The weather was awful Friday – storm force winds and heavy showers, which prevented members arriving on that day (and some from attending at all!). Luckily, a few had pre-thought the situation, and came to Loddon on the Thursday - two boats braving the open moorings of Pye’s Mill, and others into the sheltered Loddon Basin.

We all moved down to Pyes Mill mid-morning on the Saturday, after the winds eased and the weather dried out a little, leaving us a mixture of sunny spells and showers. Reasonable enough weather for us to erect just one gazebo early afternoon, even though Steve had gone out of his way to pick up our 2nd.gazebo from Tim at Beccles yacht station. Boats continued to arrive throughout the day, ending up with 11 boats and 4 cars making the trip – nearly 30 members in attendance. A good turnout under the circumstances.

We had a bit of excitement early on, when a small hire boat just leaving had managed to wind his rear mooring rope around the propellor, where it eventually stalled the engine in mid-river – drifting on the ebb tide near to our boats. We managed to get a rope to him and hauled him back to our side, whereupon Dave jumped aboard and proceeded to pull the offending rope off – whilst the worried hirer continued to put it in reverse / forward until it came free. A very grateful hirer, and his wife, offered us wine but we could not accept. Dave settled for an early nomination for our Challenge Shield, for a good deed done!

A few of us were invited onto Mr C around lunchtime, for drinks and snacks, and others chatted with members outside their own boats. A very pleasant afternoon, but we decided to begin the BBQ’s early around 4pm, as the weather began to deteriorate. We all cooked individually or in small groups, near to each other’s boats. All went well, and the rains held off until gone 6pm, so a successful first barbie of the season!

With the showers and the cool winds continuing, a few of us congregated in the gazebo around 8pm, doing our best to maintain some social distance. No music this time, just plenty of drinks and chatting.

It began to get quite chilly as the evening wore on, and we began to disperse early around 9.30 to 10pm. Anyway, it was Eurovision on TV – always good for a laugh! (UK got “nil-points” – as usual?)

Sunday

It was a lovely sunny start. A few boats began to drift off early, leaving only 4 or 5 to clear up. The gazebo was left for a while to dry out, but Dave was returning to Loddon Basin by noon and he dismantled it with some help from Bim & Jackie, and Dawn. John / Sandra / Jen and I had been invited onto “Precious Time”, for coffee, and we didn’t return until gone 1pm – by which time Dave & Dawn had left, and Bim followed soon after. The final boats left by the afternoon, last to go being “Precious Time”, leaving Jen and I as tail-end Charlies! Dawn returned late afternoon to collect her car from Pyes Mill car park, so she popped on board “Lady Grace” for a coffee and a natter with Jen, before making her journey home.

An enjoyable end to a lovely Club weekend.

The next 2021 event is the Tea Party and BBQ at Bramerton on Saturday 26th.June, hopefully taking place AFTER the final relaxation of the Covid rules – the longed-for final Step 4!

Fingers ALL crossed.

See you all there!

Ken  05/06/2021