1997
We kicked off last year with a trip to the Scout Hall to clean up! Yes it was New Year's Day and we had the aftermath of the Hamwic party to contend with. Somehow the excitement of preparing for the party was lacking in the cleaning up stage. But in true Hamwician style, we got stuck in and soon had the place back to normal (cold and draughty?).
Now for the first real event of the year, the London Boat Show. After an initial problem with the coach (the Newbury by-pass protesters hadn't brought it back) we sorted ourselves out and managed to spend an enjoyable day at the show followed by a good meal. I returned home many pounds lighter (that's ££s not lbs), but now the proud owner of a new set of breathable wet weather gear. I've given it a thorough workout this year and it's been brilliant.
The girls had a really good time in February when we went to a performance of `A Girl's Night Out' at Chichester Theatre. It was screamingly funny, so much so that when it appeared at the Mayflower in October we went again!
March was still too cold for proper sailing rallies so we organised a skittles evening to keep you all busy. The ploughman's supper went down really well. For those sailors suffering withdrawal symptoms Steve arranged a trip to Solent Coastguard's who entertained us with horror stories of when things go wrong. Undaunted, several hardy skippers felt they could wait no longer and over the Easter weekend dashed across the Channel and back. Cold, wet and windy (it was hell!!). I'm told we had a good time (I remember being sick for hours).
Back on dry land, Dave and Trish guided
us around East Meon and we took in the sights of
spring arriving in the countryside. After an enjoyable,
though rather hilly, walk we retired to the Izaac Walton Inn
for lunch. Lynn exercised our brains with one of her quiz nights. Where does she
find some of those questions? For those of you who prefer
this type of exercise to the more strenuous sort, she's offered
to organise another later this year, so keep your eyes on the diary page.
We took to the water again over the May Bank
Holiday weekend with a trip to Yarmouth. At barely
two weeks old, Alice joined us for her first Hamwic rally.
Mum and Dad were kind enough to bring her by car and ferry
to spend the day, but I don't think she was
particularly impressed with us as she slept all day, only waking briefly
at meal times.
June was a busy month with the Scouts summer b-b-q and another Hamwic rally to Island Harbour. Robin and I unfortunately missed this one as we were away sampling the Norfolk Broads. I'm told it was great fun, although surely Steve's trip up the mast and Karic's exploding silencer weren't organised purely for Hamwic's amusement.
The summer months passed quickly away. Not able to co-ordinate holiday dates this year we all went our separate ways but it was nice to read some of the holiday reports in ribs & trucks. We managed to catch everyone between holidays for a visit to Bowman Yachts, courtesy of Shane. Envy reigned supreme as we all drooled over the latest yachts under construction.
Holidays over, it was time for another rally, this time to the Folly Inn. It was my first visit to the Folly and apparently the tabletop dancing is a regular event. The place was throbbing with live music and we found ourselves squashed into the entranceway as all the tables were taken. Six weeks later we were back again, this time booking the pontoon and tables in the restaurant which was much better.
With autumn well and truly arrived it was time for
indoor activities once again and we set off for an evening
at Millbrook Superbowl. Children were invited as
well and had a great time. The hardened sailors amongst
you, however, couldn't resist the call of the sea and had to
have one final dash across the Channel. 
Robin and I
happily gave this one a miss and flew across the Channel
by aeroplane (it's much quicker) on our way to Cyprus for
a week.
During November we took in a visit to the Mayflower to see a production of Tommy and the Scouts invited us to their disco to get us in the mood for the forthcoming Christmas activities. These started off with a dinner dance at Southampton University where several of our female members found themselves part of an impromptu jazz band, each having a different musical instrument and giving a solo. Mine was a triangle and if you can't imagine a triangle solo, well you just had to be there. (A few drinks helped).
The children got into the spirit of things with an incredible fifty children attending the party. This has definitely got to be the maximum, poor Santa was handing out presents for ages! The New Year Party goes from strength to strength. Every table was packed and latecomers had to squeeze in wherever they could. Next year it's advance bookings only!
Well that was 1997 and just in case you felt sorry for the sailors, we did let them loose once more after Christmas for a quick trip to Hamble for chilli and mince pies. No doubt they'll be itching to cross that wide expanse of water at the first opportunity. I'll happily settle for the Isle of Wight.
Happy New Year to you all.
Thanks to Weymouth for the background