Page 10 - Yachter Autumn 2020

10 MEET A NEW MEMBER
MEET A NEW MEMBER Maxwell Raymond-Scott
I was first introduced to the difficult to spell village of Beaulieu as an eight-year-old, when I begged my mother to drive down
to this historic river and its many attractions from our then home in Gloucestershire... Since arriving at Bucklers Hard back then I have fallen deeply in love with this area and I promised myself, at that tender age that, one day, in the far, FAR distant future – I would have a boat and moor her here on the Beaulieu River.
Many moons have come and gone since that delightful day and many adventures I have been on... All that time I have been striving for yacht ownership status, I am still not too close to that ‘golden day of purchase’, but I do know exactly where I will keep her moored! That is a start, surely!
During what can only be described as, these strangest of times, the first place for me to visit when journeys became a fashionable habit again, was Bucklers Hard... The cones were up, the gates were closed and my usual haunts (The Yachtsman!) were ‘shut for the foreseeable future’! So, I drove on, passing
the ‘Largest Barn built in medieval England’, there, on the left, branching off the road, a small lane beckoned invitingly... Parking the car, my mother and I strolled down this lovely lane, ending in the friendly salt tanged foreshore we all know so well...
Well, so welcoming was the reception from Steve and Tina, Lauren and Jason that I found myself asking for a membership form, with the result being obvious from my musings here! Thus, I find myself one step closer to my dream of a boat on the Beaulieu River, and when that great day dawns I look forward to getting actively involved in the splendid pursuits that the RSYC has to offer.
In the meantime, I very much look forward to meeting new people, hearing the stories of derring-do on the high seas and getting to know you – I will be the chap looking wistfully out at the river, in my imagination there is a ghost ship of a yacht, floating to her mooring, away there, I will be hoping that soon that vision will be a reality, I will just have to wait and see!
I am the chap with a stick, I had an unfortunate incident 3 years ago, which leaves me with a limp – without it I do have a tendency to fall over, if I do that in front of you, you have my full permission to extract all manner of friendly comedic value out of the situation as it deserves, I might add that any unsteadiness is due entirely to the injury even after Trafalgar Night!