Once more the North Harrow Sailing 2016 extravaganza was underway and 6 Lodge members spent the weekend sailing the Solent on ‘Sea Song’ a chartered 42′ yacht .[tribulant_slideshow gallery_id=”9″]

We gathered at Hamble Marina to sign off the yacht on the Thursday afternoon and enjoyed the usual chilli dinner on board that evening. The next morning, we slipped lines and headed down the Hamble with our destination set for Poole. The weather was not completely kind to us and although the rain held off, we were tormented by 30 knot winds and strong spring tides which made our sailing quite demanding.

We were welcomed into the marina by a few Dorset Freemasons brandishing copious bottles of bubbly to welcome our arrival, after which our first evening was spent in the town at one of the local hostelries where we had arranged to meet a few more of our “Twitterati” brethren to enjoy a great evening of chat accompanied by plates of the best fish and chips we’ve tasted in a long time and of course the mandatory pint or two.

However, the next morning we did notice that our Middlesex flag had broken from the mast during the strong winds, so a press gang was sent to find a willing crew member to re-attach it by means of the bosun’s chair and who else could we find to take the Queen’s shilling than that of our Chaplain, W.Bro Terry Clayfield  (nearer to God than the rest of us), so we hoisted him 40′ up the mast to rectify the situation..

A wonderful weekend was enjoyed by all (despite the conditions)  and arrangements are already underway for next year’s extravaganza. A short video of our exploits are on YouTube