Join the CA Community - afloat & ashore

Check out the Sections below to find a Cruising Association group near you, check out the events they’re running and find their contact details.

'Cruising Sections’ cover sea areas whilst ‘Local Sections’ are UK-based. There’s also an Antipodean Section for members ‘down under’.

When you join consider signing up to at least two Sections, one near home and another where you want to cruise. You can join as many Sections as you like – it’s FREE - and there are opportunities to get involved in events and discussions most relevant to you and your cruising.

Cruising Sections use dedicated online forums to exchange information. As a CA member you can access any forum at any time, whether you’re a Section member or not. You can even set up automatic forwarding of posts from any forum and the ‘cruising mode’ helps you control receipt of emails when airtime might be expensive or bandwidths restricted.

Cruising Sections

Baltic

Covers the Baltic Sea, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and Faroes. Holds a popular introductory seminar every spring.

Biscay

Covers Western France, Spain and Portugal as well as crossing Biscay. Holds a popular introductory seminar every spring.

Blue Water

For those sailing outside of European waters. Holds a popular Blue Water seminar in the summer.

Celtic

Covers waters from Land’s End to Cape Wrath. Meets at various west coast venues to share knowledge on all aspects of cruising the region.

Channel

For those cruising the south coast of the UK, Channel Islands, and France from the Belgian border to NW Brittany. Holds an annual seminar and summer rally/cruise-in-company.

European Inland Waterways

Covers over 30,000 km of navigable rivers and canals passing through over 20 countries. Annual seminar and lunch each autumn at CA House.

Mediterranean

Covers the Mediterranean from Spain and Morocco in the west to the Levant in the east, and includes the Black Sea. Meets at CA House in the winter, and afloat in the summer.

North Sea

Covers the UK, Belgian and Dutch coasts. Meets at East Coast venues to share knowledge on all aspects of cruising the region.

Local / UK Sections

Antipodean

For members who live in Australia and New Zealand and who sail in the Northern Hemisphere.

CA London

CA London events are held at our Limehouse HQ.

Essex

Meetings held at Blackwater Sailing Club and mid-week lunches arranged.

Kent

Kent Section's 'Winter Warmers', talks by a variety of speakers, will be held via Zoom for the forseeable future.

Solent

Summer rallies with weekend meets. Winter talks with ‘club’ suppers usually at a Hamble yacht club or marina.

South West

For members living in or cruising the areas from Portland Bill to the Isles of Scilly and along the north coast of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset to Bristol.

Suffolk

Joint meetings are arranged with the Royal Harwich Yacht Club at Woolverstone.

Thames Valley

Winter talks are held in partnership with the Gerrards Cross Sailing Association (GXSA) at Colston Hall at The Memorial Centre in Gerrards Cross.

Wessex

Talks are held at Lilliput Sailing Club, Poole.

Forthcoming Section Events

Non-members are welcome to attend

Southern Ocean Sketchbook by Claudia Myatt - Plus tips for sketching afloat
Date: 16/11/2024

Suffolk artist, Claudia Myatt, is known for her cartoons and illustrations in yachting magazines as well as for the 'RYA Go Sailing' series of books. She likes to take her sketchbook to the world's...

HMS Beehive, We Fought Them in Gunboats by Julia Jones
Date: 28/11/2024

Coastal Forces ran Motor Gun Boats from Felixstowe Dock during WW2, usually crossing the North Sea under the cover of darkness. Julia Jones will tell us about one of these, HMS Beehive. Many...

Sailing Through Russia: From the White Sea to the Black Sea by Maxine Maters
Date: 12/12/2024

On Thursday 12th December 2024 CA member Maxine Maters will give us a talk on her experiences sailing through Russia. There are a staggering 93,000km of navigable waterways in Russia. In 2012...

The Role of a Thames Marine Pilot by Tim Coutts, Master Marine, Marine Pilot PLA/Thames and ex-ship Captain
Date: 09/01/2025

On Thursday 9th January 2025 Tim will describe the role of a Marine Pilot in the UK, the Master/Pilot relationship and what to expect of a merchant ship bridge team. He will give an overview of...

Tug Kent by Barry Hill, National Captain
Date: 13/02/2025

On Thursday 13th February 2025 Barry will be talking about the heritage Tug Kent which is based in Basin number One at Chatham in Kent. She was built in 1948 at Lowestoft and began her life on...

Shipwrecks in the Thames by Rob Smith
Date: 13/03/2025

Our final talk of the Winter Warmer season is on Thursday 13th March 2025 is by Rob Smith. With so many ships visiting London, it is hardly surprising that there have been thousands of...

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