On a cloudy May-day morning, our two crews set off on the first stage of our adventure around Britain in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.  Both vessels looking resplendent in the liveries of our sponsors, and with the green flags for Macmillan rippling in the breeze, Ashanti and Clearlake II set sail from Fambridge Yacht Haven toward Shotley marina, day one of the cruise.

With the tide against us, but with fair winds, we made slow but steady progress along the river Crouch, although as the wind dropped we were forced to motor for a few hours in order

to make any progress at all! Those of us who are relative novices to open water sailing became very aware of the drop in temperature as we left any shelter from the wind behind us, the cool bank holiday weather offset by the hot tea and delicious cake served in generous quantity!

We reached Shotley marina with little time to spare (when locking in, Ashanti had only half a metre below the keel), however she was expertly handled by our skipper in the shallow water and we berthed safely a few minutes later. After a very welcome dinner and a rest in the marina club house, both crews settled in to prepare for the next leg of our cruise up to Lowestoft, hopefully into the sunshine!

If you wish to support our crews on their voyage, and help Macmillan Cancer Support continue their vital work with those affected by cancer, please follow this link to our justgiving page:

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/premier-sailing

Thank you.