The refill
running of NSA’s Coffee Cup race was low. Maybe it was
because the Bean – the appointed starting place for the
race – is still closed for repairs after Hurricane Isabel.
Or maybe it was the chill and overcast weather.
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The
crowded skippers meeting
|
In any
event, at the 9AM skippers’ meeting, three people –
from two boats – and one dog had showed up at the Town
Dock.
The three hearty souls were Mac Allen from “Kuheli,”
and Jean-Pierre Bernoux and his boat partner Dave Berendsen
from “Pepper”. There was some discussion of canceling
the race altogether, until Mac pointed out that the first and
second place finishers each would get a bottle of rum.
At that point the discussion turned to what would technically
constitute a race. The trio decided to sail aboard Kuheli for
the racecourse across the Neuse River to South River and compete
for the rum that way. (This is entirely fitting with the non-rules
of the Coffee Cup race – see
the story on the spring Coffee Cup Race).
They were treated to some reefed sailing conditions onboard
the Halberg-Rassy. Dave said it was blowing blazes at 20-25.
Jean-Pierre allows that Mac may have finished first as he was
at the bow at the finish line.
The bottles of rum -- and the ever-present NSA no-spill mugs
-- were presented to the winners at the NSA social Saturday
afternoon. While receiving the awards, Dave Berendsen summed
up his team’s winning strategy. “Sometimes,”
Dave said, “all you have to do is show up.”
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Ho-ho-ho
and two bottles of rum. Jean-Pierre Bernoux, Dave Berendesen
and Mac Allen in the winners circle for the Coffee Cup
Race. Dave’s the one with the bottle of Bud.
|
The NSA
October social was held on the back porch of M&M's Saturday
afternoon. A crowd of 60 was there. That’s twenty times
the number that presented themselves for the coffee cup race
Saturday morning. The Town Dock news team is investigating if
there was a link between the higher crowd numbers and the quesadillas
and wings and libations being offered.
NSAers
then moved on to the Oriental Harbor Marina's Harbor Club where
the grill was fired up and dinner served.
