Tidying up and the 1974 Heineken rally

 While waiting for the weather to be suitable for a bit of painting, the time can usefully be spent clearing out some of the clutter that accumulates in the boat. This is perhaps overstating it a bit; usually stuff is taken out from the various lockers, inspected, and then mostly put back in again as its just possible it might come in  useful sometime.  Over the years we have also accumulated quite a lot of plaques commemorating various events and rallies that Bonita attended. They are often quite nicely made in brass or ceramic, but there are far too many to put up in the boat, so they accumulate in boxes either on the boat or at home.

I found this little souvenir at the bottom of an old plastic ice-cream box, and maybe it deserves a bit of cabin space this summer...

The 1974 Heineken rally was, I think the first rally to Holland organised by the OGA and very generously sponsored by Heineken. 22 boats went across including a few classic bermudans. We were rafted up in a commercial dock that had been cleared for the purpose in the centre of Amsterdam and hundreds of people came to look at the boats and their intrepid crews. Bonita was there, though I was on another boat at the time. We certainly had a marvellous time and were very well received. The boats I can remember or find a record of are Marguerite, Alyn, Band of Hope, Dreva, Bonita, Saskia van Rijn, Ciris, Privateer, Kyle of Bute, Blue Shoal, Greenshank and Argo. Gaffers last a long time but I wonder how many of these are still active today? Certainly Marguerite, a Bristol Channel pilot cutter is. At 43 ft overall she was very much the largest of the fleet. She didnt do well when racing on the Ijsselmeer though, as with a draft of 7ft 6in her keel was touching the bottom much of the time.

We are hoping to get to Holland this summer at the invitation of the Dutch OGA to help them celebrate their 20th anniversary.