Ken & Mary O’Halloran-Brown are proud to announce the arrival of their new crew member, Matthew on 9th September. At just 6 lb 3 oz it may be some time before he is providing any help in leaning out but we look forward to introducing him to DCA friends and colleagues at next year’s NW area raffles.

Coniston 15th-17th July — joint meet with the Drascombe Association by Brian McClellan

For this meet the weather was kind, very kind, too kind if that is possible, as the wind was very light Saturday and virtually non-existent on Sunday. It didn’t matter, this was once again a splendidly social occasion. We did get a rush of late bookings which caused Isobel and David Shuttleworth to burn rubber on Saturday as they made up food stocks before the evening barbecue.

We had our share of trailer-sailer problems. Terry Hughes telephoned to say that his trailer had given up the ghost, fortunately just outside Kirkcudbright Sailing Club. He and Margaret still turned up on Saturday without boat and Terry sailed with Albert Hattersley in the latter’s Cormorant. Steve Bullock’s car suspension packed up and he didn’t make it. I had a trailer tyre blow out, the wheel was ruined. Fortunately for me David Shuttleworth was able to let me have his spare for the trip home.

Saturday we did our own thing until lunch time and then met up as a fleet in the bay just south of Peel Island. There were at least twenty five boats, I must confess to being too busy either eating or chatting to count properly. After lunch more sailing to the south end of the lake until the wind died. We made our way back to the sailing club by oar or engine. As usual the barbecue was superb and a very big thank you must be said to David and Isobel who seem to stay cool amidst the multitude. Over £45 was raised by collection for the RNLI.

Sunday another fine morning with the wind light or non-existent, a sunbathing drift the order of the day. After lunch boats were starting to pull out in an attempt to miss the inevitable busy period later in the day. I hope everybody had a trouble-free trip home.

Porthmadog 24th-25th July by David Morton

Porthmadog Yacht Club’s commodore, Peter Cook, gave us the warmest of welcomes as we arrived in the dull, overcast evening on the Friday. You’d have though we were bringing Dudley Moore with us, instead we had:

Brian McClellan and Andy Baden in Water Mouse, his 12 volt WW Potter Brian Swindlehurst sans Keith Jones and hence in search of a berth John Cannon in his small but beautifully formed double-ender Roger Barnes ‘somewhere out there’ in his Tideway Yours truly and Tony Nield in W404 Restless

Brian and Andy launched Water Mouse and found a mooring for the night. Tony and I camped aboard Restless just above the slipway with the intention of launching at HW in the morning.

On Saturday morning we set off in pursuit of Water Mouse with a favourable tide, aiming for Barmouth. Peter had assured me that we’d be safe crossing the bar there up to two hours before LW, so we had ample time.

We passed Brian before Harlech, then called in at Mochras for a brew. The waves breaking on the bar were daunting but we followed the channel markers, then turned sharp left in the large sheltered lagoon. Half an hour later, as we emerged in the teeth of the breakers, we met Brian who was hesitant about entering. We both turned towards Barmouth passing Shell Island and one or two caravan sites. There was no sign of St Patrick’s Causeway! We only met one inflatable with two men fishing and one cruising yacht going north. Visibility was just adequate. The first buoy we encountered northwest of Barmouth wasn’t represented on our out-of-date Imray chart or on our recent Cruising Guide chartlet, but we realised it couldn’t be the fairway buoy and kept heading south till we found it. We were two hours before low water but there was surf everywhere as we followed the port hand channel markers. The first of these is shown misleadingly on the charts as being on the southerly spit and hence the starboard side of the channel. The resulting uncertainty and the increasing roar of the surf produced the dry mouth which indicates an ample, or even copious output of adrenalin! It was nice to get inside, pick up a vacant mooring and have a late lunch. We’d almost given up hope of seeing Brian and Andy when at one hour before LW they appeared together with Roger Barnes in his Tideway. Brian had ‘touched bottom’ on the way in.

Soon it was time to step ashore so Roger cunningly headed for a small sandy patch while we chose the nearby mud. This all but engulfed Tony as he tried to walk us round Roger. He hauled himself back on board slightly shaken and was lucky to have kept both wellies. Later we walked through town and I paid the toll and crossed the viaduct alongside the railway which spans the Mawddack. Cloud level was very low so the view had to be imagined. I returned to the harbour via the town and funfair and met an excited Tony. He’d had word of a forecast of SW f6 for the following day. After a quick consultation we decided to pull out. As the train was in sight I ran for the station beating it by five minutes in my steaming oilskins! I thought it might be the last train of the weekend, but there is a good service including Sundays. Brian and Roger caught the next train to Porthmadog so I never saw them again as we pulled out before they returned. I gather that I missed the spectacle of a school of motorised gin palaces heading out for Pwllheli after closing time.

We were home in good time for me to go racing at the sailing club on Sunday. On phoning Peter to thank him and to check on our ‘contributions’, I heard that Sunday’s weather had been as rough as forecast with several capsizes in the estuary and that our caution had been vindicated. We can always hope for better weather next year. In any case it felt like a real adventure.

Derwentwater 3rd-4th September by Chris Battersby

This was a well attended rally with twelve boats present. I was very pleased that Don and Sonia Rigg who keep their Sailfish at the marina, had been able to negotiate a cheaper rate of £8.00 for the weekend. Many members attended an informal gathering at the marina bar/restaurant on the Saturday evening. This made a very pleasant change from staying on board particularly as the nights are getting darker much earlier. The meals were very good; I enjoyed a starter of home-made soup followed by mixed fried seafood with salad and chips for under £6.00. On this basis perhaps more members would like to attend a ‘dinner’ next year? In past years we have tended to anchor for the night at the southern end of the lake. This has made it difficult to get to the pub for a get together. Following Don and Sonia’s excellent idea of providing a ‘water bus’ to the marina bar with subsequent taxi service, I hope it will be possible to extend this theme for next year.

The water level was higher than usual but a few members still managed to touch the bottom with their keels. Despite the at times inclement weather an excellent time was had by all.

Windermere 24th-25th September by Gerald Harrison

This was perhaps the best attended rally for some time with a total of fifteen boats and twenty eight members. Some members arrived at the Low Wray camp site on the Friday, and all were on the water by noon on Saturday. The weather was poor, as it rained most of Saturday and Sunday, but the wind was good and reached a good force five in the gusts.

Six boats finally moored in the River Brathay, the rest at the camp site. We had all agreed to meet in the pub bar at Waterhead in Ambleside on the Saturday evening; in fact so many attended that we almost took over the bar!

Good conversation, good company and good cheer — we finally made our way to the moorings and fell asleep to the gentle strains of ‘Shenandoah’ and ‘What shall we do with the Drunken Sailor’, thanks to Albert Hattersley and his tiny mouth organ.

Sunday saw us on the water again with a brisk beat to Dove Bay for lunch, and later the final pull-out at the camp site.

A thoroughly good weekend in spite of the weather, with lots of boats and very good and exciting sailing.