Blessed with sunshine and light winds, the annual rally at Shepards Wharf was attended by 11 Maxis and 25 crew. As before, Shepards had us raft up and non-Maxi boats were moved away to ensure a convivial rally atmosphere. Organized this year by Andy and Pam Verdon in Ariam, the other yachts were Pell Mell (Sarah and Peter O’Donnell), Suive (Richard and Lorraine Sams, with Rod and Carole Minkey aboard), Genepy (Tricia and Richard Morrison), Walk of Life (Peter and Joan Lloyd), Blue Lightning (Peter and Sarah Sands), Moondust (Rob and Julie Powter) and, joining a Maxi rally for the first time, Kevin Manville in Eye of Horus and Tony and Therese Rice in Freya. Bill MacFarlane elected to leave Out of the Blue on her berth in East Cowes, but made sure that he did not miss the pontoon party! A slightly surprised Gavin and Clarissa berthed alongside in Amazing Grace and, as MOA members, found themselves invited to (and already paying for) the pontoon party. As the sun went down, the Cowes water taxis ferried the team to UKSA where dinner was served, followed by a short talk on the amazing work done by the charity. The extremely reasonable price for dinner included a donation per-head to UKSA, which many people topped up with a further offering. The MOA enjoys an excellent relationship with UKSA, which provides an ideal facility for this kind of event. Without losing anyone into the Medina, the water taxis returned us in the dark to Shepards, in time for cocoa and bedtime stories. Good sailing conditions the following morning saw the participants sail away, some with cruising chutes up all the way to Chichester! A really nice final rally for the season.