West Wales Maritime
Heritage Society
Newsletter July 2012
This newsletter relies very heavily on other people’s photographs and I am grateful to be able to use them. There are many more available on our Flickr
Page
at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwmhs
Despite
all the rain, Pembrokeshire didn’t get the floods and mud swamps that plagued a
lot of UK over the last two months. Nevertheless, the weather has affected our
events program and wet weather gear has been fashionable this year!
Diamond Jubilee Celebrations at Haverfordwest
Our
first event was at Haverfordwest, where we joined in with the town’s Diamond
Jubilee celebrations, by taking a representative cargo from Pembroke Dock to
the quayside at The Bristol Trader. We made good time upriver with a strong
floodtide and returned home on the ebb.
Quest
carried the cargo and was escorted by General Picton. The reception in
Haverfordwest was fantastic with a military parade, dancing in the streets and
a large crowd.
The
Mayor of Haverfordwest accepted our cargo from David James, Quest’s skipper,
but my suggestion of a return cargo of beer must have got lost somewhere………
Seafair Haven 2012
This
was the 4th Seafair Haven, a maritime festival for traditional and classic
vessels and long boat rowing to celebrate the magnificent Milford
Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire.
It takes place biennially, alternating each year with the well established
Semaine du Golfe festival in the Morbihan, Brittany. The rain and strong winds
over the week affected the smaller sailing and rowing boats more, but most
events went ahead successfully.
I
should mention the excellent facilites enjoyed by the sailors who chose to camp
at Lawrenny Yacht Station, which was the host port for the Sail and Oar Fleet.
They were welcomed by the whole village, with superb facilities at the Yacht
Station and excellent camping at the Old Castle Camp Site. The Cricket Club
opened their showers for the sailors and the Lawrenny Arms had special Seafair
Haven events.
The
outing to breakfast at Cresswell Quay was a highlight, because it was blessed
with good weather. The Youtube link below will take you to a 10 minute video
made by “randoneur” about Seafair Haven. I particularly enjoyed the section of
him sailing his homebuilt Paradox sailing boat “Little Jim” in strong winds,
which is towards the end of the video.
On
Wednesday we successfully guided some of the larger boats up the Pembroke River
and into The Pembroke Castle Pond. Unfortunately, some of the fleet were stuck
in Milford Dock, because of a problem with their lock gates. We stayed in the
pond overnight and guided the boats down river next day.
Once
we got out into Milford Haven, the wind dropped enough to raise Quest’s sail
and Tony Ward bought out his mouth organ and played some sea shanties.
Beating the Bounds
Ceremony at Haverfordwest
Our
most recent event was when the Mayor of Haverfordwest beat the town’s bands. As
Admiral of the port he sailed down river to a boundary stone and back. On the
Bristol Trader Quay there were entertainers from the local drama group, dressed
as historical characters and telling their stories, and a group of young ladies
from Llangwm village, dressed in the distinctive costume of the fishing
families. The Mayors and Town Criers from nearby towns also came in their
various outfits and The Vagrants Crew played a selection of sea shanties. Our
Society bought our Llangwm fishing boat, K3, on a trailer because it isn’t
seaworthy. We were delighted to meet K3’s sister ship which had recently been
restored and had sailed up from Llangwm
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