Sixteen Oxted Offshore club members gathered at The Gurkha Kitchen in Oxted on 25 March for a very informal Annual Dinner in place of the usual monthly Club Night.

After a tasty supper of assorted curries and accompaniments, Fran proposed that the new “Commodore-Free” operation of the Club seemed to be working out well. She thanked Jeremy for setting up the Ch16 WhatsApp group for members to exchanged nautical gossip and news, and Nikki for bringing the Club website up to date and a lot more relevant!

Without a Commodore several members had “chipped in” during the year to organise events, and everyone agreed it had worked well. Thanks went out to Howard for the Spring Rally 2025 in May, Duncan for a chaotic White Water Rafting day in August, JT for a fascinating visit to HM Coastguard’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in September, Jeremy for the “boys weekend” on Lutine in October, and Kevin R for the “Freezer Rally” Christmas Lunch in December.

Fran also thanked everyone who had contributed to the monthly Club Newsletter. including Jane’s masterpiece A – Z of Greece, Richard’s Postcards from the Baltics, JT’s confessions on How to hit a Rock, Lesley’s account of Jumunu’s Fastnet experience, Nikki’s reflections on Riptide’s Brittany Adventures, Paul Jeff’s harrowing account of his diesel tank problems, and Howard’s report on the Spring Rally to Bucklers Hard and Yarmouth.

Sharon then stepped up to try and oversee a slightly disorderly presentation of the Club’s trophies. Everyone present was invited to nominate and vote for the various awards, which were then duly presented. 2025’s winners were:

Spirit of Sailing: Richard Aust for doing more sailing than any other member during the year

RTI Plaque: Lesley Brooman for her many years of dedication to the RTI

Pugh Trophy: Howard Richardson for being the only who didn’t get thrown overboard when the white water raft almost overturned

Endeavour Award: Jane and Andreas for their 10 year adventure living the dream in Greece

Nigel Kitchen Memorial Trophy: Fran Taylor for producing the newsletter and other “bosun” duties.

 The Rose Bowl and Alternative RTI trophies were not awarded

We had always wanted to sail into London and our opportunity came after Gail won a raffle at the 2019 Southampton Boat Show for up to 3 months’ free berthing at St Katharine’s Dock Marina just next to Tower Bridge.

Given that staying there with “Nicknack” would normally cost around £90 per night this was a prize of considerable value and we spent a deal of time over the winter planning how we might combine an extended stay with having friends to stay on board, taking in theatres, restaurants, exhibitions, days out, etc.

Approaching QE2 Bridge

January 2020 is already behind us and we are thinking ahead to where next for Musyk. It is also a time to look back at the end of our sailing season last year.

Our departure from Dartmouth in late August was memorable. Rather than trail across Lyme Bay and round Portland Bill we thought it would be more fun to head home via Guernsey and Cherbourg. So an early rise and confrontation with thick fog, partly expected and forecast as land fog. OK fine – it will burn off quickly in the forecast sunshine. Indeed, as we readied Musyk for the passage, visibility improved so that we could see the other side of the harbour.  We motored slowly out of the entrance, noting several vessels outside the harbour entrance on AIS. Emerging from the fog we were startled to come across what looked like the bow of a cruise ship anchored in front of us. 

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We have done so much since our last update – including some sailing!  The themes have been the sociability of sailing, the wonderful locations available from being on the water and the lack of settled weather.

In the shelter of Pendennis marina