The Club autumn cruise started at Reedham on Friday October 7th.  The first two boats to appear, Seabird and Wiggy, were spotted going upriver from Reedham as the quay was flooded and they were unable to moor.  They tried to moor at Reedham Ferry and Cantley, but these too were flooded, so they ended up on the floating pontoon at Hardley Mill.  The next boat, Pelican, had to make do with the floating pontoon in Reedham Street.  White Rose stayed put on the flooded boatyard mooring.

Eventually, as the tide receded, boats were able to moor on Reedham quay.  John on Pandora had reefed and sailed down to meet us,  Unfortunately, he suffered equipment failure and spent the night on the Corvette mooring.  He was unable to fix all problems on Saturday morning, so put down two reefs and sailed back to Langley Dyke.  Meanwhile, on Friday night, the cruise members, plus other club members, enjoyed drinks in the Nelson.  Some decided to eat there, as they were now serving food.  The general consensus was that the food was awful, but other words were used!

On Saturday morning Bob, on White Rose, decided to put in two reefs and motor to the end of the street before hoisting sail.  By the time he got to the end of the street, he decided to wait until he was above Reedham Ferry.  On passing Chet Mouth, he decided to join the YSC motorboat section and motor to Rockland, stopping off at Hardley Mill to make coffee.  (As you can imagine, the wind was a little too strong).

We had a very pleasant lunchtime at Rockland and were made very welcome in the New Inn.  In the afternoon we went downriver to Cantley.  Once on the main river, White Rose set her jib, which pulled the boat to the Beauchamp Arms where the mainsail was hoisted.  Eve helmed the boat to Cantley.  The evening in the Reedcutter was good and the food was good.

Sunday morning saw a complete change in the weather: there was very little wind.  The reefs were shaken out and White Rose made a steady beat up to Coldham Hall.  In Train Reach we encountered several CHSC boats struggling against the tide in their race.  Some commented that they were losing the will to live; that's how tedious progress was.  Once more we had a pleasant lunchtime and were made most welcome by Steve in the tavern.

It came to dispersal time, but all boats went upriver to Surlingham Ferryhouse instead.  We endured a typical Sonia dinner, followed next morning by a Sonia breakfast, apart from Pelican, who left very early to return to Burgh Castle; it was still dark!  The four remaining people boarded Wiggy (the boat, that is!) for a trip to the Ribs of Beef.  We sampled several of their cask ales, but there are still some to taste (after the Turkey Race?).  Again, we had a Sonia meal that evening , so all retired early to their boats.

In all, it was a very pleasant and successful cruise.

BS