On one of the hottest days of the year so far the SAILING TO BRITAIN crew spent the day taking part in Wandsworth Arts Festival's "Shimmy". We were based at the Hurlingham Yacht Club, in the shadow of Putney railway bridge, but firmly rooted on the River Thames.
Unfortunately the tide was out most of the day so there was no opportunity for "messing about on the river"!
There were lots of people coming down to the yacht club and the short performance was repeated at every opportunity!
We were also offering tea tasting - different varieties of black and green tea, from India and China. Tea was one of the main cargoes carried by ships the Lascars sailed on. People really liked the smokiness of Lapsang Souchong and the refreshing taste of "Gunpowder" tea from China.
Children and adults had the chance to play "Carrom" - a board game which is a cross between air hockey, marbles and snooker! This game has been played in countries the Lascars came from for centuries, and probably found its way onto the tea clippers and other ships sailing to Britain on which the Lascars worked.
It was a great day and gave other people in the area an opportunity to find out who Lascars were and and why they were sailing to Britain. They also saw some of the video footage from last year's projects in Croydon, Wandsworth and Greenwich.
The yacht club made us very welcome, and we hope to go back when the tide is high to learn some more essential sailing skills!
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