All over the country last weekend, sailing clubs, rowing club, motor cruising clubs and all kinds of other water users came together in a pre-Olympic celebration called ‘Push the Boat Out’ to indicate their support for our Olympic sailors, rowers and kayakers.
Douglas Dick is a stalwart of the local sailing community – both with Desborough Sailing Club in Shepperton and with Queen Mary Sailing Club on the reservoir in Ashford.
It was three years ago when I first wrote about the invasion of the Thames by Chinese mitten crabs – so called because of the dense hair on the back of their large claws – and I wondered whether readers of this column had spotted more examples in our stretch of the river.
