Vaal Dam Holiday 23 ‘Spring Villiers Cruise’
Hats off the H23 ‘Vaalie’ fleet. These guys and gals really extract the maximum value out of their lovely boats.
Rod Alport, the man who has taken the reigns of the Vaal Dam H23’ers, has not let the weeds grow under his keel. Over the past long weekend he organized yet another very successful Spring Villiers cruise for the fleet.
Rod was careful to advise that the cruise entailed a goodly amount of motoring, and that the skippers had better stow extra fuel just in case.
The weather outlook was favourable and the fleet left their home club’s and moorings on a mission to have fun and enjoy themselves
Braaing en route, so easily achieved on a H23, seemed the way to go, and even a Pizza was baked en route.
What is so great about this group is that they constantly post on the Whatsapp Group, and us land lubbers got to hear about the odd boat running aground, with no lasting issues thankfully, and the posting of some magnificent pics, both on the water and on land for the stop-over braais.
Having participated in the Masters earlier this year, what we missed out on would have been the constant banter and good natured ribbing which is a hallmark of the fleet.
Skylark shared some interesting stats about their trip.
Day 1 – 32nm
Day 2 – 18.9nm
Total distance – there and back, 103nm ( 192km ) & 50 ltrs of fuel.
Beers (your guess is as good as mine )
Freya had further to travel, some 118nm but used half as much fuel.
I think this just typifies there the excellent spirit and mindset engendered by Allan Rosenberg and now Rodney Alport amongst the Vaal dam Holiday 23 owners. They have managed to find a great balance in terms of competitiveness in the fleet and fun.
In Allan Rosenberg s own words “We usually label our sailing weekends as group sail events. Rod just put another spin on this event. It was a mammoth adventure, in a nutshell. a 4 day sail to Villiers. We had suspense in shallow uncharted waters, magnificent scenery, braais on the boats, and a traditional ramp n Dop. An unrushed 4 days with the H23 family, without an itinerary format. It was truly amazing and relaxing. Definitely an adventure to be repeated.”
Pic credits: Allan Rosenberg, Rodney Alport, Bev , Richard Button , Rudolph , Anel Button amongst others..
H23’s which participated:
Greylag – Allan Rosenberg
Shenanigans – Rod Alport, Bev Wharton-hood
Freya – Richard Angus
La Bella Vita – Rudolph & Angie Botha
Koriwa (Stad 23) Sharmaine and Allan Levine
Skylark – Richard & Anel Richard Button
Calipso – Ian Stewart