Cruising Association – Page 2 – Medway and Swale Boating Association

CA Winter Warmer talk, Thu 13 Jan 2022, 7pm

Mandy Bruce from Magellan Yacht Surveys will be talking on the role of the Yacht Surveyor.

Mandy is professionally trained through the International Boatbuilding Training Centre at Lowestoft, with a background of racing and cruising yachts in the Solent, on the North Kent Coast and in the Mediterranean. She is an accredited member of the Yacht Designers and Surveyors Association (YDSA) and a full member of the MSA (Marine Surveyor Associates). This is a group of professionally trained surveyors communicating via a live forum, sharing knowledge and experience on a daily basis. She is a sailor as well as a surveyor and currently owns a Westerly Fulmar which she races around the Swale and has been Racing Commodore at Conyer Cruising Club for the last five years and helps with the Swale Regatta.

These talks start at 7pm and it’s wise to log in a few minutes earlier. Click on this link to join the webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-8M2x9pySeGLw97mqxfrTw

CA Winter Warmer talk: Maunsell Forts, Thu 9 Dec, 7pm

The Kent section of the Cruising Association invites you to join their “winter warmer” talk on Thursday evening at 7pm. This one should be very interesting indeed. You may need a stiff drink.

Title: May the Forts be with you – the story of the Maunsell Sea Forts

By: Flo McEwan (pictured), Founder of the Maunsell Sea Forts Appreciation Group.

CA Winter Warmer talk, PLA Safety, Thu 11 Nov

The Cruising Association Kent Section invites you to a Zoom webinar at 7pm on Thursday 11 November, 2021 – Managing Navigational Safety on the tidal Thames by David Allsop, Assistant Harbour Master, Port of London Authority. The Port of London, comprising the tidal Thames from Teddington to the Outer Limits, is the UK’s busiest port for commercial shipping. Managing the safety of navigation for vessels of all types and sizes is a constant challenge. This presentation will explore the approach taken and challenges faced.

It will start at 19.00 prompt and will last about one hour. Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/97536721623

Sue and David Long
Cruising Association Kent Section Secretaries
Email: kent@theca.org.uk

CA Winter Warmer talk, NATO, Thu 14 Oct

You are invited to a Zoom webinar on Thursday 14 October at 19.00

Lt Cdr Rod Drake RNR RD will talk about the role of the NATO Shipping Centre in keeping merchant shipping safe.

It will start at 19.00 prompt and will last about one hour. Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/91001098954

Sue and David Long
Cruising Association Kent Section Secretaries
Email: kent@theca.org.uk

CA talk: Thanet and Kentish Flats Wind Farms, Thu 11 March, 7pm

The Cruising Association Kent Section’s popular “winter warmer” talks, organised by Clifford Mickleburgh, have not stopped for Covid. All of us, CA member or not, can enjoy them online.

A team from Vattenfall Wind Power Limited will talk about the Thanet and Kentish Flats Wind Farms, how the wind farms are operated and maintained, and the role of the marine co-ordinator. The talk will also explore green hydrogen, the fuel of the future, and its co-location with wind farms.

Melanie Rogers is the Local Vattenfall Liaison Officer for the Kent region. Throughout the year, she leads the local outreach and engagement programme. She is also a regular speaker to local groups and organisations to give them the opportunity to learn more about renewable energy and their local projects.

Powering UK homes Since the first Kent wind farm – Kentish Flats – was built a decade ago, offshore wind has become an affordable, reliable and vital part of the UK energy system. By 2030, 30GW of offshore wind is expected to be installed in the UK. Vattenfall could power more than 4 million UK homes.

CA talk: Islands of the Medway by Adam Taylor, to be repeated Tues 23 Feb, 7pm

The Cruising Association Kent Section’s brilliant “winter warmer” talks, organised by Clifford Mickleburgh, have not stopped for Covid. All of us, CA member or not, can enjoy them online. This month’s talk is by Adam Taylor who regularly represents Medway Council at MSBA meetings. Clifford had a preview and was amazed at how much there is to learn about the Medway, Adam has put in a lot of energy researching his presentation and you will not be disappointed. Here’s a taste:
* Deadman’s Island: Kent’s terrifying forgotten island littered with human remains.
* Tom Court Island and the German U-Boat.
* William Turner’s painting at Stangate Creek.

