totheharbourandtheirboatsforagoodsnightsleep.On the Sundaymorning , aRer breakfast, boats started to depart, some to their homeports,otherstoconKnuetheircruising.

ManythanksAlanJones,AlastairCameronandRobbieMcCannforthephotographsusedinthenewsleJer.

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SeawardSquadronRally2019ItisplannedthattherallynextyearwilltakeplaceinDartmouth,Friday7th-Sunday9thJune.Space has been reserved at KingswearMarina and theGala Dinnerwill be held at the RoyalDartmouthYachtClub,ontheSaturday.FulldetailswillbeprovidedclosertotheKmebutpleasemakeanoteinyourdiarynow.WelookforwardtoseeingasmanypeopleaspossibleinDart-mouthandifyoufeelthatyoucannotmakethepassageinyourboat,youarejustaswelcometotravelbycarandstayashore.IfthereisanymemberoftheSquadronbasedintheDartmouthareawhocanassistinmakingarrangementsthenIwouldbeverypleasedtohearfromyou.

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SEPTEMBER 2018

TheTravelsof“Magic”2018AfewweeksaRertheSeawardSquadronRally,inWeymouth,“Magic”joinedtheNelsonBoatOwn-ersClubfortheirrallyinPortsmouthandBembridgeI.O.W.AReraveryenjoyableweekend,sixoftheNelsonBoatssetoffforapassage,alongthesouthcoast,viaBrighton,RamsgateandChathamtoLimehouseBasin,closetoTowerBridge,London.

OurfirststopwasinBrightonMarina,surroundedbymodernbuildingsandchainrestaurants,ithasliJletocommenditself,comparedtotheharboursof BriJany, that I ammore used to. The forecastfor strongwindsgaveusanextraday inBrightonandwehadanopportunitytoexplorethetown.

ThepassagefromBrightontoRamsgatewasmoreinteresKng as we passed the famous white cliffsaroundBeachyHeadandDover.

AReranovernightstopinRamsgatewesetoffpastMargateandintotheThames.TherewasveryliJletrafficandwehadaveryeasypassagepasttheRedSandForts.Thesequadrupedgiantswereconstructed in the secondworldwar to protect the Thames from aerial and navel aJacks. Theymakeaneeriesiteasyoupassthemby.

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SEPTEMBER 2018

ThateveningweberthedintheChathamMarinawherewehadapleasanteveningalfresco,bringandsharedpicnic.

NextmorningthefleetsqueezedintothelocktostartourjourneyuptheThames.NavigaKonontheThamesisnotdifficult,butyoumustfollowtherules,andthesecanbeobtainedinaleafletprovid-edbyThePortofLondonAuthority.Again,therewasveryliJletrafficontheriverandwehadaninteresKngpassage,upriver,passingunderneaththeQueenElizabethBridge, throughtheThamesBarrierandintotheCityofLondon.

TheLimehouseBasin,whereweweretoberthforthreenights,isenteredbyalock.ThiscanonlytaketwoboatsataKme,soaschedulewasdrawnup.AswehadKmetospare,wecruisedfurther

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SEPTEMBER 2018

upriver, under Tower Bridge, pastWestminster and on as far as BaJersea. To see all the famouslandmarksofLondonfromtheriverwasamazingandsomethingwewillrememberforaverylongKme.OnourallocatedKmewereturnedtoLimehouseandlockedthroughinthebasintojointherestofthefleet.TheareaaroundLimehouseisaveryinteresKngwithlotsofmariKmehistoryandinteresKngwalksalongtheriverandoldpubstovisit.TheProspectofWhitby,builtcirca1520,beingoneofthemostfamous.

Ihadbeenaccompaniedonthefirstpartofmycruisebymyverygoodfriend,PaulFrampton.PaulhasownedanumberofSeawardandNelsoncraRovertheyears,sohisexperienceandcompanion-shipattheSeawardRallyandonthispartofmycruisewasgreatlyappreciated.

PaulreturnedhomeonSundayandIwasjoinedbymybrotherMikewhowasgoingtocrewformeonthereturnpassagetoGuernsey.WelockedoutofLimehouseonMondaymorningandmadethe72-mile trip back toRamsgate in onehop.Arrivingmid-aRernoon,wemadeourway to the fuelpontoononlytobetoldthattherewasshortageandwecouldonlyhave200litres.ARerexplainingourneedsweremore like1,600 litrestogetusbacktoGuernsey,weweredirectedtothefisher-man’sfuelpontoonandwereallowedtofillourtanks.Nextmorning,wesetoff tocross theStraitsofDover,passing inshoreof theGoodwinSandswecruisedsouthunKlwecouldturntoportandcrosstheshippinglanestowardsthecoastofFrance.Our cruise along the coast of Normandy took us to Boulogne, Saint Valery-sur-Somme, Dieppe,Deauville,SaintVaastandCherbourg.

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SEPTEMBER 2018

WewereblessedbytheseJledweatherthatweallenjoyedinthesummerof2018anditwasgreattowakeeachmorningknowingthatwecouldexpectsunshineandlightwindsfortheforeseeablefuture.

OneofourfavoritemarinaswasDeauvilleandwespenttwonightshere.Itwasquiteandshelteredandwithineasywalkingdistanceofthetown.ItwasBasKlleDay,onourseconddayandweenjoyedafantasKcfireworkdisplay,onthebeachintheevening.

ThenextdaywemovedontoStVaast,thiswasthedayoftheFIFAWorldFootballFinalswithFranceplayingCroaKa.Wewererelaxingonboard;whenFrancescoredthepeacewasshaJeredbydozensoffoghornsandsirensbeingsounded.WhenthefullKmewhistlewasblownthetownwentmad,carscrowdedthestreetssoundingtheirhorns.Peoplewereeverywherewavingflags.

Wewerenearlyhome,justonemorenightinCherbourgbeforewemadethepassagearoundtheCapdelaHagueanddowntoGuernsey.

ThetotaldistancecoveredsinceweleRGuernseytojointheSeawardRallywas818miles

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SEPTEMBER 2018

NewswantedfromSquadronMembers

ItisalwaygoodtohearfromotherSquadronMembersregardingtheirboaKngexploits.Ifyouhavedetailsofyourrecenttrips,alongwithafewphotosIwouldbepleasedtopublishtheminthenextNewsleJer.

DavidHarlandadmin@sewardsquadron.orgwww.seawardsquadron.org

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