A bit of history about our club

Our Club was formed in 1981 by Allan Kitcatt, who thought it would be a good idea to get together with a group of like-minded people on the moorings at East Farleigh. 

Allan Kitcatt

Our commitee meetings were initially all held on Allan’s boat “Julianda” moored on Bill Kennet’s Moorings at East Farleigh (Bill was Mooring Manager for Mooring Owners Jim & Kay Paine). Allan, together with  Ivor Manley, Chris Andrews, Dennis Long and Derek Beal, created the Club from those humble beginnings.  

The club bungee was created by Paul Smith’s sister, basing it on the Oast Houses at East Farleigh (now sadly gone due to a fire) depicted over the East Farleigh Road Bridge. Allan was Ex Navy and he was a stickler for Flag Etiquette on Club Boats, so you dare not fly your Club Burgee on the wrong side or position of your cross-tree!

The “Joining Fee” (not Annual Subs) was £4 each and Derek Beal was the first Club Treasurer and deposited the first £20 into the EFCC Bank Account.

Our first Club Cruise was to Sharfleet Creek with 8 Club Boats attending, and the First Annual Dance was held in 1982 at the Royal Star Hotel in Maidstone High Street, which was a very plush Hotel and Coaching Inn.  It was demolished and is now known as the Royal Star Arcade. In 1983 we had our second Club BBQ (now re-named 'Fun Day')  on Farmer Day’s Land just below Teston Bridge on the port side as you travel upstream, and we also held our first Barn Dance. Both events became an annual feature and continue to this day!

The club continued to grow, and meetings moved to "The Cabin" (a shed in the beer garden at the Victory Inn in East Farleigh), which became our club house and served us for many years.

The first club bulletin was published in 1984 (in A5 format) - and this year was also the first that we held our 'Annual Ball' and went en masse to Maidstone River Festival. Several members joined in with our first international cruise, lead by Allan, heading over to France and Belgium.

In 1987, the club purchased a plot of riverside land in Teston - this became our club land. A lot of work has been done over the years to secure the banks from erosion, manage drainage and keep the ground in good order. We hold several 'work days' per year, where members are encouraged to muck in and help maintain the land for the benefit of our members (and the general public, who have right of access).