Round Robin to Stourport and Rugby then home.

What a lovely sunny weekend we've had.  Chris and I have thoroughly enjoyed this weekend.


It started at 7am yesterday as we got up to head down to Alexander Boats in Stourport, a 2 hour drive. We wanted to get there about 11am so wanted to allow plenty of time hence the early rise.  We opened the curtains to thick fog and everything dripping wet.  Not to be deterred we set of at 8.30am and carefully headed south arriving at Stourport at 10.45am and as we pulled into the yard the fog cleared and the sun beat down making it a lovely warm day.


Jim was busy working on a 30foot shell and was cutting a steel plate into the shape of the back end of the boat.  We spent about a couple of hours with him discussing Josher bow dimensions and side hatch sizes and other general matters that Jim offered us as things to think about, just getting to know each other better.  After that we let him get on.  Just up the road is a very nice common we passed on the way down so with the sun shining we decided to eat our packed lunch there and enjoy the warmth the weather was providing.


We regularly watch  Del & Al's (Derwent6) blog and as we knew they were only an hour away we had  previously arranged to pay them a visit and after a quick run down the motorway to Rugby we met up.  Armed with a bottle of wine and hot cross buns we were warmly greeted by them both when we arrived.


We spent a really pleasant afternoon in the cratch bathed in the warm sunshine discussing our plans and thoughts for AmyJo whilst Al got the hot cross buns buttered and a welcoming cuppa prepared. Del got out his folder with the design thoughts on Derwent6.  We discussed our ideas around Del's plans and drawings until suddenly it was 6pm before we knew it and we thought we had stayed long enough.


We asked if they knew where we could eat and would they like to join us and so we all walked to the nearby Butlers Leap and had a super meal while carrying on our Boaty discussions.

It took a while for Del to straighten up after this.

We had a wonderful time with them and came away with an even bigger list of things to consider for which we are most grateful.  Afterwards we walked back to Derwents6 and said our goodbyes.  I have to say by now Del looked in a lot of pain with his back, we do hope he made it back to the boat OK and gets better soon.  For a man in so much pain he never lost that smile once.  Thank you both for a lovely afternoon, it really made our day to see you both again and thank you again for all the advice, think we're gonna have a lot of research to do over the next few weeks!

Al, we may have some news about those tickets we mentioned in a few days, will get in touch soon.