Sailing Club

Tell Tales

Once upon a time far, far away, there was a great gathering in a little place called Apple-o-Bay. The purpose, to sail out of Magic Harbour and see who could triumph in a race on the choppy waters and win the much-coveted “Handy Cap”. This mystical hat would be sat upon the head of whoever was the winner. Some believed it had special powers. To win it you didn’t need to be the fastest, you didn’t even need to be the most cunning, but you did need to be brave, patient and against all odds you could never give up.  

The race was to be run by the most mischievous of all the sailing gnomes the Bo-ho-hos (Gry, Sell and Goff). And to make things interesting their Queen (Queen Jika) trusted them to run the race, all on their own!

Being the tricksters they are, the very first thing the Bo-ho-hos did was to fool the Ten plus ruffians into believing that there would be no wind by calling on the rain spirits to capture the breeze (and the Ruffian’s enthusiasm). So as the rain fell on the Ruffians, they were tricked into believing there was something more important they needed to go and do.

But try as they might, they couldn’t fool the others and the Bo-ho-hos eventually agreed to head off in the good ship Helena the Great to do the bidding of their Queen and start the race. Oh yeah, and to turn off the rain and set the wind spirit free once more.

There were 4 special boats that bumped and bounced their way out on the magic waters. First was Sir Bruce and Lady Geraldine in April Pincher. Next was Pete the Giant and his little ant helper on their floating log U-Forget-Ism. Then came Paulie Pan and Tinker Kel on their floating leaf, Skipping Feet, followed by Igor the Brave in his trusty vessel Once-upon-the-rocks.

So, with the wind spell lifted by those naughty start boat imps, and the wind able to whistle a merry tune, the four brave teams headed off on their adventure. Igor the Brave decided to head back into calmer waters to try and find the Ruffians on the rocks.

April Pincher had the best start but the Skipping Feet (who really wanted to wear the Handy Cap) were sprinkling fairy dust right on their tails. Pete the Giant and Ant were busy “not watching the flags” with all their might.

As the race went on the wind gently whispered to each boat. But it was the Skipping Feet who listened most carefully. When the wind said ‘round up’ they did. When it said ‘drop the tiller’ Paulie Pan let it go and when the wind said ‘hit the mark and finish just behind the giant’ they paid careful attention.

In the end Pan and Tink did get to wear the “Handy Cap”, proving that sometimes you must ‘lose bravely’ to win. Sir Bruce and Lady Geraldine won a “magic stick”. And the Bo-ho-hos?... well they promised Queen Jika to give up their mischievous ways. And you know that could only ever happen in a fairy tale!   

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