The forecast was not at all encouraging, suggesting a weekend of unrelentingly wet and windy weather, but in a spirit of do or die White Rose and Wisp met up at the Reedcutter for the final cruise of the season and were duly rewarded with better than expected conditions. Waking on Saturday morning was somewhat un-nerving in fact, as there was a little sunshine and no wind at all, meaning that the day could only deteriorate!

For Bob, perhaps it did, when a simple exercise to rethread his burgee halyard turned into a marathon exercise requiring White Rose’s mast to be dropped no fewer than three times. Most alarming was when the halyard broke, sending the rather substantial burgee stick plummeting deckwards like a javelin.

Once Dave Snutch had turned up, delivered by a train that was timed perfectly to coincide with slack low water, the two yachts set off on what turned out to be an enjoyable sail all the way to Surlingham, albeit a slightly breezy one in the last few stretches before the shelter of Train Reach. Pam and Gerald joined us for lunch by road and Melody eventually hove into view just as Wisp set off upriver.

By late afternoon, with the rain thankfully having held off, all three yachts were snugly moored outside the Nelson in Norwich, with their crews very snugly inside the bar. Pam and Gerald again appeared by road, this time bringing Jackie Jenner with them and we were also graced with the presence of the Commodore and Secretary. Tony and Jan completed our select group, who nevertheless proceeded to have a most enjoyable evening. Our waitress, Lucy, did a sterling job despite being variously chatted up and wound up by certain male members of the party. Work out which two for yourself!

In the morning it was Raining. The motorised trip downriver was not the most enjoyable part of the weekend, and Bob puzzled the crew of Wisp with his rather strange approach to the moorings at Coldham Hall. It transpired this was the result of a plastic bag round the prop, removal of which resulted in Bob’s lifejacket inadvertently being inflated. Not his weekend, really.

Mark, Harriet and Arthur also had great trouble on arrival, as the strong wind meant they were unable to get into their mooring. Eventually they abandoned Melody outside the pub and came inside to enjoy the beer, good company and the large dish of free roast potatoes that appeared on our table. This cruise may not have had many people on it, but those that came all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.