Thames Sailing Barge Trust
Read what two of last year's passengers thought:
“I wonder if you would be kind enough to pass the following comments on to those concerned. I couldn't help noticing how good the Mate, Ali, and her 'third hand' Phil were at using every available opportunity to show us oldies the ropes (literally) and encourage participation.
However their real skill was in communicating with the three youngsters we had aboard and I'm sure they will not only have enjoyed themselves but also learned a lot and helped their own self-development and confidence. Under the most responsible and stringent safety conditions, they were able to steer, use the windlass and climb the shrouds to the crosstrees, as well as learning knots etc. The skipper, Geoff Harris, was also excellent, not only in his obvious mastery of the vessel but also his wonderful voice and composing skills, which together with Ali's evocative voice and Phil’s enthusiastic promotional skills and guitar playing, made for an unforgettable evening below on the Sat. night. How about a Trust CD!??
Finally, when you go aboard the Barge and see how well maintained and efficient she is, you feel a great debt to those souls who do all the hard work every winter to ensure it is so. So thanks to them and I really must try to do something, though living in Torquay doesn't help.”
Our thanks to David Eeles for writing after his trip out of Ipswich. August 2008
A Real Experience
"I would like to say how much I enjoyed our trip on Pudge over the weekend of 5-6 July, especially as we had a spectacular sail on the Saturday, much of which had me at the helm!
We set off at 1.30am Saturday morning after spending 20-30mins "springing" Pudge off the quayside. The winds were so fierce our skipper, Terry O'Sullivan, was doubtful we would be successful, but his obvious expertise guided Pudge out into open water with relative ease. We then motored for an hour to Osea Island, picking out the buoys with our torches. Very exciting!
We woke (again) on Saturday morning to even fiercer winds, rain and hail! Terry took us past Bradwell Power Station, but decided to turn back after a while because the weather was so bad. We dropped anchor and had lunch, during which time the sun came out - and it stayed out for the rest of the day.
We set sail again after lunch and had a wonderful sail all the way to Stone. The sun continued to shine when we went ashore to The Stone Inn and partook in some much-deserved beverages. Returning to the barge, Graham and Ray cooked a most delightful dinner, dessert included, and we retired early to bed fully satisfied.
Sunday started off sunny, but the winds had picked up to gale force 8 and Terry didn't want to risk a sail, especially as we had a small crew. We motored back to Maldon and docked smoothly and expertly. After tying up the barge securely and finishing our cleaning duties, we bade a fond farewell to the skipper and mate and the rest of the crew who were an exceptionally nice bunch!
Will I be joining another trip in the future? You bet!"
Our thanks to Jill Barnard for writing after her trip out of Maldon. July 2008
