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29/06/2014

The final leg of my 'Sail the UK' odyssey was at Twickenham Sea Cadets!  I arrived at 11am to find that everything was ready and the rain of Saturday was just a memory.  I was offered the choice of sailing in a Pico or the unit's ASC (Admiralty Sailing Craft) and after the excitement of the high-speed action on Saturday I was in the mood for something rather more sedate so chose the ASC and joined four Juniors and Chief Petty Officer Peter Gallon. 

But, with a good wind, an ASC can be very exciting on a busy River Thames on a Sunday morning and we had great fun whizzing up and down the river for an hour and a half before it was time to come back alongside for a barbecue lunch. 

In the afternoon I helped out in one of the safety boats and we were reasonably busy shepherding the dinghies as the wind strengthened.  Unfortunately I had to leave just after 3pm and left cadets practising capsize drills. 

Thank you to CO Petty Officer David Morris and UMC Chair Tom Lee and everyone at Twickenham for a great day's sailing.

28/06/2014

I set off from Tyneside at around 8.30am for the long drive to Thrapston Boating Station, where I was welcomed by Lt Neil Hartwell, the CO.  I arrived just in time to see cadets coming off the water for a delicious lunch of pizza, sandwiches and fruit. 

It was a great turnout with cadets from 10 different units from Eastern Area, most of whom were either sailing or windsurfing.  There was a short delay getting on the water after lunch as we waited for a thunderstorm to pass, but soon after I was heading out in a Laser 2000 under the watchful eye of Jarvis, who showed me the potential of this great stretch of water and we had great fun tacking up the lake and then running back down with the spinnaker set. 

The weather improved steadily as the afternoon progressed and by the time 4pm came round the rain had stopped and the sun had come out.  Unfortunately I had to leave at this point but there was lots more fun in prospect as there were plans to hold some races in the evening.

Tomorrow will be my last visit during the 'Sail the UK' week and I will be joining the team at Twickenham.

27/06/2014

Today I started my return journey and drove south from Grangemouth to the Derwenthaugh Boating Station on Tyneside, as part of Sail the UK! There I met Lt Cdr Alfie Simpson (recently awarded an MBE!) and  Victor Spong MBE, who showed me around the superb new accommodation block that is now fully operational and providing a great facility for cadets to go boating. 

In the evening I paid a visit to Whitley Bay Sea Cadets, where I had the great pleasure of awarding the Captain's Medal to Lt Cdr (SCC) Ken Caslaw MBE RNR (Retired) who, following active service in the RN in World War II, joined Whitley Bay unit in 1947 and only stopped attending the unit on a regular basis in 2013 - an incredible achievement!  At 8.15pm a large group of cadets sent off for Derwenthaugh where they will be staying in the new accommodation centre and boating over the weekend - I hope they have a great time.

No boating for me today, but I will be at Thrapston on Saturday with Eastern Area - I'm really looking forward to it.

27/06/2014

On Saturday 28 June Sea Cadets across the UK will be showing their support for Armed Forces Day, including parades in Inverness, Sunderland and Teesside.

The national Armed Forces Day event will be held in Stirling where fifty Sea Cadets from Clyde North will be on parade. There will also be a window ladder display from Tameside Sea Cadets.  They will join a colourful parade of veterans and cadet forces! On Monday 23 June, 14 Sea Cadets from London Area were invited to City Hall for the Mayors Armed Forces Flag Raising.

27/06/2014

After a four hour drive from Crosby I arrived in Scotland in plenty of time to get changed into boating rig and get to Grangemouth unit for 7.15PM.  There was a good breeze and sun so all the signs were good that we would have a great evening sailing.  TS Forth has exclusive access to a stretch of sheltered water owned by the port authority and it was soon busy with four dinghies, an ASC and a bunch of kayaks, plus a couple of safety boats.  I sailed with two of the Grangemouth cadets in Picos as they went around a triangular course, clocking up the miles.  The sailing was pretty tricky as the surrounding buildings caused sudden changes in strength and direction, but the Grangemouth team were used to this and were clearly experts at sailing in relatively confined areas.  The fun went on until around 9pm, by which time it was cooling off quickly but, as we were quite a long way north, still quite light. 

Thanks to everyone at Grangemouth for organising another great evening for me - I really am enjoying this tour of all six areas and have already clocked up over a thousand miles (by car!!). Keep up to date with Sail the UK here.