For the church Easter is a movable feast and so it is for the Royal Southampton Yacht Club; our tradition is hold a safari supper on the Friday evening.
For those not familiar with the practice, boats will host other crews for a starter or dessert whilst all serve a main course on their own vessel.
It’s a splendid opportunity for club members to get to know each other, exchange stories and perhaps to see a different style of boating. It does put a heavy workload on the hosts; they need to plan the rotations and then as the day approaches be prepared to modify their carefully constructed plans as weather and/or circumstances contrive to adjust the number of participants.
This year our hosts, Paul and Priscilla Kilty, not only completed this task with style but also dealt with all the problems that only a well-attended event can produce.
The weather for March was the warmest since 1957 and one of the driest on record which meant that as Easter approached I was left with the dread that it would not last. However the plans were in place and during the afternoon of Good Friday the fleet gathered in East Cowes marina.
Arabesque, Twister of Mersea, Trombone, Smooth Torque, Just Magic, Blue Skies, Rise n Shine too, Kamara, White Heather, Latimer Lady, Flying Fish, Araxian, Northern Spirit, Lady E, Manta, Pamina, Celtic Storm and Pyxis were all grouped together by the marina staff, a factor which always helps with movement from boat to boat. Now a safari supper is not only a challenge to the hosts but also for the participants.
They need to create a dish, starter or dessert, and a main course within the limited oven and refrigerator restrictions of a small craft. Add in the complication of perhaps not being on your own boat to keep an eye on the cooking, but the members of the RSYC love a challenge. Rallying doesn’t get tougher than this!
Saturday saw most of the boats carry the late morning ebb down to Yarmouth to berth at Howard Hayles. When we arrived we expected to berth against the ebb tide but was surprised to find a light flood running but this was no problem, as being the first to arrive we had an empty pontoon. We arrived in time for the Duck Race organised by Yarmouth Carnival Committee. All the ducks were tipped into the river upstream of the bridge and being slack water nothing moved. Shortly after the tide turned and the ducks raced down river where the RSYC members helped recover them.
The dinner that evening was at the Royal Solent. Although the extension work at the club will not be finished until June the quality of the food and service were not affected, the warmth of the welcome makes this a popular destination for our club. The Sunday morning flood tide carried the vessels up the Solent for a lunch time halt at Gins where we were joined by Aquarius Ventures.
A carvery lunch preceded an afternoon of crabbing and egg and spoon racing. The big spring tides although an aid to the passages in the light winds did raise questions about return times and access to moorings.
The weather was mainly dry and the odd shower did its best to fit in with our timetable. There were sunny intervals but the brightest display of all must have been the yellow and red of the cruising flags on so many boats.
Brian Hinde
Rear Commodore Sailing
