To help get the festive season underway, it was time for the Laying Up Supper. It was held at the customary Furze Bush, where the food and service was exemplary, as we’ve come to expect.
It’s always lovely to have the opportunity to catch up with fellow Club members, hope with anticipation that you’ll win a raffle prize, but most importantly, not hear your name mentioned when it comes time for the Uncle Albert award.
Uncle Albert is always hotly contested, and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, the current holder was unable to attend, but he’d handed over the honour of delivering the speech and award to the Uncle Alberto incumbant, as practice for when that award would be needed next month at the end of the ski trip.
There were several honourable mentions for the award, including mooring a yacht in an unexpected location (using it’s keel) for a tea break while the tide rose. In the end, the deserving winner was from the ‘Scottish Cruise’, and there were audible sighs of relief when the location of the misdemeanour was announced. The event in question had been kept remarkably quiet, which Uncle is never a fan of, and always ensures the entrant moves a little higher up the list of candidates.
There were two main justifications for the decision. Nominally, it was for falling out of a dingy into a cold Scottish Loch, when trying to bail out the substantial amount of water it was holding. The bail out method had been to move body weight to the stern, to pool the water and make it easier to scoop out. The flaw was that this meant all weight (including the outboard) was in one place, which ensured maximum instability in a vessel not known for it’s stability in the first place. The true reason for the award, was perhaps that the award winner had taken the advice of a fellow Club member, for the best way to bail out the water. He really should have known better!
10th December 2025