Tag: Diamond Jubilee Pageant

Photos of Spider T’s trip to the Jubilee

Spider T on the Thames during 2012 Jubilee trip

 

The Humber Keels and Sloops website has a nice photo record of the Humber sloop Spider T’s trip down to the Thames and back for the Jubilee last summer.

I gather from owner and restorer Mal Nicholson that a DVD of the Spider T’s earlier trip to Arbroath is now available for a very reasonable £10. Contact him at the Spider T website.

Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant ‘avenue of sail’

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…