Martin & Heidi Vinson

In memory of David, a dear friend and great sailor. Thank you for introducing us to offshore sailing and for so many happy trips and adventures. We'll always remember them and you with great fondness and who could ever forget your huge belly laugh!

Tony Hinton

As with many aspiring day skippers, I undertook the theory evenings course at Chertsey where David was tutor. Through his deep knowledge and experiences he made the course interesting and pleasurable. David later introduced me to sailing on Sea Essay via the CSSA and I crewed for him on many occasions, firstly in 2006 and later including my first RTI in 2009 and my first Channel crossing in 2010. I also had the privilege of being invited on his Christmas cruise in 2012 where Sea Essay was severely frost covered on the morning of our departure to Yarmouth and mooring there was problematic with Sea Essay being blown off and the pontoons being slippery. But dinner at Forresters in David's gregarious company more than compensated for the challenges en route. He was an excellent mentor often giving the crew free rein in decision making with his catch phrases of 'your call' and 'free style'. His last signature in my log book was entered after a sea time cruise to Poole in 2013. David's passing is a great loss to CSSA and to those of us with fond memories. learning pleasurable with his this time and later

£15.00 (+ £3.75 Gift Aid)

Chris and Phil Mitchell