Looking at the last shots makes you realise it's been a while since I last added anything to this thread, however today definately merits a mention.
Turning up at the pond this morning I was greeted by thick smooth ice all over the car park, pathways, grass and, of course the water itself. I've never seen it quite so thick and quite so extensive with not even a small patch available to justify taking the models with me. Still it was the last Sunday before Christmas and traditionally we always have a mince pies and daft hat day and who's going to miss out on that?
Those that had taken a boat put them on the "water", but of course they needed to be on thier stands to stay upright!! Anyway at least we could say we put the boats out. I steamed up my Borkum simply because I could and it gave us something to watch for a while. The sub zero temperatures did prove to be a bit of a challenge to get the gas to evaporate but after a few attempts and a bit of warmth finally filtering through to the gas tank it was soon up to steam and running the little Puffin engine. Loads of visible steam thanks to the temperature so a bit of a shame I couldn't get it on the water to see it at it's best!
The only part of the club enjoying the conditions were the hovercraft lads who even had perfectly dry ice to ensure an interesting steering experience! I actually had a go and realised just how challenging it is to get them to go in a straight line, and I thought yachts were tricky.
Anyway a great morning with a great bunch of guys, all of which crazy enough to stand on the side of the pond on a freezing Sunday morning simply for the purposes of eating mince pies, pork pies and a slice of stollen, and enjoying each others company. You can't want for much more really can you?
By the way as it's Christmas I promised I wouldn't say anything derogatory about Stan so I'll not mention the fact that he never stops talking or anything like that. If you didn't know him he's the third from the left with the strange hunchback stance, the thumb up his nose, thinning hair and the slight paunch.
Merry Christmas every one.