Cruise to the margate Sands

Published 23:24 on 20 Jun 2022

At 0700 we were met with grey sea, grey skies and a large seaweed monster on the slipway, but when more keen bodies arrived, it was quickly cleared.After the usual prep and briefing, the power boats were launched. Guy & Will in Humber to lead the fleet, with Richard, Ian & Andrew in Viking to guard the rear.The dinghies launched comprising of 5x Lasers (Olaf, Paul, Russel, Charlie, Graham), 3x 2000s (Brian & Maria, Laurie & Jo, Ben & Richard) and the 29er of Sam & Michael.Conditions were quite 'exciting' enough for a cruise, and within a few hundred metres Paul was having some boat troubles, so was recovered from the beach by Viking, assisted back to the slipway and then joined the PB crew, during this we heard that there was also a 2000 close to the shore towards Bishopstone. Humber and the main fleet was passing Reculver so Viking took Maria and the 2000 under tow while Brian took a stroll back to the club. Accounting for state of tide and wind direction we decided to drop Maria, Paul and the 2000 about 60m off shore in line with Coastwatch to allow them a gentle drift back towards the slipway in thigh deep water.Then the mission was on to catch up with the fleet again. Passing the red Reculver buoy we could just see the big pole marker for Hook Sands, but no signs of boats. I guess that at 2 miles away they get a bit lost. Maybe we should adopt a flat earth system to get rid of that annoying curvature? On a positive note the cloud had cleared giving glorious warm sunshine! Not long after that we saw small white triangles and the larger grey of the 29er, so altered course slightly to land alongside them. As we got closer, the scene became quite odd with no real sign of land, just half a dozen sailors apparently walking on water around unoccupied boats. At 1055 we landed Viking and watched with interest the various techniques to move the boats further through the shallows, with Sam and Michael lifting and walking with the 29er, while Charlie decided that to stop his Laser from being blown over again, it was easier to get the Commodore to pull it along with him laying across it 'for stability'.The actual stay on the sands was quite brief, but long enough for a swift bite to eat, a bit of running around with a ball and just enjoying paddling around in very warm water. Richard confirmed all boats clear of the island at 1118 and then the race was on back to the club. Riding the tide with a following wind good progress was made with nothing else of note other than the cloud cover returning. Still it was sunny on the sands! 12:15 All boats ashore.The big question now is, when is the next one?

Last updated 08:25 on 9 May 2023