What a wonderful evening!

On Thursday evening about fifty people turned up for our special evening presented by the Riddle of the Sands Adventure Club. Before we all watched the film, Tim and Lloyd served up some home made Edwardian grog to get us in the mood. They introduced us to the films fascinating history and showed us some dodgy tinned meats that may have been the kind of provisions on board the Dulicibella. One of the really lovely aspects to these Arthur Beale evenings are the delightful people who attend them. On this occasion we were honoured to have Howard Blake OBE with us. He composed the wonderful music to the film and told us about how he was appointed to the task after writing the music to Ridley Scott's film The Duellists. Howard Blake also wrote the music for The Snowman which includes Walking in the Air.

We were then shown a stunning painting of The Dulcibella by Martyn Mackrill (shown above). Martyn had brought the painting up from the Isle of Wight while the paint was still wet! In my ignorance I was unaware of Martyn's work before this evening but have since browsed through one of his exhibition catalogues and his maritme work is quite remarkable. Martyn is the official painter for the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Thames Yacht Club - I'm not surprised. We met after the evening and there is a strong possibility that we will host a small exhibition of his work in the autumn -don't miss it!

Martyn didn't come alone because he was accompanied by his old island friend Mark Hickman who is a stringed instrument restorer who also restored the 1909 G U Laws gaff sloop Tarifa. There is a film about his sympathetic restoration on Classic Yacht TV and it is well worth a watch.

Also in the crowd were our friends Ned and Kate who were able to announce that they have a Rippingilles stove sitting on their fridge! This of course bought tears of joy to Tim and Lloyd's eyes and they immediately arranged a visit.

After the film there was a short discussion about the differences between the film and the book. One highly informed member of the audience was able to tell us that the Kaiser was actually on an official visit to Turkey on the day he was meant to be in the ill fated tugboat. This minute detail once again filled Tim and Lloyd with the utmost joy.

I know we had an editor of a Yachting Magazine and a Nautical Book Publisher amongst us plus our dedicated staff who worked hard to ensure that the evening ran smoothly.

You can follow Tim and Lloyd's adventure and sign up for the podcast on their website www.riddleofthesands.net You can also pledge your support to help them publish the definitive version of the book with sections covering every possible detail and maybe a picture of Ned and Kate's Ripingilles stove!