You may wonder about the 'Hostellers' in the title of our club. This refers to the non-sailing activity which helps keep the club together over the winter months. The club is a registered local group of the Youth Hostels Association, the national organisation and registered charity which provides budget accommodation for ramblers and outdoor people in general. (you certainly do not need to be youthful to stay at a Youth Hostel). During the winter months, the HSC organises several rambling weekends staying overnight at Youth Hostels, mostly within a couple of hours driving from London. There are also occasional day or afternoon rambles. We make Easter weekend a rambling weekend rather than a sailing one and usually visit a hostel further afield for this weekend, perhaps in the Lake District or the West Country. We have some members who go sailing but never go rambling and we have some who go rambling but never go sailing.
Our longer rambles are up to about 15 miles, but many are shorter. Those who do not want to walk so far may form a separate party and take a shorter route. The rambles nearly always stop at a pub or cafe for lunch and often at a tea shop in the afternoon as well.
Those who have found this web site through an interest in sailing may know nothing about the Youth Hostels Association (YHA). I have already made the point that the YHA is not only for youthful people. Anyone who needs overnight accommodation while taking part in some outdoor activity may use Youth Hostels. That outdoor activity could be walking, cycling, canoeing or even just sight seeing by motor car. The overnight cost of Hostels varies but is typically around £15-00 excluding meals. Some of the smaller hostels in out of the way places are a little cheaper and some hostels in large towns and those offering above average facilities are a little extra. All hostels are now maintained to a high standard of cleanliness and nearly all offer facilities to do your own cooking if you want to. If your memories of youth hostels date from the 70's or earlier you may be pleased to know that 'chores' before you are allowed to leave the hostel are now long forgotten, provided that you leave facilities such as the members kitchen and washrooms clean and tidy the warden will be happy. The main difference between staying in a Hostel and staying in a B+B house or hotel is that Hostels generally have shared dormitories although a few hostels do now offer some individual rooms. Hostels tend to be a bit friendlier than hotels since everyone staying at a hostel is on holiday and engaged in some outdoor pursuit, so people do tend to talk to each other. Many hostels are buildings of some historical interest, e.g. converted mills, manor houses, even a medieval castle.
Link to Youth Hostels Association
If you found out about us from the YHA you may be confused that we are listed as 'Essex Sailing Club' and also I think as 'Essex Hostellers Sailing Group' in some of the YHA literature. Don't worry about it. Some years ago we did aquire a second name for largely forgotton reasons and the YHA have given us at least one further name. We normally refer to our club as the Hostellers Sailing Club!
The Hostellers Sailing Club is one of many local groups affiliated to the YHA. Most of the others are primarily rambling clubs. We have made this web site part of the YHA local group ring of sites, so that you can take a look at the others - see instructions at the bottom of our main page.
(note: although affiliated to the YHA, the HSC is not itself a registered charity and is financially separate from the YHA)