The wind was forecasted to be from the East F3-4 early on Monday morning, and so 7 boats took to the water at 06:30 on a Monday morning in a raging spring flood current to sail and float upstream.

• Trio Debbie, Mel & Steve
• Trio Donna, Alan, Joshua, Lewis
• Trio Rob and Stephen
• Laser 2k David and Martin
• Weta Chris & Adri
• GP14 Mike & James
• Trio Anna & Simon

The objective was to enjoy the nature of the early morning drift, so we chose not to use engines, instead choosing to paddle. The bright morning began with the predicted Easterly which powered us nicely for the first 30 minutes and the destination of Landshipping seemed secure. Then the wind dropped and we drifted with the current for a while, before the wind set in again, and this pattern of a small bit of wind and then flat calm repeated itself during the four hour cruise. We turned at 08:30 when the tide turned, about half a mile short of Landshipping.

Many of us then risked the challenging manoeuvre of landing on the jetty at Rudders Boatyard for some of the best bacon rolls, sausage rolls, croissants and excellent coffee. We stayed a long while until we were shoo’d off the jetty (and to be fair, we had stopped eating and drinking by then) and dashed across the ebb to arrive back at camp.

Approximately 10Nm sailed or drifted over about 4 hours will not break any speed records, but being on the river in the early morning light, and seeing the nature going about it’s business was a treat.