What a brilliant evening - just what was needed after mooring up at the Waveney River centre in some quite horrendous conditions. The wind was nigh on gale force all weekend, and north-easterly direction meant it was cold too. The rain was always around, very heavy on Saturday evening for the short walk over to the pub and even worse  most of the next day for the return to our home marinas!

 

However, the turnout was surprisingly good - and all those who couldn't manage the conditions came by car, some for both the dinner dance and the AGM - even though the latter was early on a wet Sunday morning. 10 club boats took advantage of the half-priced moorings and a total of 44 members and guests were booked for the evening dinner and dance. In the circumstances, a great turnout and it all went brilliantly. The food was lovely and served quickly; the music was thoroughly enjoyable - thanks to the duo of "Shipwreck" ( Bim, from Brundall, and our very own "Winkle"John) who played some great dancing numbers plus a few comical tune interludes. Their "Chas and Dave" compilations were great fun to sing-a-long to, and John's slow rendition of an Eric Clapton classic was wonderful that night! To supplement all that, the bar was well-stocked and the fast service stopped our throats from drying out right until the end! We didn't finish to well after midnight, and a slow dispersal whilst chatting and saying farewells, meant being all very late to our beds.

 

Still, most of us were up with a very wet, windswept lark the next morning and sauntered over to the pub again for the AGM at 10am. The members arriving by car seemed to be already waiting for the rest of us, and much interest was given over to the model of the new "HMS Norfolk" that Graham Davies and his colleague set up on the stage. (their intention was to carry out a speed-trial/demo of the little ship after the meeting, and the B.A. ranger Steve Wright was on hand to assist. However the weather, wind over tide, thwarted them).

A total of 31 members were in attendance for the meeting, highest number for a few years and fantastic considering the inclement conditions? Needless to add that the coffee and bacon butties were woofed down in a matter of minutes, with our vice-commodore Robin being privy once more to enjoying his own specially cooked sausage sarnie! The meeting kicked off just before 10.30 but was all wrapped up before Noon. No problems, and Ken no doubt will soon issue the minutes when he finds time? After the meeting, it was a quick getaway to head back home before the weather deteriorated further - if that was possible?    ( actually, in the event the weather improved later in the afternoon, and Paul on "Crown-in-Glory" reported a most leisurely trip for him and his family back to Brundall - while the rest of us were overheating our windscreen wipers!)

 

All-in-all, the consensus of opinion was "What a great weekend - bring on Loddon next"