Suffolk

Liferaft and Lifejacket servicing experts, Suffolk Marine Safety, have agreed to explain what they do, and what they find, when servicing our kit, and give us a demonstration of MOB procedures. They will also show us their range of the latest electronic safety equipment including laser flares, EPIRBs and MOB alerts.

London Walks Guide and historian, Robert Smith, has agreed to visit us in Suffolk to tell us about our local shipwrecks. He is an author, college lecturer and, as a guide, offers twenty historical walks around London and further afield, but for this talk we may remain seated at RHYC.

Date and Time: Thursday 21st March 2024, Doors open at 11:00, Talk at 11:30, Lunch at 13:00.

Peter Stebbings, with another volunteer director of the “Shotley Heritage Charitable Community Benefit Society", will explain the history of this local landmark, and the work being undertaken to restore it.

The talk will cover:

Past editor of Cruising and still a columnist, Cathy will reveal all about her and Richard's trip through the Caledonian Canal to the Western Isles, their adventures, and encounters en route, with a liberal sprinkling of humour. The talk will also cover their migration from sail to power.

Antarctica is one of the driest and windiest places on earth. It is the single biggest mass of ice in the world and can sometimes be up to four miles thick. The continent as a whole contains about 90 percent of the planet's freshwater ice and around 70 percent of the total fresh water on earth!  Yet around Antarctica the waters teem with life. In 2022 Andy Beharrell visited South Georgia and Antarctica on a 1915 Dutch Herring Drifter and will illustrate the talk with photos from that trip.

Liz has a passion for the outdoors - walking, wildlife watching and especially wildlife photography; living near the Suffolk/Essex border enables her to watch and photograph a variety of nature and wildlife along the Stour estuary and along the Suffolk and Essex coasts; more often than not, birds are the main subject. Occasionally she ventures further afield around the UK and elsewhere in Europe, and beyond.

A lifelong fascination in wildlife, and in particular birds, makes Andrew our perfect guide to what we may see from our yachts when at sea, anchored or simply walking along the foreshore. Andrew was born in central London and developed an early interest in birds through frequent visits to the Natural History Museum, the London parks and Hampstead Heath.

In 1672 Southwold residents watched the English and French fleets being attacked by the Dutch. David Davies, the Naval historian, will tell us who was the real winner in this great sea battle.

Date and Time: Saturday 18th November 2023, Doors open at 18:00, Dinner at 18:45, Talk at 20:00.

The storm forecast for Wednesday and Thursday has caused us to cancel this event as the speaker, organiser and Section Secretaries all live a considerable distance from the venue and do not wish to risk driving in heavy rain and strong wind. We are very disappointed to be cancelling. Bookers will receive a full refund via PayPal.

As you sail past the O2 “Dome” or fly over it on the cable-car, look to the opposite bank and you will see the site of the largest private dock in Europe, the birthplaces of the hydraulic crane and the modern lighthouse, the yards where “bad buoys were made good” and HMS Warrior was launched, and the wharf where Brunel’s first steamship had her engine installed.