Pembroke River Rally - Saturday August 17th

Pembroke's River Rally was a great success with around 70 craft taking part to sail up the Pembroke River to the Castle Pond led by the WWMHS boat 'Heritage'. On the South Quay a large crowd greeted the boats, attended by Pembroke's Mayor (Cllr Ann Mortenson} and Town Crier (Cllr Gareth Jones). Pembroke has a great maritime heritage and, although the days of the Coastal trade are a distant memory, the annual River Rally is there to remind us. The construction of the barrage across the Pembroke river blocked the way to shipping and the River Rally came about to establish the right to navigate the Pembroke River. The West Wales Maritime Heritage Society was asked by the Mayor of Pembroke to organise the very first Pembroke River Rally in 1995. The Society calculates when the tide will allow the event to take place, arranges a flagship for the Mayors of Pembroke and Pembroke Dock and a flotilla of boats to provide a spectacle and mark Pembroke's maritime History. This is done once a year to keep the rights of navigation alive for those who sail the Pembroke River and who wish to enter the Castle Pond.