ON BOARD SAILING BARGE PUDGE,
18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 1998
OUT AND BACK FROM MALDON
|
SKIPPER : Tim Jepson |
MATE : Cathy Curtis |
CHARTER CREW :
Mike Stevens (Charterer & Scribe) -
Lesley Pryde (Chef consultant) -
Libby Bradshaw - Steve Burt -
Aileen Butler -
David & Patricia Delaney -
Annette Ford -
David & Mary Llewellyn -
Dorothy Robbie - Beryl Windsor
The skipper
(Why's he got chicken
legs on his hat?) 
Photo by Mike Stevens |
Maldon Hythe
Photo by Steve Burt |
The Chef Consultant
Photo by Mike Stevens |
A bunch from IWA South London Branch
(plus a few friends) decided to take a busman's holiday on a sailing barge
as a change from narrow-boating. Some of us had never been on a barge before,
others had been occasionally. Mike was the only "regular", and all his previous
sailing had been on Reminder or Centaur, so this was his first
trip on Pudge. Some others knew Pudge from her trip to Limehouse
with pieces of the IWA Golden Jubilee Jigsaw in 1996.
The Thames Barge Sailing Club's
s.b.
Pudge
built in 1922 at Rochester
Photo by Steve
Burt |
We arrived on Friday evening in
several cars, mainly from work in various parts of London, except that
Aileen had come across country by train from where she was boating until
earlier that day. Last to arrive were Mike, Libby and Dorothy in Dorothy's car.
Typically Mike, having written the instructions that got everybody else there,
managed to direct Dorothy wrongly two or three time on the way. His excuse was
that he'd never come to Maldon by car before.
Mealtime
Photo by Mike Stevens |
Potentially eponymous bear
Photo by Mike Stevens |
We were greeted by Tim and Cathy, the
Skipper and Mate provided by the Club. We had been told that we would sail
on the tide at around 11 pm, so we made sure we had a good supper inside us
first. Lesley had arranged all the food, with help from Mary, but everyone was
due to pitch in with their share of galley duties.
As we were the outside barge on the
quay, we were first away down-river, followed by several others
(Centaur, Reminder and Xylonite among them). As so often
happens on such weekends, we fetched up anchoring in company with other barges
some way down-river where there was deep water and good anchorage. This created
a good photo-opportunity at dawn the next morning.
Barges at dawn
Photo by Libby Bradshaw |
The next morning's weather forecast
was for winds force 0 to 3, so Tim decided we needed an early start to take
advantage of the ebb. Those who had not sailed on a barge before had the
surprise of the god-awful clatter of weighing anchor: there's no better alarm
clock. We were actually the first barge away, drifting down with all sails set.
The ebb meant we made some progress over the ground: the sails were doing next
to nothing. While going down-river we partook of "Mike's Big Breakfast", which
proved too big for some.
On the foredeck
Photo by Libby Bradshaw |
I wonder what that's for?
Photo by Mike Stevens |
Ways of passing the time
Photo by Mike Stevens |
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