Ter voorbereiding van de ZF Pinkstertrip naar Harwich heb ik gisteren deze mail verzonden:
From: Timo Giling
To: <mailadres Shotley Marina>
Dear Sir / Madam
My reason for contacting you is the following.
During the weekend of 26 and 27 May we have the intention of visiting your harbour with a small group of Dutch sailing yachts; one of them is my own. The skippers of this group know each other from, and have agreed on Shotley Marina as their destination over a Dutch internet forum known as ‘Zeilersforum.nl’ (Sailors’ forum). The sailing trip to the UK is an annual event, prepared and discussed on this forum. The main purpose of this trip is, besides just offering a (hopefully) nice crossing to and from the UK, to offer sea sailing experiences for crew members who had little or no such experience before.
The forum mentioned above bonds this group, but that does not necessarily mean that this group of about 7 or 8 yachts sails or arrives together. I expect some of us to arrive as early as Friday May 25, but the majority will arrive the next day (Saturday). On Sunday the 27th most will be leaving again for their return trip. Of course all depending on the weather circumstances during this weekend.
The questions I have for you are:
1. Is it possible for our group to find a berth in your harbour on the days mentioned?
2. Would it be possible to ‘group’ the yachts belonging to ‘Zeilersforum.nl’ more or less together (e.g. neighbouring berths/slips, of by making up a raft alongside?
I hope you will be able to respond quickly. We really are looking forward visiting Shotley Marina. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully
Mr Timo Giling
Skipper s/y ‘il Cigno’
Daarop kreeg ik vandaag prompt antwoord:
Dear Timo
Many thanks for your email. I can confirm your group will be most welcome to visit us on the dates you mention. We will group all of your boats together, probably on one long berth alongside. If you can let me have the details of the boats coming we can pre-book them on the system to speed up the process of getting them through the lock. That is, boat name, length and owners name if possible.
If you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
John Pipe
Water Side Manager
Uiteraard wil ik graag aan het verzoek voldoen om de gevraagde gegevens even door te geven. Echter, van sommige ZF'ers ken ik niet de volledige (echte) naam. Als de volgende schippers dit even aan mij doorgeven dan stuur ik alles in één keer door. Uiteraard blijft het onder voorbehoud, het blijft de keuze van iedere schipper of hij Shotley aanloopt of niet.
Boat name Length
il Cigno 29ft
Berend Botje 27ft
Lunique 36ft
Marije 37ft
Dekadent 37ft
Windfall 27ft
Mischief 30ft
Guia IV 46ft
Dutch Rose 35ft
Gr. Timo