The weather again smiled on us for the annual MOA rally at Shepards Wharf, hosted by
Pam and Andy Verdon. Sunshine and a Force 3 – 5 in the Solent made for some excellent
sailing to and from the event. Early booking ensured that the MOA rally again had pole
position inside the northern basin; conversely the several boats rafted up outside suffered
from an uncomfortable chop overnight in the northerly wind. The decision was made to
have dinner at the ISC again rather than at UKSA, as had been the choice in previous
years. The ISC exceeded expectations, providing great value for money and excellent
service. A minutes silence was observed there, in memory of The Queen followed by a
toast to King Charles III. Boats taking part were: Ariam, Blue Rider, Good Time Girl, Walk
of Life, Lookin For Kloos, Windhover, Huggy Bear, Ruby Max, Maxi Magic, Iona and
Asante.

The MOA managed to choose one of the hottest weekends of the year to hold the 2022 mid-summer rally. Despite the hot dry weather some managed to sail using the mid-afternoon solar breeze. Royal Clarence proved to be a popular venue.

Watched over by the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers, eleven boats attended the rally on Saturday, including three berth holder boats; six boats came on Friday to make a weekend of it.

Attendees were: Eye of Horus; Pell Mell; Leda of Hamble; Genepy; Blue Lightning; Asante; Amazing Grace; Lady Penelope; Out of the Blue; Zuma Blue & Suive.

The hot weather resulted in one of the yachts taking time out whilst on passage to Gosport to anchor off Hillhead, to allow time for the crew to cool off with a spell of Solent swimming. Brave souls!

The rally hosts, Lorraine & Richard Sams of “Suive”, provided a pontoon party, helped by Sarah (Pell Mell). Twenty six people managed to gather on the pontoon to demolish nibbles and liquid refreshment.

The evening dinner was held in the upstairs room of the “Bakers Bar & Kitchen”, just by the marina. Despite the windows all being open, with even better views of the two aircraft carriers, the temperature continued to stay hot. This did not quieten the overall hubbub of sailing adventures and future plans.

Attendees were reminded that there are three more rallies this year: River Yealm (Sat 3^rd Sept); Shepards Wharf (17^th/18^th Sept) and Lymington (Sat 15^th Oct)

Sarah Horwood (membership sec) advised us that the MOA membership has increased to 123 and that the MOA “Whats App” group is proving a great success with 84 members participating currently.

On behalf of the participants, Peter Sands gave a vote of thanks to “Suive”.

At this point we all successfully negotiated the spiral staircase down to the ground floor without any mishaps and returned to our respective berths to try and cool down.