Pageant

[mister p]

Who took part? Who was on the water?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by mister p

Who took part? Who was on the water?

We were there

[mister p]

I was at the launch, met the guys that built the boat. That's them in the pic. They did all the carving and guilding and boat building.........and it was all done in a unit behind the ComputerWarehouse in Brentford.

[CJL]

Mark Edwards was the main guy building the Gloriana and believe it or not he's also built a replica wooden submarine that's on display in Falmouth at the Maritime Museum!

Submarines and wood don't go together in my book!

Chris

[mister p]

And boy did they get drunk

[mister p]

rand the boys deserved it. and they were looking forward to it too. and they did deserve it

[whisper]

Have a look at this video, this is the run back to Putney. You will see the Gloriana being powered by her electric motor...

Diamond Jubliee - Safety Boats Return to Putney - YouTube

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by mister p

And boy did they get drunk

Did you join them for a little shant or 2?

[mister p]

I'm thinking that if I was in the pub first, and had a few while watching the launch and then they came in, then chronologically it would be them that joined me? But let's say we drank alongside each other.

[thomas]

Was a day to remember, this is the view from where we were sitting....

Queen's Diamond Jubilee River Pageant - View from the water in 4.5 mins - YouTube

and images at.....

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant - a set on Flickr

[mister p]

Very good day on the water. Did you see the torpedo boat. If I remember she was one of the first.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by mister p

Very good day on the water. Did you see the torpedo boat. If I remember she was one of the first.

Yup, beautiful boat, we tied up alongside, about 3 boats down from her during the muster up near Fulham. It was a very special day & I still can't believe we were part of it. Pity about the weather, but hey ho! that's boats & Britain for you

[mister p]

we watched from Putney, and were very lucky with the weather. We went to the debriefs and were at the muster all the way through to the narrowboats..............and then it rained. We were in Thai Square by then. Wonderful day, the salute by the Tower was fantastic.

[whisper]

Did you know we were in Hello Magazine

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by thomas

Was a day to remember, this is the view from where we were sitting....

and images at.....

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant - a set on Flickr

Nice Video! Just goes to show you how much you use steerage at slow speeds, that wheel was on the go thoughout the video.

BTW I know there are many safety boats at the pageant, but were any used for assistance?

[thomas]

Someone fell in and some needed towing as they were knackered, we towed one of the cutters to Trafalgar Wharf who'd started up by Chiswick, they had done bloody well to get as far as they had.

I guess the helm did have to work a lot, glad I've got hydraulic steering.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Hightower

Nice Video! Just goes to show you how much you use steerage at slow speeds, that wheel was on the go throughout the video.

BTW I know there are many safety boats at the pageant, but were any used for assistance?

Spot on about the wheel. It was very intense being in the middle of all those rowing boats. We had virtually no steerage due to the low speed, I was on the wheel constantly for about 8 hours, we were on the water for over 12 hours in all. We escorted one boat into Milwall dock, they were a middle aged crew & done in, cold, wet & exhausted. We had to tow another boat about a mile to London Yard, as they were in the same condition. I think many of the crews over-reached themselves, they thought they were having a jolly down the river with a picnic in the sun & champers en-route. Many were un-prepared for the weather, head wind & length of time they were out. Considering the hoops that we, the safety boats had to jump through (& the extremely rigorous scrutineering on the day), I'm surprised that half of the manpowered fleet were allowed to sail, but at least nobody died
In the end, a good time had by all

[Hightower]

I'm glad that there were no serious problems to deal with.

At first glance 8 hours at 4 knotts doesn't seem like hard work, just goes to show you how deceiving it is.

Did you or others not have to re-prop your RIBs to stop them from going faster than the 4 knotts on tickover, otherwise some boats would have to keep knocking the gear in and out?

[thomas]

Here we are towing a tired cutter, found this on FlickR and the girl who took it was more than happy to send it to me.

[mick]

Did you each have a certain section of boats to look after or just help who ever needed it.