CA Winter Warmer talks start on Thurs 12 Oct

Carl Madjitey will give a talk on the 1667 Raid on the Medway. The 350th anniversary was commemorated by Medway Council this year.

In June 1667 the Dutch, under the command of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, bombarded and captured the town of Sheerness, sailed up the River Thames to Gravesend, then sailed up the Medway to Chatham and Gillingham, where they burned three capital ships and ten lesser naval vessels, and towed away HMS Unity and the English flagship, HMS Royal Charles.

The Cruising Association Kent Section Winter Warmers are held at 8pm on the 2nd Thursday of each month at The Dog & Bear Hotel, The Square, Lenham, ME17 2PG. Situated 8 miles east of Maidstone, just off the A20 in the village square. All are welcome. There is a small charge of £3. Many eat beforehand and it helps speed up service if you telephone the pub on 01622 858219 and order your meal before 5pm.

Further CA Winter Warmers will be as follows:

  • 9 November 2017: Matt Craughwell on Rowing the Atlantic Ocean
  • 14 December 2017: Jeremy Littlewood, HM Coastguard, on Safety Equipment for yachts
  • 11 January 2018: Patricia & Neil Lynn, Engineering Our Way Across Europe aboard Sea Griffin
  • 8 February 2018: Members’ Confessions, what went right or wrong?
  • 8 March 2018: Jeremy Batch on 110 Years of Cruising

Narrowboats to the Medway, IWA Talk, 11 Oct

A talk by Simon Judge on last year’s visit by eleven boats from St Pancras Cruising Club. A narrowboat convoy went from London to the Medway last year: 11 went, 10 came back.

Kent and East Sussex IWA
Wednesday 11 Oct 2017, 7.30 for 8.00pm
At Gravesend Sailing Club, East Promenade, Gravesend. DA12 2BS

Three clubs combine fleets for Montyzoomer race

Thirteen cruising yachts (including 3 multihulls) from Hoo Ness YC, Segas SC and Upnor SC raced from Gillingham Reach to the Montgomery wreck and back on Saturday. The winner was Indigo Sky, a Hanse 320 from HNYC. Upnor SC provided hospitality ashore and moorings for the night before the braver crews raced down the river again on Sunday, despite the dire forecast. Photo by Wil Pretty.

“Bob” goes over board

MOB drillThe MSBA has purchased a life-sized inflatable doll for use of our members. He’s called B-OB (or just Bob for short); you fill him with water and chuck him over the side to practise your person overboard drill. As water has a similar density to a human body, this is far more realistic than the bucket-and-fender that you have may have used for MOB training. It’s surprisingly hard to get Bob, or a real person, back onto your boat so take this opportunity to try out the recovery techniques that you may have to rely on for real one day. Some of the ones you read in magazines just don’t work!

Bob is in the custody of Mark Evans, the Harbour Controller at Queenborough. If your club would like to run a practice session, email Mark at operations(at)queenborough-harbour.co.uk to arrange a mutually convenient collection.