18th May 2012

The Kipper has left the Marina.

At 19:35hrs and after weeks of preparation, a very excited Kipper finally set sail from Chatham marina bound for Falmouth.  Onboard with him as crew for this first leg of the journey was crewman Bobbie D who was equally as excited about leaving.  Of course we couldn't just let them throw the lines off and leave quietly so a small dock party was held to wish them bon voyage, fair winds and calm seas. 

Christine, Lisa, Julie, Bobbie D & The Kipper
(Note the wine glass next to The Kipper!)

 Lisa and Christine kindly provided the flags and a bottle of fizz to toast them on their way and a small cake was lovingly prepared by...Tesco...provided by the Scribe of this blog.  Lisa and Christine recently joined The Kipper on a sailing weekend and it seems they have been well and truly bitten by the sailing bug. The now have open invites to join The Kipper in Greece to enjoy sailing in the sunshine.

We spent about an hour with them before it was time to depart.  It was clear that The Kipper was eager to begin - he really has been looking forward to this day for a very long time.  Bobbie D hasn't quite retired yet - after 33 years long and arduous service with Kent Police he has about 14 shifts left to complete and a retirement party to host so he will definitely be returning from Falmouth with The Kipper.  The pair of them were truly excited about leaving so in the end, we girls took the hint and got off the boat.  After all the final hugs, kisses and whispers of good luck, be safe and fair winds, we helped them throw off the lines and off they went, into the lock at Chatham and then away.   We stayed and watched them heading down river past Upnor Castle and on towards Gillingham and Hoo.  We stood there and watched them, waving our flags until they finally dispeared from sight; it would be terribly romantic to say that we watched them until they rounded a gentle bend in the river and were hidden from sight by trees and yonder hills but this is the River Medway so, we watched them until they were lost from view behind a concrete bollard.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I wanted to be aboard with them and how bad I felt standing there watching them go.  Actually, we all felt quite emotional after they had gone and Julie needed a hug - duly administered by the scribe. We said our farewells and went our seperate ways but with the promise to meet up again soon.  After one final glance over the wall we confirmed the fact that they weren't going to change their minds and come back, they hadn't forgotten anything important and clearly had no intention of a sail-by for one final wave. 

All that remains now is wait for the next update from The Kipper to let us know their progress along our southern shores. 

Going...

Going...

Gone....