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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.

26/6/2014

The Royal Borough of Greenwich has officially confirmed Sea Cadets and Seafarers UK as the official charity partners for the Royal Greenwich Tall Ships Festival 2014.

From 5-9 September, the Royal Borough of Greenwich will  host the first Tall Ships Regatta since 1989. Over 50 Tall Ships from around the world will be moored along the Greenwich shoreline with daily sails up the River Thames to London Bridge, including Sea Cadets flagship, TS Royalist.

Read more here.

26/06/2014

I broke my long journey from Cornwall by spending the night at my house in Gloucestershire and set off for the North West Boating Centre at Crosby just after lunch on Wednesday. The offshore wind turbines were revolving slowly and it was immediately clear that conditions were going to be challenging and cadets would have to work hard to build their miles.  Luckily there were lots of cadets from four different units and, after a short ceremony to present a CSC Commendation to City of Liverpool Unit, we soon had 14 dinghies and four windsurfers out on the water, clocking up the miles.  Despite the light winds, which sometimes died away altogether, everyone completed at least two laps of the mile-long course, while most boats managed three, for a total of 77 cadet miles achieved - a great result given the difficult conditions!  Everyone had a brilliant time and there was a terrific turn-out of volunteers from across the area.

Thank you to everyone at Crosby for hosting this event - I really enjoyed it and it ran really smoothly.  My next blog will come from Scotland where I will be visiting Grangemouth Unit.