The Seavets at Stone SC

Published 17:02 on 15 Aug 2021

The following is a report by Seavets member Richard Williams:

Eight Seavets took part in the Balckwater cruise this week, Dave G, Joe and myself arrived on Monday morning at the Stone SC, who had kindly allowed us the use of their grass car park for overnight camping. After lunch Dave led an afternoon bike ride of 25 miles to the historic town of Maldon and back, having enjoyed tea and cake on the quayside lined with Thames sailing barges we made our way back through heavy rainstorms to the Stone, where we were joined by Derrick, Owen, Simon and Andy. In the evening we walked the 50 yards to the local pub which has an Indian restaurant attached, the proud owner of which boasted of being listed in the top 10 in the UK, it was certainly very good.
Tuesday morning dawned bright and we were joined early by Steve to complete our number, we rigged our 7.5 sails and set sail at 11.30 in the predicted 11mph SW wind, beating up to Mundon Stone Point, where we paused to regroup and watch the seals which inhabit Lawling Creek, as we made our way up the creek we passed them at close quarters and some swam out to check us out. We landed on schedule at 12.30 at Maylandsea SC and walked up to Dave's fish and chip shop for our favourite lunch, returning to the club to eat it, some kind members there even opened the clubhouse so we could use the facilities.
Setting sail again at 13.45 we had a run back down the Creek before beating up behind Northey Island and then a run towards Heybridge Basin, landing at 15.00 with some difficulty on a steep embankment, we were then rewarded with a giant ice cream at the Tiptree café, it's in a lovely spot overlooking the estuary with what seemed like hundreds of boats enjoying the glorious weather.
We set sail again at 15.30 on a run back round Osea Island to base, the wind that had been steady all day then decided to desert us but with good planning the tide carried us fairly quickly back to the Stone, arriving ahead of schedule at 16.20, according to Andy's track we had covered 15.4 NM in just over 3 hours sailing time.
It was a lovely evening so we had a BBQ in our camp, before packing up the next morning and returning home. It had been another successful trip made possible by Norman and Johns meticulous planning, and the Stone SC for letting us use their great facilities.

Last updated 17:48 on 7 June 2023