Penny Hooper writes:
1) All members are invited to join the River Picnic/Raft-up on Sunday 20th Aug of the Cadet Regatta. We’d love as many boats of all kinds as possible, and as many members joining in the fun, helping with our little ones and messing around with us on the river, especially if you have Grandchildren or even Godchildren in the Cadets! Chip and Jen Cole’s SKY HUNTER will be lead boat, so we can set off and follow them!
If you have teenagers who were previously Cadets, please encourage them to join in, and let us know who can sail the little ones in our various dinghies (Mirrors, Oppies and Fevas. Dinghy numbers to be confirmed, but we need to know these will be helmed by competent sailors).
2) As we rebuild the Cadets for a new generation, we also need to rebuild our funds, so please could members donate for our raffle? Any prizes are welcome, for children or adults- we’d love you to give generously, and buy plenty of raffle tickets to win our amazing prizes! Please contact Beccy at the office with your donations.
3) On Saturday we had 6 enthusiastic Cadets, and one young and friendly Otter from the RCYC, eager to join the day’s adventures. As it was blowing old boots, we decided Mirror sailing with kids aged 4 – 9 including complete novices wasn’t ideal. Ant Law kindly offered a ride on his Beach Hut, whereupon several kids (and quite a few of their adults) admitted to having wanted a ride on the Beach Hut for years!! Conditions were challenging, particularly for a vessel with more than her fair share of windage, but with some carefully steering and aggressive fending we successfully departed from the pontoon with a full crew.
As windsurfers and a fearless RS200 roared around us, we gently pottered up the river, all chatting merrily. Ant decided against a tour around the marina, as our steerage was limited at best, but our youngsters were content with admiring the onboard facilities, including a pulley system for the bed! Young Zachary Baxter was delighted by the shiny wheel inside the Hut, causing some mild panicking from Ant, who has now discovered that the inside wheel is the master, and our 3-year-old had full control of the vessel!
All returned safely to the pontoon, and we enjoyed a slap-up lunch in the RB bar to congratulate ourselves on a very jolly adventure. Many thanks to Ant for helping us out in stormy weather!