by Stephen
On Friday, 20th September, Ian and I tugged Grace from Seaford to Ham Fields in Surrey ready for the start of the Great River Race. As we weaved through the narrow lanes of Ham, oncoming traffic soon realised that they would have to give way to us. Then, after much waiting about, Grace was craned up and onto the Thames to be towed up to Millwall overnight, ready for the crew to row back with the tide to Ham, on Saturday.
Eventually on the Saturday morning, our crew, Liv, Sarah Maya, Adam, Ian, Conrad, Anna, Karen and myself were ready to set off. What an awesome spectacle we witnessed as more than 300 boats assembled for the staggered start. 21.6 miles to go.
As the rules required, we had a 'passenger' and we therefore took it in turns to swap places for a rest. Liv, Sarah Maya and Adam swapped places with each other; Anna, Karen and I swapped places too. Ian and Conrad, in the middle of the boat, rowed the whole way.
There were various types of craft with crews from several countries including the Netherlands, Spain, USA and Shetland. It was a wonderful day out on the Thames rowing through the city and out to the west. As we passed under the many bridges, crowds lined up to cheer us on.
Our exhausted crew arrived at Ham after some 3 hours where, after organised chaos, Grace was craned out of the river and back onto the trailer again. The home run in the dark at the end of the day was the only downside because, halfway along the A26 I discovered that the road was closed. I then had to execute a U-turn and come back on the C7 towards Newhaven and on to Seaford Sailing Club. Where alas, on arrival I was to discover that the padlock combination number had been changed without anyone being informed and so I undertook yet another U-turn to bring Grace back home to Bishopstone. By this time, with the rain sheeting down and in the pitch darkness of our unlit village, I was very glad of help from my wife, Kasha, who helped me reverse Grace into the farmer's field for the night.
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