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Thames
Rally to Pangbourne Meadows - 26th to 28th May 2007
Considering the weather
forecast for the Bank Holiday weekend (which was dire), there was a
reasonable turnout for the first Shadow get together of the season at
Pangbourne Meadows (5 miles west of Reading).
Three boats braved the
incessant rain and were able to make it, ‘Jolly Olly’ with Carol and
Pete on board, ‘Linvic’ with Jean and Tony and of course ‘White rose
Of York’ with Angela and Dave accompanied by Ted (former VSA Sailing
Chairman) and Kitty Moss.
Ted and Kitty had
travelled up from Bristol for the rally and we were also joined for
the meal on the Sunday evening by our other sailing friends, Beryl and
Dick Walters. Paul and Patsy had intended to bring ‘Rebwelly’ to the
rally but a sudden change in date for another engagement in their
calendar prevented time to make it. Likewise, Olive had booked a
hammock on board White Rose but unfortunately wasn’t able to join us
on the day.
As Pangbourne is home
ground for White Rose, we decided to treat Ted and Kitty to a run
upstream to Benson Lock on the Saturday and right up until we were
just hand winding the last lock on the way back home (Whitchurch) it
stayed dry, though overcast for the whole day.
Then the heavens opened
and that was it, rain for the rest of the weekend.
An unfortunate consequence
of this, was a major leak through the window/roof line of Jean and
Tony’s boat, requiring a long attempt to plug the hole after removing
the inner roof lining. As many Shadow owners know from experience,
this is quite a common occurrence on some of the boats. Water gets in
through the front of the cockpit window seals and runs down inside the
centre joint and through the roof lining panels. Not what you need in
the middle of a rally. We all hope Tony’s emergency repairs prove a
permanent solution.
On the Sunday, we again
took Ted and Kitty on a run (downstream this time) to Sonning. A visit
to the famous Bull Inn there was decided against due to the miserable
weather and we rejoined the others briefly back at the Meadows, before
returning to the home berth to get ready for the evening meal.
The rain did ease off
enough to prevent a soaking during the walk to the Peking Garden
Chinese restaurant in the village and we were joined here by Beryl and
Dick, who came by road. We chose the Sunday evening for the meal this
time, as they do an ‘Eat All You Like for One Price’ menu which is
very good value. An initial bit of confusion over how the ordering
works was quickly forgotten once the massive platter of starters
arrived on the Lazy Susan table rotator. |
