Kent

Tony spent nine of his seventeen year Royal Naval career on board the Royal Britannia and during this time he served alongside Steve Porter. This double act will entertain you with stories and photographs of the people  and the different places they visited.

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE AND DATE

This will be an evening of photos and reminiscences of sailing in Australia & New Zealand. Roger has crewed on his friend's S&S 51' around Tasmania twice in the VDL cruises, and also across The Ditch to South Island New Zealand, as well as crewing on various boats in the Bass Strait, and a trip down the East coast from Queensland at the time of the fires.

Patrick started dinghy sailing at age 13 and went on to win several National Championships in different classes including the International Flying Dutchman class, but never got to compete in the Olympic Games in the USSR although selected, as the UK boycotted these games. He and his wife competed until 1989 when they bought a yacht for family sailing from the Solent to France, the Channel Islands and Holland.

Our final talk of the Winter Warmer season is on Thursday 13th March 2025 is by Rob Smith. With so many ships visiting London, it is hardly surprising that there have been thousands of shipwrecks in the Thames. This talk tells the story of 12 ships that have sunk in the Thames and Medway, from a Roman cargo ship, to a mysterious sinking in the Cold War.

On Thursday 13th February 2025 Barry will be talking about the heritage Tug Kent which is based in Basin number One at Chatham in Kent. She was built in 1948 at Lowestoft and began her life on the Medway berthing ships in the ports of Rochester and Sheerness. The tug worked for 40 years being deployed in various locations including Scotland and the near continent. It was taken out of service in the 1980s.

On Thursday 9th January 2025 Tim will describe the role of a Marine Pilot in the UK, the Master/Pilot relationship and what to expect of a merchant ship bridge team. He will give an overview of the industry & ship types trading on the Thames & Medway and variations of berths & shipping terminals on the Thames.

On Thursday 12th December 2024 CA member Maxine Maters will give us a talk on her experiences sailing through Russia.

On Thursday 14th November 2024 at 20.00 there is another opportunity to hear a talk by our own Jeremy Batch.

Our Winter Warmer meetings for 2024/5 start on Thursday 10th October at 20.00.

Our first talk is by Dick Holness when he will be updating us on the navigation and sailing in these waters.The East Coast Pilot has become the bible for cruising sailors in the waters from Great Yarmouth to Ramsgate.

The adventures and confessions of a delivery skipper by David Sharp

We are very grateful to CA Kent member David Sharp for stepping in at the last moment to give our final talk of this winter season. We have booked Dick Holness to give us an update on the East Coast Pilot in October when the next edition of his book will have been published.

David's talk will be about the highs and lows of a delivery skipper together with the stories of some extraordinary boats, crews and owners.