The last Sunday in March and the first on BST, a small huddle of Boat Club members met on cold, grey, windy Pulborough slip intending to try and reach Pallingham.  The Sun promptly came out and even the wind seemed to settle down a tad; most peculiar.

Treasurer John launched his recently acquired pram dinghy and after a brief show of reluctance by the outboard, moved out into the stream.  A guest – yet another Chris, also made a maiden voyage having arrived with his brand new boat in the back of the car.  I don’t think he will mind me saying he is a substantial sort of oarsman and the boat a seriously diminutive punt, he made from a single sheet of ply.  Despite this he rowed unaided from Pulborough up to Pallingham and back.  It was as impossible as ever to ignore the Siren Song of the beer, emanating from the White Hart at Stopham Bridge.  Just to prove that the river really is amenable to rowing boats, I also took my skiff on the trip.

I think what I am hoping to put across is that small simple boats are the answer and you do not even have to have an engine; if you play your tides right, oars or paddles will do nicely.  While I can understand some hesitation before spring is truly sprung, it was actually a beautiful day and the river is really well behaved for one so spritely.  I hope to persuade more members to join us in future and would be happy to answer any queries you may have.  We have a slipway here at Arundel now and the rest of the summer programme will revolve around use of that facility.  The next ABC event is a return trip up to Houghton/Amberley on the Second of May, starting at 11.00 and there are likely to be spare spaces… 

Beware, you might enjoy it!

Chris Waite (Chairman)