15th OCL Bay Boats Reunion - Hull 2025

The 15th OCL Bay Boats Reunion took place in Hull over the Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd August weekend. The main organiser for the event was Julian Shears with others contributing to the planning which started as soon as the 2024 'do' had completed.

We don't have an exact count of how many attended this year as people were coming and going at the various venues across the three days, but the figure is easily going to be 40+ with the regulars (and their partners) joined by some 'first trippers'. Words along the lines of "I'm sure we sailed together on the ......... Bay" were uttered many times!

The first meeting point on the Friday afternoon was Ebenezer Morley's on Anlaby Road, close to the railway station and the city centre Holiday Inn which was where many of the participants were staying over the weekend.

OCL Bay Boats is the Facebook group set up by Julian Shears 18 years ago and run by former sea staff who sailed on the OCL (CFL and OFL), P&O Containers and P&O Nedlloyd container vessels. It is a very active online forum which has just under 1,400 members.

More people arrived as Friday afternoon turned into Friday evening, some of the 'catch-ups' going back 40+ years! Arrangements were made for the meet-up on the Saturday, and everyone staying overnight presumably (eventually) found their bed.

The rendezvous for Saturday was again Ebenezer Morley's with the group then moving on to the nearby King Edward's. The destination for the evening was then the Tiger's Lair.

Sunday was for farewells and commitments to meet up again in 2026 (when the venue is expected to be Liverpool).

As the saying goes, a good time was had by all...

This 2025 reunion was the 15th in a series of annual events going back to the early 2000s. It all started with a handful of people agreeing to meet up in a pub, and over the years has grown into a regular fixture in the calendar. The venues to date have been Hull, Liverpool and Southend on Sea.