Island Harbour 23-25 June 2021
Published 17:59 on 1 Jul 2021
Breaking away from the traditional rally weekend format, the first mid week rally had been posted as a 'potter' and scheduled for 22 to 24 June. Mid-summer, perfect weather and 2 days relaxing at the top of the river Medina. Everything looked set, with attendees confirmed and tables booked for the Tuesday evening in the Breeze.
Then we saw the weather forecast on Sunday with winds for Monday/Tuesday anything between a F5 and F7, plus lots of rain. Clearer weather was however expected mid week. Sensing wobbles among the fleet and after a quick consultation with the commodore we decided to try to delay the whole rally by a day. A late call to the marina caught the manager before the office closed and he confirmed our reservations for the Wednesday/Thursday. Similarly the Breeze was happy to move all our table bookings forward a day.
Sentosa had only planned to stay the first night so unfortunately had to drop out. All the other boats confirmed for the Wednesday but only one could stay the second night.
Brian & Hilary being made of sterner stuff, and perhaps wearing dark glasses to hide the white horses (sea state was slight!), set off as originally planned early Tuesday morning to set up HYC base camp with full battle dress and feathers, recently restored and repaired, thanks to Hilary & Brian.
The remaining 8 boats made their way on Wednesday morning, avoiding locking by getting in during freeflow.
Wednesday morning brought settled weather and a favourable tide. Too gentle in the end with boats having to resort to the engine to get to Island Harbour before freeflow ended.
Previous rally visits to the Breeze had a reputation for poor service and food. Partly due to the covid restrictions, this time we arranged 4 tables, staggered over 30 minutes. Despite limited staff, a factor the whole hospitality industry is having to deal with, our waiter kept up the pace and we all ordered and ate good pub food in a reasonable timeframe.
Thanks to everyone for a great rally, and to Christian and the team at Island Harbour for being so accommodating in moving the rally dates and the friendly welcome.
Stephen
Vin Rouge
Related
- Mid-Week Potter to Island Harbour 23 June 2021 (23 - 25 June 2021)
Last updated 09:59 on 27 November 2023