Green Wyvern Yachting Club
Over the years many Green Wyvern yachts have wintered at Somerleyton; most of them in the open air. It is a cold, damp place and the days thankfully short.
It might be thought that the rigours of a hard winter make Somerleyton a desolate place, but in fact snow and ice give the yard and surrounding marshland a special charm. I can be confident in reporting that Tony Headley has tested this hypothesis to the full: he having spent nights camping on his boat when temperatures were in excess of 10 below. Tony is preoccupied with decks this year, though I cannot commit myself to the precise engineering complexities of the undertaking.
Stella has received a couple of welcome visits from Tony Tomkins, who, with characteristic flourish of paintbrush and clapping of hands, has been re-doing the topsides. Meanwhile Sparklet droops disconsolately under its black sheath; whilst Modwena beckons its immobile master, Dick, having had an unfortunate argument with a kitchen door and ploughed field shortly before Christmas.
Pan is undergoing substantial repair work ('So, what’s new?' you cry) this year under the sure eye and phlegm of Steve Valentine. Steve is replacing about 200 feet of planking on the topsides; new deck beams, decks and covering are being fitted, all of which should thankfully result in a dry boat . . . and cries of relief all round.
TM
1982