Lymington Town Quay
18 Boats attended overall & 42 crew plus visiting guests
Lymington Town Quay with its newly developed pontoon layout has become a popular sailing destination over the last year, and bei
ng right in the heart of town it provides an excellent base to engage in the shopping and nightlife that the town has to offer.
The weather gods were certainly with us, with brilliant sunshine and warmth which led to various boats holding impromptu deck drinks at various points over the weekend!
Friday saw arrival of 14 of our boats, helped to berth by both the able harbour staff and other members.
Pontoon drinks were held next to Stardust in the early evening and given the lovely weather these drinks went on for over 2 hours, it was quite entertaining see the pontoon bending under the strain of our collective weight and watching most of our members teetering off to go to their respective dining arrangements! Note, Juno crew came with a bottle of gin and several tonics in an ice bucket, very civilised...
During our session I thought it appropriate to organise an "excursion" for the following day which was simply - "The gentlemen of our boats were tasked with taking the ladies of the boats shopping the following day" Guidance was given that a nice outfit for the Saturday evening would be an appropriate investment. This announcement was met with much approval from the ladies but almost unanimous groans of derision from the men! Stardust, Sundowner and Juno was exempt from the exercise due to lack of female engagement... :-)
Saturday we were joined by the last of our fleet and it was a stunningly beautiful day, most of us took leisurely walks around the town and of course the shopping "excursion" saw many members strolling in and out of shops and enjoying the fantastic Saturday market on the High St. In the afternoon sun many of us got together for dinks on decks, a kind of pre-taster for the evening drinking and dining. Sadly the feedback from the ladies was very poor, it seems most of the men chose to avoid any fashion investments for them, shame on you gentlemen!
Pontoon drinks again was very popular, the pontoon was groaning and almost under water as many of us brought even more drink than the previous evening, at one point there were rugby songs and sea shanties being sung, you know who you are..... - Note, Juno crew arrived with a large bottle of Rum... and went on to create several cocktails.... there seems to be a theme here...
Dining at the Ship Inn and Kings Head provided good service and food then after dinner some boats (not to be named) had an after party which went on until about 2am, there were Rum cocktails, Porrnstar Martinis, Vodka in Tea, more beer, and other strange cocktails being created, amazingly, no-one fell in the water, although it was very close at several times!
Sunday saw some strange looks from other boats but luckily no complaints, as we took the "walk of shame" along the pontoon to the bottle bank with our empties!
My thanks to everyone who took part in the rally who helped to make it a great success… Teau in the Water, Nick Nack, Gracie May, Never Enough, Stardust, Juno, Valiant, High Time, Shiraz, Astrid, Fandango, Dorothy Lee, French Maid, Adriana, Memsahib, Bathia, Spree and Sundowner
I've not had a hangover this bad for a long time and have learned a valuable lesson from this rally....never leave phone unattended while the drinks are flowing..... and watch what goes into your tea!
Graham
Stardust