There may well come a point in  your life, if you love messing  about in boats,  when you want to share that love with your children.  One of our newest members wrote recently:

 As a youth I could think of nothing other than boats and the sea. Thursday evenings were when the school sailing club would sail, the only thing I did all day was look out of the windows to watch the leaves on the trees to see if we would have any wind. Somehow I did get some GCSE's and A-levels. I worked through dinghy and keelboat courses, ending up as an RYA dinghy instructor and RYA Yachtmaster offshore. I had the good fortune to sail with the RYA Young Skippers Scheme, the trips with which were highlights of my youthful years. I was lucky enough to have access to boats at university via family connections, and even for work. Then, I moved, got a job and got married, finally settling in Bergen, Norway. I now have kids, the spark has returned, and I want to share with them a love of the sea that was so important in shaping me as I grew up.

​Well he has made a wonderful  start  as you can see in the following two pictures:

​Dinghy Cruising with Dad

In this story, written by Archie Watts, he joins his Dad on a cruise around the Lynn of Lorn and Loch Creran in Scotland.  It is a tale in which our hero encounters flat calm, rain, midges, seasickness, drizzle, sore feet, torrential rain, castles, more castles and plenty of wind...

We had a long drive north from Pembrokeshire in Dad’s old Land Rover towing our Lune Whammel, Harmony.  It was really full of kit as we had to drop off my older brother and his mate in Oban so that they could go on some sort of survival course. The weather was dreadful all the way up but there seemed to be plenty of wind. Unfortunately, this dropped just after we launched at a marina behind the island of Shuna!

This was the first time that Dad and I had sailed together without the rest of the family and also the first time that I had spent more than one night at a time on Harmony.  

I couldn’t believe the amount of kit we had to load on board her: tent, sleeping bags and mats, spare clothes, stove, water, fuel, all the normal boat safety stuff and loads and loads of food.  ​        Read on...

Archie Watts

Pictures to inspire

Another Fine Mess

​A delightful tale of uncle and nephew  taking a weekend trip in a Mirror dinghy  up the Rivers Stour and Orwell in Suffolk as told by Ted Jones (the uncle)

The dagger board scrunched on the gravel of the river bottom. 'Pull it up!' I yelled at James, and although he obeyed at once, it still wasn't quite quick enough. Meanwhile I hauled the mainsheet and luffed the old Mirror in an attempt to find the deeper water, but we were too late. In what seemed only a second or two, we were hard aground, although we still appeared to be in the middle of the river.     Read on...

​Ode to a Snap Shackle, or the Ship’s Boy Earns his Keep

​A wonderful weekend adventure undertaken by Ian Hylton and his son William, in which William saves the day .
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​Exhibiting the fickleness of a child with a new toy, I had been neglecting our Wayfarer Outlander throughout the season, in favour of the Shearwater sailing canoe. Cobnor Week however had been the golden opportunity for Outlander and I to reacquaint ourselves and I had thoroughly enjoyed the Wayfarer’s performance, particularly upwind, in a variety of conditions. Flushed with this enthusiasm my son William (aged 8) and I planned a weekend on the East Coast.    Read on...
​

My First Sailing Trip

A charming day out  with Granddad, described by Lola 

​​My name is Lola, I am ten years and ten months old, and I live in Oxford. My granddad Alan suggested we went on a sailing trip together. I was excited about going away, and all my class mates were jealous! Alan has a lovely boat named Lowly Worm. She is a Ness Yawl. He built her himself.

​On the 26th of September, Al picked me up from school, and we set off. We were going to launch at a place called Bucklers Hard.     Read on...