As a change from all these bike rallies, I agreed to act as crew for Chris and Kaye Moore in their 29ft yacht "First Draft". It all started as arranged with Kaye picking me up and taking me down to Upnor on the River Medway where Chris and Kaye keep their yacht.
After a few drinks at "The Ship" we rowed out to "First Draft" and loaded up my gear. We cast off and set sail for Stangate Creek where we were to spend the first night and await the 4:00 a.m. morning tide.
Yes I did say 4:00 a.m., time and tide and all that, force 4 to 5 winds were predicted but, as we entered the Channel, it became clear that they were more like 7 to 8 and we had waves crashing into the cockpit which didn't amuse Chris as he hadn't put on any waterproofs.
As it was more difficult to turn around and sail back than continue, we carried on over the Channel to Calais where we had to wait for four ferries to depart before being given the green light to enter. The shelter of a friendly port was more than welcome, Chris was soaking wet, Kaye had hurt her back, being thrown across the cabin, and I had been seasick, so it was with great relief that we tied up alongside other boats in the harbour.
That evening we had a "formal" but no formal dress, meal at a restaurant in Calais, it was then, chatting to other yachting types, that I found out most of them were bikers too and we had more in common than I'd first thought, although I was one of the youngest there!
The Calais Rally dates from the Second World War when some yachtsmen were in a Calais Cafe as the Germans invaded and agreed to return after the war was over and so the tradition started and we returned to La Marinerie cafe on Saturday morning and had a drink with the others.
Saturday afternoon and we trotted round to Mike (friend of Chris also a biker) and his wife Jenny's yacht "Emily" where we had a meal in the cockpit as the rain fell steadily outside. When the time to leave arrived Chris spurned the offer of a waterproof jacket and pulled pair of waterproof trousers over his head, (photos available) and we returned to "First Draft".
Checking the weather forecast it appeared that Sunday would be calm, after the gales of Friday, we thought it would be a good time to return to Blighty although the lack of wind meant that we would have to motor all the way back. So, Sunday we chugged back, along with a small flotilla of yachts homeward bound. Due to tides, time and tiredness, we pulled into Ramsgate on Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening was spent in Ramsgate Royal Yacht Club telling yarns about the weekend.
These included: one bloke doing the trip single handed, one yacht being stuck on the Goodwin sands and later getting a fishing net jammed around the prop, member of crew jumps overboard in middle of English Channel with knife and cuts prop free (hypothermia narrowly avoided!) and our mate Mike getting a fishing net jammed around the prop, calling the coastguard and being towed into Dover harbour where a friendly diving team cut his prop free! Our trips were put in the shade by such tales and we just remarked that had been a bit wet and windy.
The Monday was taken up eating fish and chips and watching the famous "little ships", which rescued the soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940, returning to Ramsgate harbour after a re-run of their heroic trips in to the beaches.
Tuesday we set sail for home in the company of "Emily" and fair wind and tide got us back to Upnor before others sailing that day, in fact home soon enough for a visit to the "Pied Bull" to tell of our adventures on club night!