Wednesday 4 October 2017

River Waveney - Drascombe Association rally, 22-24 September



Drascombes gathered on Saturday morning at Waveney River Centre
Nine boats, fourteen sailors and another Broads rally, the eighth edition in as many recent years and a welcome return to the River Waveney.
Participating boats were:
Luggers: Rita May, Little Egret, Duchess, Jimbo
Longboat: Jenny Morgan
Coasters: Spindrift, Kathleen, Prawnpipe, Daisy II

Wooden lugger Rita May
 The sailing plan this year was to sail from the Waveney River Centre to Geldeston Locks, spending the evening in the excellent Locks Inn pub.  We then returned to base the next day.
Departure from Waveney River Centre





Weather conditions were overcast with light winds.  Often, tree-lined banks shielded our low rigs from the wind so, as often is the case on the Broads, it was a frustrating process.  However, on Saturday we had the gentle tide in our favour and boats managed to sail a fair proportion of the way.
Lugger Jimbo


Coaster Kathleen proving a point by sailing all the way!


Crew!

Ready to pass under the bridges at Beccles

Arrival at Geldeston


Drascombes rafted at Geldeston
Breakfast at Geldeston Locks

Luggers Little Egret and Duchess sharing power

Sunday morning stop at Beccles; we're between the two bridges and so all masts currently dropped.

Sailing east from Beccles until the wind dropped.
On the return trip back to base, winds were mostly on the nose so I motored on past the Waveney River Centre.  Reaching Oulton Broad, I set sail beating across the larger expanse of water before sailing with the wind back to the slipway at WRC.  This made for a pleasant sailing coda to the weekend.






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