On a particularly gorgeous sunny morning in January UCSC had the pleasure of having a social row to The Strood at Mersea. The tide was flowing underneath us on the way up the river and it was perfect conditions – no wind and glorious sunshine. We had the opportunity of borrowing a gig from Pioneer’s Yard (big thank you), so this made it even more special for the 15 people who were on the water.
It took just under an hour to reach the Stood and by the time we got there we could see the tide had flooded the road, but a few cars still chose to splash their way through! Hopefully we gave the passengers something to talk about – enviously!
We were also able to see up close the wonderful metal statues that had been individually made as a tribute to all service men to commemorate the centenary of the ending of WW1. They looked particularly poignant with the sun shining from behind. We headed back home with the ebb tide and were fortunate to be joined for a while by our local seal, Sammy!
It was a truly wonderful row for a Sunday morning of approximately 12 miles – but at a very leisurely pace and we didn’t realise how far we had gone until we got back to the yard at Brightlingsea.
If you would like to come and join us, regardless of any previous experience or not, please come and find us to say hello – we meet socially on Sundays at 9.30 in the yard in Sydney St, Brightlingsea and would be very happy to take you out on the water and have a try for yourself.
