Steve Hodges
7th May 2007, 21:00
Since finding this site a couple of months ago I've been amazed at the number of ex-BP lads who are signed up.Can I float an idea for those of you out there?
Last year I sailed on the Thames barge "Reminder" in the Medway barge race. We sailed in the morning from Gillingham down the Medway, past the Isle of Grain and Sheerness, out round the wreck of the "Richard Montgomery" and back again for the evening - a really great day. Besides the opportunity to see what's become of Grain ( now a massive container port) there is loads to see of maritime interest, and a lot of shipping around; the Medway now seems more interesting than the Thames to me.
Would any of you be interested in repeating this trip? Sailing barges can be chartered be for groups of 10-12, but some of them are licenced for a lot more, and these old ladies have to earn their living now and deserve our support. I would stress this is NOT yachting - these are ex-coasters of around 100 tons with 4,000 square feet of canvas, and steady as a rock. They are professionally crewed and catered, and in my experience the standard is excellent. ( There are many websites to check out, just Google in "thames barge") If there were enough people interested we could even think of chartering the steam paddler "Kingswear Castle" for the same trip. Maybe we could persuade the caterers to have a go at "cheese beanos" and "kromeski a la russe"? If everyone brought their scrap books and photo albums I'm sure it would be a memorable day.
I thought first of ex-BP people because the Medway is familiar territory to so many of us and Grain was the fleet's unofficial "home port", but the invitation could be extended to other SN users, perhaps.
Maybe someone has already floated this idea, if so let me know. Please use this thread for initial and general feedback, but if you are keen then e-mail your contact details to me, then I can let you know if I manage to put something together. Cost should be around £50-£60 per person depending on numbers, and hopefully we could make it late summer/early autumn this year.
Let me know what you think.
Regards
Steve
Last year I sailed on the Thames barge "Reminder" in the Medway barge race. We sailed in the morning from Gillingham down the Medway, past the Isle of Grain and Sheerness, out round the wreck of the "Richard Montgomery" and back again for the evening - a really great day. Besides the opportunity to see what's become of Grain ( now a massive container port) there is loads to see of maritime interest, and a lot of shipping around; the Medway now seems more interesting than the Thames to me.
Would any of you be interested in repeating this trip? Sailing barges can be chartered be for groups of 10-12, but some of them are licenced for a lot more, and these old ladies have to earn their living now and deserve our support. I would stress this is NOT yachting - these are ex-coasters of around 100 tons with 4,000 square feet of canvas, and steady as a rock. They are professionally crewed and catered, and in my experience the standard is excellent. ( There are many websites to check out, just Google in "thames barge") If there were enough people interested we could even think of chartering the steam paddler "Kingswear Castle" for the same trip. Maybe we could persuade the caterers to have a go at "cheese beanos" and "kromeski a la russe"? If everyone brought their scrap books and photo albums I'm sure it would be a memorable day.
I thought first of ex-BP people because the Medway is familiar territory to so many of us and Grain was the fleet's unofficial "home port", but the invitation could be extended to other SN users, perhaps.
Maybe someone has already floated this idea, if so let me know. Please use this thread for initial and general feedback, but if you are keen then e-mail your contact details to me, then I can let you know if I manage to put something together. Cost should be around £50-£60 per person depending on numbers, and hopefully we could make it late summer/early autumn this year.
Let me know what you think.
Regards
Steve