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Don Andrew and Mary Kay Noren have been journeying since May 29 to join the adventure of the Little Ship Club Cruise.  We began by leaving our home in South Carolina to drive the 600 miles to  Maryland, where our boat Beckoning is docked.  We prepped her for the sailing season, and inaugurated the season by joining the Chesapeake Corinthian Cruise.  It was lovely to sail again in good company.  Barely caught our breath and caught up on laundry before the flight to England.

regret to inform you that Trinidadian yachtsman Harold LaBorde died on the night of 11th June in what appears to have been an accident at night on his moored yacht at the Grenada Yacht Club.

His body was recovered on 12th June. It appears that while resident alone on his yacht ‘Humming Bird III’ he slipped on a boarding plank, hit his head, and fell into the sea. I have no confirmation of these details.

Harold was to be 83 years old on 18th June. He was known internationally after circumnavigating the world twice with his family on yachts built by himself. The first circumnavigation was 1969 – 1973 in his wooden yacht Humming Bird ll, the second I984 – 1986 including rounding Cape Horn in Humming Bird lll. He also did several Atlantic crossings. He was awarded this nation’s highest award at the time – The Trinity Cross, in 1973.

For an in-depth account of this year's rally to Calais, please click HERE

West Mersea Rally 29th April-2nd May 2016

West Mersea, The Company Shed, West Mersea Yacht Club, John Davison and the finest sunset in Britain. It has them all.

Four boats juggled the tides, shifting sands and weather to converge on this timeless island, the most easterly in Britain which is inhabited, on the edge of the Blackwater.