Burnham-On-Crouch
October 8, 2021
8 Oct '21. Burnham on Crouch - I missed the Harbour Master but a story nonetheless...
When a town has two "Royal" yacht clubs you know there will be some serious sailors around. I happened to sit next to one on the terrace of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club watching the sun set.... his name was Keith Musto. This ex Olympic sailor from Essex founded the iconic clothing company "Musto".
"We sailed in Guernsey sweaters and old flannel trousers for years. You got wet and you accepted it. We realised that this was a problem that needed to be solved.” So, after taking the sailing world by storm and winning silver in Tokyo 1964 Olympics (missing out on gold by ‘nanoseconds’), he set about producing groundbreaking technical sailing apparel. In 1980 Musto teamed up with the fabric manufacturers W.L. Gore .... you can guess the rest!
So, my visit to the most southerly of the Essex "peninsulas" (this county has the second longest coastline after Devon) and I was suddenly immersed in top level yacht racing. Famous classes of boats , among them Dragons and Squibs are raced up and down the wide, straight and windy River Crouch, overlooked by smart Yacht clubs and some very serious sailors. I was out of my depth in more ways than one, but very much enjoyed their hospitality. Why are sailors so friendly to each other?
Sadly I was not to meet the HM of this famous sailing town, Susan Harrison is a busy ship's pilot and her office politely told me she was "out at sea" at work.
Footnote. For those eagle eyed followers of my challenge, you will see that I visited Essex in October 2021 and then again in April 2022. I am now back in both geographic and chronological order, so please stay with me as I explore the Thames Estuary and beyond.....
When a town has two "Royal" yacht clubs you know there will be some serious sailors around. I happened to sit next to one on the terrace of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club watching the sun set.... his name was Keith Musto. This ex Olympic sailor from Essex founded the iconic clothing company "Musto".
"We sailed in Guernsey sweaters and old flannel trousers for years. You got wet and you accepted it. We realised that this was a problem that needed to be solved.” So, after taking the sailing world by storm and winning silver in Tokyo 1964 Olympics (missing out on gold by ‘nanoseconds’), he set about producing groundbreaking technical sailing apparel. In 1980 Musto teamed up with the fabric manufacturers W.L. Gore .... you can guess the rest!
So, my visit to the most southerly of the Essex "peninsulas" (this county has the second longest coastline after Devon) and I was suddenly immersed in top level yacht racing. Famous classes of boats , among them Dragons and Squibs are raced up and down the wide, straight and windy River Crouch, overlooked by smart Yacht clubs and some very serious sailors. I was out of my depth in more ways than one, but very much enjoyed their hospitality. Why are sailors so friendly to each other?
Sadly I was not to meet the HM of this famous sailing town, Susan Harrison is a busy ship's pilot and her office politely told me she was "out at sea" at work.
Footnote. For those eagle eyed followers of my challenge, you will see that I visited Essex in October 2021 and then again in April 2022. I am now back in both geographic and chronological order, so please stay with me as I explore the Thames Estuary and beyond.....