A New Era, but a familiar boat
Steve Morton, 20th November 2006

After our previous uncertainty, November has been a hectic month!

We had in October sadly realised that a new build whaler would probably be out of our reach and had started to look at smaller alternatives.

Then we learned that George had decided to sell Molly, preparatory to buying a different boat more suited to his future sailing plans.

We also learned that Geoff had always been so impressed with Molly's sailing ability and this coupled with his desire to see THW keep going meant that he was willing to buy her! This was good news, because even second hand Molly would cost more than our members had been willing to put forward to a collective ownership; we were therefore in no position to make an offer as a group.

So, following some swift negotiation and acceptance of an offer Geoff found himself becoming the proud owner of one lovingly-used American whaleboat complete with sailing rig. George then brought Molly back to Henley at the weekend.

For the moment she remains on her trailer, pending some seasonal maintenance. Our next move has to be returning Vancouver eastwards once Dick has been able to organise her new berth, a little earlier than was planned. After that we expect to return Molly to the Thames and resume rowing her.

Thus the Henley Whalers are looking forward to a future with a familiar boat but a new owner and a new agenda!

Geoff has told us he is mainly interested in sailing Molly and taking her to both rowing and sailing events - he has plenty of rowing in Henley with his other interests. He is currently compiling a list of potential events for 2007, including old favourites such as the Great River Race and Sail Caledonia (aka the Great Glen Raid). Watch the Henley Whalers calendar and signup page for news. However he also wants Molly to be regularly used and THW rowing mid-week will be a big part of that.

For the moment we will continue Wednesday nights but other options are up for discussion, such as weekend daylight rowing. That will be strange to some of us, having become used to not seeing the blades entering the water for six months of the year! But this will especially be important as we aim to recruit a few more regular members. The Thames is surprisingly pleasant on a winter's evening, but to newcomers a row in the dark can be rather daunting.

Hopefully the next news item here will be the re-launch of Molly and return of Vancouver to Dick in Greenwich. We've enjoyed rowing her during these past few weeks, no doubt her next crew will do so too; and we'll be pleased to see her alongside at future events. But for now we are looking forward to rowing and sailing Molly again!

See "Who are we now?"
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