Trip on Thames Sailing Barge

On the afternoon of Friday, 28 September 2018, twenty-five members and spouses met on the quayside at Maldon for a trip on a Thames sailing barge run by Topsail Charters. The days when the barges were used for ferrying goods are long gone but it is still quite usual to see some moored at Maldon or sailing on the Blackwater Estuary. Topsail’s byline is “Helping the past sail into the future.” To get to our boat we had to clamber across a couple of others.

On board we had a delicious afternoon tea comprising cake and “giant” scones with clotted cream and jam. The views from the barge were excellent. We sailed to Osea Island and back. We passed other sailing barges who were making good use of the weather. The sun shone for most of the time, but when it went behind the clouds we could feel a stiff breeze. The water was fairly calm, so no one felt queasy (or if they did they didn’t say anything about it).

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Our special thanks to Graham Furnival, who took over from Alan Scott to run the event when Alan fell ill after making all the initial arrangements. Our thanks to Alan, too.