What another fantastic event in what has become a glorious summer, and what another great turnout - 16 Boats + 2 cars.  

8 teams ( each of 4 or 5 persons) took part in the games, and 40 members and guests attended the BBQ. Later, we all crowded inside & around the gazebo for some nice songs and guitar music from Bob and John – with a late refrain from our songstress Kath.

The weather remained warm and sunny throughout the weekend, and the promised rain stayed away – although at BBQ time it did look scarily dark over Norwich?

It all began late on the Friday, a few  boats arriving to test the availability of moorings, but it was crowded even then. The rest came along on the Saturday morning, rafting up as necessary until mooring space became available, but we had all managed to get alongside by lunchtime, and a lot of us were on the electric again. We totally filled the moorings with club boats – save for Brian & Maggie’s Princess 37, which remained for a few days, and even they were old club members! (remember, “Maggie B”?)

Remarkably, the gazebo was erected without too much fuss, and I ran around marking the pole-ends with differing coloured tape so as to make identification easier next time – although that will not be until May 2015? We then had a few congratulatory drinks and boozy chats before setting up for the afternoon games - this year making only a few changes, but rushing through the three games as we had a late start – BBQ’s were scheduled to start at 5pm.

I set up the “Captain’s Table” on which to keep track of proceedings and note the scoring, and Bob took the role of Adjudicator. We did the usual Boules first, a bit long-winded but at least everyone had a go! Then we rushed into a shortened form of Croquet, and finished off with "Play-your-Cards Right" at the end. Points were liberally dished out according to attainment, and a couple of “jokers” played to double them.  Great fun in the sun!

The BBQ went well, all enjoyed their food and drinks in warm sunshine, sitting around the boats and the gazebo.

The evening started a bit late,  with the Trophy quiz not starting until 8.30pm – chaired by me again but still making a fist of it. (don’t worry – Bob’s back in charge for the main Quiz Nite at Somerleyton in September). The remainder of the “jokers” were then played and the points tallied up. It was a close run contest, but team "Bishy Bees” (Dave; Dawn; Graham; Mary) came first and were declared winners of the “Paul Hodgson” trophy. They were only 4 points ahead of John and Sandra’s team “Winkle”, with Paul and Nula’s first team “Bobbing About” coming in a close third, thanks to Robin and Jane standing in for them on the quiz. Paul’s second team “Bobbing about Too” came in a distant 8th., and last!  Anyway, it was all a bit of fun. Many congratulations to all who participated.

Bob and John begun their session just after 9pm, and we were treated to some great guitar standards with Bob trying out his new “Black Bison” guitar. Kath was then persuaded to sing a few numbers for us and a few got up to dance to her tunes, before Bob/John took over once again to finish the evening with some comedy songs – especially Chas & Dave numbers that Sylvia had been desperately calling for, and added a couple of Lonnie Donegan’s for good measure. I still can’t get “Does your chewing gum lose its flavour?” out of my head!

Sunday was a late clear up, we wanted the sun to dry out the gazebo a bit before we began packing it away. When we did start to dismantle it, the material was still dripping wet inside, and I ran around again with the coloured tape to mark the roof poles, ones forgotten by me the day before. I was trapped inside and showered as the roof canvas was upturned to dry – much to the amusement of all.  Eventually, the gazebo was ready for its winter storage at Bim's plot and packed onto Dave’s boat for the onward journey. Many thanks to Dave & Dawn for looking after the TWO gazebos throughout the season.

Most of us had left by  lunchtime, but again there were a few who decided to stay a little longer (one more day? sssh!) . We were then joined by Langford & Margaret (“Barracuda”) who hadn’t been able to get away on the Saturday, but better late than never? So once more, back to the drinking and the chatting, whilst the sun still shone!

The end of another lovely weekend.

See you all at the next event – Oulton Broad Regatta weekend. Don't forget the BBQ on Sunday 24th.August, about 4pm?

Regards,

Ken

August 2014