The Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant event on the River Thames in London on the 3rd June will be quite a do!
In addition to the procession itself, I’ve just learned that there will be an ‘avenue of sail‘ – that is, long lines of tall-masted sailing vessels moored along the river banks. The vessels included in the avenue are about as starry as they could be, and among them:
- legendary pilot cutter Jolie Brise
- Sir Francis Chichester’s globe-circling Gypsy Moth IV
- Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s solo non-stop circumnavigating Suhaili
- smack Endeavour
- 1808-built smack Boadicea
- Baltic trader The Queen Galadriel
- well known sailing barges such as Pudge, Hydrogen, Cambria and Edith May
This list is just a sample – and it’s in addition to the thousand or so craft taking part in the procession of smaller craft, which has been much better publicised – see the organiser’s leaflet listing the boats they think spectators should look for leaflet here.
Sadly it doesn’t include the wonderful Humber sloop Spider T but with so much good stuff going on, I guess they can’t list everything…
I’m sure we’re all hoping the weather is very kind that day, for the everyone’s sake. It would be great if it was so light that the tall-masted craft could fly their sails at their moorings. But if there’s just a little more breeze it won’t half suit those of us who are quietly planning a sailing trip over the long Jubilee weekend…