What a stretched month since the last letter. It has obviously had too much crammed into it....

I dimly remember our Orwell and Stour meeting. We had a fine turnout at Levington on the Friday - as well as our completely leak-free Sula, there was Bob Legg and Roger Titshall in Bob's Anderson 20 Fiddlesticks and Bill and Bett Julier in their Westerley Pageant Lincoln Aries, Mike Atkins, making his debut with us in Golden Moon, Bryan Simpson in Teejar, Dave Milner in Polly, Alf Baldwin in his new SIII Foggy (or was it Misty?) and Tony Eden in Blessim - these last three from the East Midlands Group.

Now Brian was determined that at this meeting we should spend more time sailing than in the pub. However the East Midlanders stole a march on us by arriving on Thursday and heading straight for the 'Butt and Oyster' at Pin Mill, where they beached their boats by the causeway. They had such a good night that the next morning they somehow missed their chance to get off on the tide and had to spend the day at Pin Mill, so what else could they do but return to the 'Butt and Oyster'. There is no hope for some people.... They made it back to Levington for Friday evening as Alf had to return to the yacht club to see if the much admired waitress from last year was still there - and she was! (Completely lost soul is Alf...) We were joined in the yacht club by Simon and Timothy Baxter.

On Saturday morning we got sailing at last in a good northerly, and either raced or cruised out to the Pye End Buoy (a speedy run), then back to the Lightship off Harwich. (a bumpy beat). First back , Fiddlesticks', who handicapped herself by towing a dinghy. At that stage Bryan and Roger on Teejar headed back up the Orwell, taking a short 'rest' on the mud banks opposite Woolverstone... (Roger later rejoined us by car)

The rest of us had an excellent sail up the Stour, anchoring for lunch off Ewarton Ness. Things went smoothly as far as Mistley, then it was bump and scrape up to Manningtree, where we were all able to raft up to the (drying) quayside belonging to the Yacht Club. Brian Bateman was there to greet us, and before I had finished rearranging Sula's fenders the whole male contingent had disappeared, to be discovered eventually downing complimentary pints in the very welcoming Yacht Club bar.....

The next morning a force seven was forecast so the East Midlanders headed back to Levington to haul out. (Don't think they had really recovered from Thursday night...) Us toughie Anglian brigade set off a little later (but still at 7am to catch the high tide) and rafted up at Stutton Ness for a second or third breakfast.

Meanwhile a force 8 gale warning came through, still northerly - a chance to try out our storm main! So with handkerchiefs up or deep reefs, we had a cracking sail up to Harwich, and then a wet and desperate beat against wind and tide to Levington. Fiddlesticks and Golden Moon struggled on to Pin Mill for lunch, but we called it a day at Levington, due to Brian still suffering from having a lump of rust removed from his eye a few days before. (A lump of Sula's bilge keel actually!) The marina was full up due to a combination of bad weather and bank holiday, but we were able to squeeze in behind the fuel pontoon and hence got a free berth for the night! (Try that in a Moody 33)

That night we were back in the Levington Lightship bar!

Dear Elizabeth, As a change from E-mails, how about a good old fashioned letter? We had a good weekend with convivial company and despite all our fears we were warm and snug on Saturday night and wasn't it nice to wake up without the wind? We were expecting a rather gloomy sail back, but the sun soon came out (although the breeze was still cold) and we had a fair wind all the way back to our mooring at Maylandsea. Having left Levington about 10 am we picked up our mooring about 7.15, so we were quite pleased to do it all in one go. There were plenty of boats to keep us company all the way down the coast, which we noticed was fairly sparsely populated - due to the east wind no doubt, but Clacton Pier was booming out (I was going to say music but I'm not sure that is a good description), but someone was enjoying themselves.

I said that I would let you know the name and address of the people we bought our solar panels from for anyone who is interested:-

KEYSOLAR SYSTEMS,

4 GLANMOR CRESCENT,

NEWPORT, NP9 8AX

Tel/Fax 01633 280958.

I hope the Orwell and Stour weekend went well - we were thinking of you when we were working on Serene. Unfortunately we have had a serious leak between the hog and the rudder tube which has meant bringing the boat back on dry land and doing a major repair job. Arnold has had some welding done on the rudder stock and he now has to fit it all back together with sealant. He tried sealant first of all but it was not successful, so he had to take the rudder off and the tube and stock out. We will be very anxious when we put it back in the water. The problem started when we launched and went to check the next day - we then had to go after every tide to bale out! Best wishes to everyone, love Margaret.

Holland cruise: 3rd June - 16th June. Details: Bob Legg, 01394 283150 (Anglia Group)

Isle of Man: 4 - 12th June (North-West Group)

Rutland Water International Paints Trophy Rally : 21,22,23rd June (East Midlands Group)

Brightlingsea Meeting: 12,13,14th July (Anglia Group)

Plymouth Ruby National Rally : 17 - 23 August. (South-West Group)

Anglia Group Broads cruise: 14/15th September.

INCLUDED: Sporne on Gnomes, and Keel versus Wheel.

Last Gasp: In order to speed up our boat at the Rutland Rally we have refitted it completely with an expanded polystyrene interior and have made the bilge keels, skeg and rudder see through. The hull has been painted with Nasa's new 'Magic Mirror' paint developed for the Mars Mission. The crew have been on a diet of organic Speedwell. We have ordered new sails made of polyfeatherlite, for greater sensitivity to every puff. You wont see us for dust....(if at all.)

So long,

Elizabeth Letzer, May 2002