This is the River Medway that nobody knows and yet we enjoy sailing up and down this fascinating river. And then we have the Reculver smugglers battling with the Excise officers; the once inhabited islands and the fortress islands. But don’t let us spoil it for you, this is a river that nobody knows, a talk not to be missed.

Adam suggests that you might also like to search National Library of Scotland – Map Images before his presentation.

APOLOGY: We’re sorry that the number of people trying to access Adam’s excellent presentation very quickly exceeded Clifford’s Zoom limit of 100, far more than have previously attended a CA winter warmer meeting. Furthermore the session was not recorded – unless someone knows differently. We’ll try to make sure this doesn’t happen next time!

HOWEVER, for those who missed out, Adam repeated the talk on Tuesday 23 Feb at 7pm.

CA Zoom Winter Warmer, 14 Jan 2021

Please see details below on how to join the meeting at 19.00 on Thursday, 14 January 2021, cruising in the USA and Canada: Cantilena of London sails Chesapeake Bay and the ‘Down East Loop.’ We all have a dream and Cruising Association members Des and Terry Crampton departed Ramsgate in May 2018 and shipped their Najad 380 Cantilena of London from Southampton to Baltimore MD, USA. Following exploration of Chesapeake Bay, they entered the Atlantic by transiting the C&D Canal and the Delaware River before sailing north along the New Jersey coast to New York City. Here they commenced the ‘Down East Loop’ which involves navigation into the upper reaches of the Hudson River and a lock-assisted climb over to the St Lawrence River. The circuit is completed by a south-westward cruise

*Cantilena* lands on the deck of MV Singelgracht in Southampton

of the Atlantic coasts of Nova Scotia and New England. Des and Terry took the opportunity to extend the Loop with an eastward passage of the Erie Canal, entering southern Lake Ontario at Oswego. Cantilena was winterised and stored at Sodus Point NY, and in early summer 2019 they began a clockwise circuit of Lake Ontario which included visits to Toronto, Bay of Quinte, Kingston, and the Thousand Islands. Having made the downward passage of the giant Seaway locks, they visited Montreal and Quebec City, sailed outwards around the Gaspe Peninsula, and returned to the Atlantic via the Northumberland and Canso Straights. Cantilena was winterised a second time and stored ashore in the beautiful Bras d’Or Lakes of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. Covid-19 restrictions intervened in 2020 leaving Cantilena high and dry in Nova Scotia for her second winter There are some beautiful and stunning photographs including the whales! Please join us and make our first Zoom a success so that whilst the coronavirus pandemic continues we can still enjoy the CA Kent Winter Warmers.

CA Kent Section: Talk by Jeremy Batch, Thu 12 March

Jeremy Batch is always good news. Next time you sail past the O2 “Dome” or fly over it on the cable-car, look to the opposite bank and you will see the site of the largest private dock in Europe, the birthplaces of the hydraulic crane and the modern lighthouse, the yards where “bad buoys were made good” and HMS Warrior was launched, and the wharf where Brunel’s first steamship had her engine installed. You will be passing the departure point of fleets [great and small] which set-up the first permanent English-speaking colony in the New World, established the most powerful multinational corporation that has ever existed, and towed the floating harbours that made the D-Day landings possible. Here the Cutty Sark unloaded tea and wool, and here many of her sisters were built. Come and find out more!

We are all invited to these excellent Kent Cruising Association “Winter Warmer” talks, which are held at 8pm at the Dog and Bear, Lenham, near Maidstone. It’s a good idea to book a meal (by 5pm please) on 01622 858219 for 7pm, before the talk. A special CA menu is available.

CA Winter Warmer talk: Border Force, 13 Feb

With small inflatable boats making their way across the English Channel we will get an insight as to how the UK Border Force deal with this problem and how we can help them.

CA Kent Section Winter Warmer talks are popular.

We are all invited to these excellent Kent Cruising Association talks, which are held at 8pm at the Dog and Bear, Lenham, near Maidstone. It’s a good idea to book a meal (by 5pm please) on 01622 858219 for 7pm, before the talk. A special CA menu is available.