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The curse of the weather gods seem to be upon us at the moment.
The weather yesterday was gloriously sunny and warm. Get a collection of
model boat owners in one place and the weather turns miserable. I swear
we should be hiring ourselves out to drought affected regions, hire
model boat builders to come and run their boats in your area, get rain.
The occasion was the Maritime Model Club of NSW's 25th anniversary
regatta. In addition to members from across the years at MMC,
representatives from a host of other clubs were in attendance, including
the Newcastle, Canberra, St George and Hubertus clubs, plus of course,
Task Force 72.
The day before temperatures had been high 30s and plenty of sunshine,
however late in the evening the rain started, and was still hanging
around on Sunday morning. however hope for the best and pack the car and
off we go.
Maritime Model Clubs facilities at Narrabeen are first class, including
docks and tables to set up models, and in spite of the threatening
conditions (and the occasional drizzle) a wide variety of sail, petrol,
steam and electric boats were to be seen on the water.
Unlike Task Force 72, which is a single scale club, the Maritime Model
Club is open to all scales and types of boat ( TF72 doesn't have steam
or petrol models as the insurance costs are a bit steep, MMC pays over
$1500 per year for their insurance alone). Large-scale ferries,
including a spectacular paddle wheeler were in evidence, plus a brace of
large tugs and a few fast-moving speedboats, all dodging the slow moving
sail yachts.
Flying the flag for Task Force 72 were Geoff Eastwood, John Slater, Alan
Pew and Mike James, plus a number of other TF72 members were there,
representing their other clubs.
Mike James partially completed Australian Coast Guard Vessel NEMESIS was
the subject of a quick brainstorming session by TF72 members on site to
fix a few minor problems, after which it ran far more successfully.
Alan got the Argentinean Offshore Patrol Vessel ARS GENERAL BELGRANO and
the Indian frigate INS TARAGIRI into the water during the day, while
John Slater's incomplete but still very impressive Type 21 HMS AVENGER
also conducted sea trials. Geoff's magnificent Ikara-equipped frigate,
HMS LEANDER and Mike's NEMESIS also flew the TF72 flag during the day.
Unfortunately the weather deteriorated from occasional drizzle to
downright unpleasant rain, at times quite heavy, which saw the assembled
modellers cowering under the temporary marquee for a delicious lunch and
a small ceremony to commemorate the Maritime Model Club of NSW's 25th
anniversary. A cake bearing the MMC's crest was duly ceremoniously cut
(and rapidly consumed) before we dispersed in the face of even more
rain.
Hopefully our next gathering will be somewhat more successful, or at
least drier!
Report by Mike James
Click on a photo to enlarge. [Back to Post Mission Reviews] - Photos courtesy of
Allan Pew
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