Boys weekend

Last weekend was an end of year getaway for what is very unfortunately know as "Boet club" which is normally just an excuse to get together, drink whisky and smoke cigars while the wives are at "Book club". My wife cackles with laughter every time she mentions "Boet club" and I have a sneaking suspicion that she goes out of her way to find reasons to mention it simply because it makes her laugh. While the members of said "Boet club" disagree on most points, there is unanimous agreement that the name "Boet club" is hideous. Thinking about it, it would be hard to get worse but we have yet to come up with anything better, only ones equally abysmal.

Carl has a shack at the vaal dam, pictured below, which he kindly offered us the use of - as well as his 200hp motorboat so six of us arrived at carls place on Saturday morning for the weekend. Once we had unlocked and unpacked we put the boat in the water and headed straight out because the wind wasn't too bad and one never knows what the weather is actually going to do. This skiing thing was a little intimidating since all of us are in our late 30's to early 50's and, much as we don't like to admit it, a little past our prime.



First person in the water was Eckhart who struggled to get up on the skiis so after a few abortive attempts gave up and it was my turn. I have actually skied before but it was so long ago that I can't remember when or with whom but I think that it was at least two decades ago. Surprise, surprise I popped straight out of the water and I was off inside the wake, outside the wake. Quite fun. I have no idea how long I actually skied for but it was long enough that I had to think about my hands and forearms acheing from the unusual stress of hanging onto the tow. I was scooting around the outside of a curve when carl made a curious gesture which I took to mean waves which sure enough there were. I managed to survive the 6" wake from another boat, not elegantly but I survived. The next set of 2' wave was another matter altogether, I went up the first wave, the front of the skiis dug into the base of the second wave and my head hit the base of the third wave. Enough skkiiinnggg for one day for me and I'm sure everyone in the board enjoyed the spill and it certainly cleared out my sinus cavities.

Eckhard had another try at skiing and came up first time, thereafter it was clear that he had done much more skiing that the rest of us, Carl excluded of course. After this we all had a go on the scooter which is a bit like a winged lilo and great fun, it suffers a bit in that because it is so easy, one gets over confident and this leads to spectacular spills. Finally, carl allowed me to get my mits on the controls while he tried kneeboarding. He refused to try skiing with me at the helm - probably a wise choice. Very successful turn as the pilot, I missed all the other boats and didn't run over any skiers in the water - piece of cake. Carl made some spectacular jumps on the kneeboard before performing a spectacular forward roll. Another sinus cleaning exercise.



I'm not going to admit as to who exactly it is that is in the picture but suffice to say that the six pack is no longer as firm as it once was.

After lunch everyone else went out skiing again while Eckhardt and myself took things easy and quietly whiled away the afternoon reading.

We had a braai for supper and yes, there were salads, before getting down to why were really away from our nearest and dearest.



A close examination will reveal a cigar in the hands of all present but I don't remember much after 20:00 because I was so tired that I kept on nodding off and carl eventually politely told me that it was time that I retired. Fortunately everyone else was pretty whacked from a day in the sun and the water so I wasn't exactly alone.

The next morning we all dragged out aching bodies out of bed and went off for our chosen torture session, either a run or a ride. I rode with Carl and Eckhardt on a circular course and then did a couple of extra laps just to make sure that I earned breakfast at the local nursery pictured below. It was amazing how the wind changed direction so that you always seem to be going into it and seldom with it.



Thereafter we all went out on the boat again but the wind was way too strong so it was time to pack up and bugger off home. I was very proud of myself in that I didn't raise any contentious topics or otherwise stir the pot apart from one slip on the way home.

P.S. I promised that I wouldn't let on that everyone did actually know how to load the dishwasher. I know that some men, who shall remain nameless, claim incompetence and ignorance in this department.

P.P.S. All photographs are courtesy of Wayne.