Northern Ireland Cancer Fund For Children Trip 10th - 13th July 2006
Trip 2 – Northern Ireland Cancer Fund For Children
10th -13th July 2006
Our most far flung group arrived in Southampton mid afternoon and were quickly ushered onto the red jet ferry for a speedy transfer over to the island. Despite a few worried faces as to what to expect spirits were high. Frank was there to meet us with the duver and before the guys knew it they were steering the boat up the river themselves getting stuck in. We unloaded the bags and headed straight into the welcome and ‘who’s who’. The skippers; Mark and Rob took their crews away to get them settled onto the boats and introduced them to the safety elements and what rope does what! The next job was to create a rota for cooking and cleaning which didn’t go down too well to say the least! On the first evening after a home-cooked lasagne we headed to the pool for a game of water volley-ball which brought out the competitive side of many the crew and volunteers especially Gemma! Following that we had a some hot chocolate and supper and then straight back to the card games which were a hit with the card sharks aboard!
Up early the next day the chefs of the day cooked up some bacon butties and then the boats set sail for Yarmouth. There were perfect conditions and the crew were helming, tacking and tying knots by the end of it all. There was a quick stop in the Royal Solent Yacht Club for tea and then a trip round the life boat. The football match was led by Brian Quinn, Mark Wibberley and Gemma with a strong defence of Niamh, Judith, Eimear, Kate and Marie Clare in the middle forming a solid wall of females! Glen, Liam and Matthew had a good game scoring most of the goals. Tea that evening was sausage casserole cooked by the crew and then bed.
The third day involved the sail back up to the river Medina and mooring at the Folly Inn where the crew were given a night off the cooking and Frank led the BBQ! There was some experiments going on between Kim and Brian with white chocolate bananas wrapped in bacon but don’t think it will take off!
On the final morning the crew were convinced that the reason they could not leave the mooring was because the boats were aground and we were waiting for the tide. The real reason however was that they were waiting for the arrival of Ellen and 4 very powerful black ribs to take us for a spin around the Solent. Luckily for us it was the start of the Cowes - St Malo race so B&Q was there waiting for Ellen to jump aboard. We all got a great view of the trimaran and had a great time jumping waves and whizzing around.
After a great climax to the trip we headed back down the river to our base and set on the task of cleaning the boats and getting the bags sorted for the trip home. We had a final presentation where the crew were awarded their ‘Start Yachting’ certificates and log books and everyone said good bye. Thanks to everyone involved for making the trip what it was. Judith was initiated for her first trip and we hope to see her again in the future, and Brian I’m sure will be back next year! Thanks to the nurses for the constant reminders to put sun screen on and drink lots of water – glad that’s your job not mine! And of course thanks to our skippers who it would simply not be possible without.
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