Tall Ships Weekend - Greetings to all at the Gathering!

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Greetings to all of you, now gathered in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, enjoying the lovely evening view of the Clyde and starting a wonderful week-end together    !

Congratulations to those who made it happen, and good wishes to all who already arrived and those still travelling to get there.

May it be a splendid week-end -- and do tell us all about it.

Meanwhile, of course, we shall keep the Forum active!

[cunardqueen]

Lets hope the updates are fast and frequent, and perhaps some photos as well 

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

So now, Myles, shall we make the Forum dance? 

Let's have some fun here too, while the others are away!

[Rob Lightbody]

Well we all had a lovely time last night, although I have a bit of a sore head this morning, because of beer + forgetting to have dinner...

Michael had some amazing ultra-rare exclusives, john had a case full of treasures, i had my dubai photos (hope i didnt bore everybody too much...), qe2 golf clubs were on show and for sale, and to top it all off, waverley was outside waiting for us to board this morning!

I don't have any photos of our gathering, but i did see some getting taken!

More later...

[Cunarder Man]

A great night at the Crowne Plaza last night sharing stories, photographs, memorabilia and beer! Hope everyone had a super day at Greenock - we waved you off on the Waverley this morning - sorry we couldn't join the trip today. However, we're looking forward to our next 'meet', hopefully soon.

[QE2 whistle]

Well we've just returned from a great day out at the Tall Ships, Greenock.  It was great to see some of the members again and to meet some new faces too.  The weather was great and we all enjoyed a lovely meal at the Tontine.  We then saw everybody off on the Waverley heading back to Glasgow.  Thanks to all for arranging a great day and can't wait till our next meet.  Here are a few pictures we managed to take.

[QE2 whistle]

And a few more.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Thank you, John, Alan and Shona for keeping us updated! Looks like it was a wonderful occasion with excellent weather too, and that all who were there enjoyed themselves.

Thank you so much for the pictures -- they help to make us here feel a bit less lonely...

Rob sent the attached pic earlier in the day. A fabulous outing -- and past the Titan Crane too!

[bobso]

Thanks to everyone who shared their photo's with us. Great to see the Waverly looking pristine. Hope you all have had a fantastic time, and my best wishes to all for a safe journey home.

[Lynda Bradford]

Thank-you so much to everyone who attended the QE2 Story at the Tall Ships week-end and helped to make this such an enjoyable occasions.  

On Friday evening we kicked off the event at the Crowne Plaza where we had plenty to chat about and where lots of treasures were on the table for us to look at and this certainly generated lots of conversation.  

Cunarder Man made me so jealous of his First Day Cover collection.  I thought I had a good collection but now realize that I need to check out what is on ebay

There were a few sore heads on Saturday morning but these were soon cured by the time Waverley set sail and coffee and bacon rolls were on offer.  Words cannot describe the full experience of sailing down the Clyde on the Waverley but it is a memory to treasure.  
I will post some photos later as the Shrink Picture web site is not working.

[Lynda Bradford]

In Greenock we waved goodbye to the Waverley and a few members who had stayed onboard then made our way to the Tall Ships event at the James Watt Dock.  In the distance we could see the tall masts and the colourful flags blowing in the warm wind as we walked with the crowds of people going to the event. 

Many people took the opportunity to go onboard the ships.  Others just took the opportunity to savor the atmosphere and enjoyed exploring then had a beer or a cup of tea.  We were so lucky that we had blue skies all day.  What a bonus!  It was a lively and colourful event with a great atmosphere

[Lynda Bradford]

More photos taken on Saturday at the Tall Ships event. 

[Lynda Bradford]

and more photos ...

[bobso]

Thanks Lynda for all those wonderful photo's. So glad you all had a great time. Am feeling a lot better just now--only hope it stays that way. Best wishes to all.

[bobso]

Thanks also Lynda for the pictures of "Rob"--  with friends--everyone seems to be enjoying themselves immensly.

[Twynkle]

Here's a good link with more about the ships in Greenock
http://www.sailtraininginternational.org/news/article/read_greenock-ready-to-set-sail-_item_100550.htm

and in particular the bark,  Europa - she's very nearly 100, and visits Antarctica regularly
http://www.victory-cruises.com/Europa_Antartica%20.pdf

(Just home after a very happy weekend - more later...!)

[Rob Lightbody]

here are some of my photos of a FANTASTIC weekend.

Thank you to everybody.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lightbody/sets/72157627171301682/

[bobso]

Thank you very much Rob for posting these fantastic photo's from your weekend at the Tall Ships. I am building a model of a "Tall Ship" with 22 sails and piles of rigging. Your photo's show how difficult it must have been in those days to control the sails. Glad you enjoyed yourself and had a great time meeting friends.

[Rob Lightbody]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14111560

[bobso]

Thanks Rob for posting the link to the Tall Ships. I enjoyed watching the short video. Lovely to see the Red Arrows perform their amazing stunts and also to see the Waverly. The people high up on the rigging of the tall ships must have a very good head for heights--
don't think i would like to give it a try though!!