News from Caversham Park Aquanauts (CPA) the friendliest scuba diving club in Reading.

Cookham Regatta Safety Boat 2007

The Humber rib was towed out of storage and sat on the driveway looking a little deflated the week before its outing as 'Safety Boat' at the 207 Cookham regatta. Andy Hepburn had provided excellent storage, but the boat was looking a little tired and in need of a good spruce up before her launch onto the Thames.

A team was assembled including Steve Howes, David J, Andy Hepburn and Glyn Fox to give the Humber a good going over. Glyn worked on the battery, Engine and electrics to get the essentials all up to code. Andy and David worked on the sundry items and hull while Steve and Phil Knibbs managed to weld and repair the A frame.

On inspection, the spark plugs were found to be completely shot - with even an electrode falling out of number 2 plug. Not a good sign - and probably part of the cause of the boats poor running on recent trips. David nipped over to Hobbs boat yard in Henley where the service guys provided the correct plugs at reasonable cost. A good helping of oil and we were all set.

Andy and David de-greased the entire boat and by the weekend everything was looking really 'ship shape'. The engine started with just one turn of the key - and the motor ran more sweetly than any of us could remember. A new river license was purchased from the Environment Agency and we were almost ready.

On the morning of September 1st Andy hitched the Humber to his 4x4 and together with the day's crew (Martin Taplin, Richard Butterworth, Andy Hepburn and David J) set off to the scout camp at Longridge for a launch. The Humber slipped into the water easily, and with Richard at the helm we all set off to the Cookham regatta course. Richard kindly provided a set of lifejackets in the interest of meeting SAA and RYA guidelines.

On arrival we were greeted by a relieved Regatta safety committee and provided with radio's and a briefing. Our duties included maintaining general in water safety, rescue of boat crews in the event of an accident and marshalling other river users away from the regatta course.

We all shared the boat handling, and managed to avoid any problems at all during the day. The weather stayed warm and clear without any rain - and the event was a breeze for everyone.

It was noted that a young lady in a shortie wetsuit that was assisting the regatta boat users became the centre of much attention during the day for the crew of CPA1. Nicknamed 'rubber girl' by the crew there were often trips back to the jetty to ses how she was getting along...

Overall the Humber performed extremely well, and was thoroughly washed down and tucked up that night in readiness for her next outing (Portland Harbour 2 weeks later).

Cookham regatta earned the club a large and valuable contribution, plus two contributions from previous years that we failed to collect - so well done to everyone that gave up their time to get the Humber in tip top condition - and to those that crewed the boat all day. CPA is very grateful - and we look forward to another safety boat duty in 2008.