River Wedding M
uch to my delight, earlier this year my daughter Penny announced she was getting married and that she and her Scottish fiancé wanted the ceremony and reception to be at The Pike & Eel in Needingworth where our boat Charlie Brown is moored. I couldn’t have been more pleased at their choice of venue but found out that nowadays the Pike & Eel Hotel don’t normally host weddings. They kindly made a special exception for us. The night prior to the wedding Penny stayed in the Old Ferryboat at Holywell and in the morning Charlie Brown was moored outside. Dressed from stem to stern with bunting, a vine heart and rope garlands all decorated with milky white roses intertwined with dark green ivy leaves. A sea horse mounted on the pulpit rail and a heart of cockleshells intertwined with Scottish thistles on the windscreen, she was ready to convey the bride-to-be down river. Penny’s first surprise was to see her Dad, not smartly dressed in a morning suit as expected but sporting a Johnny Depp moustache and beard wearing a pirate’s hat and waistcoat waiting to escort her across the grass to the boat.
Flotilla of boating friends
I was so proud to see my daughter looking radiantly stunning in her wedding dress acco panied by her equally gorgeous twin sister acting as maid of honour. Then, the first and thankfully only problem of the day was how to get Pen and her pristinely white but voluminous dress aboard intact. This was deftly accomplished with the aid of her sister Sam and her step brother Alex, although I have to say, the girls’ deck shoes looked a bit at odds with the rest of their finery. Having quickly recovered her composure, aided by a glass of ice cold bubbly, Pen was delighted to be accompanied on her journey aboard Charlie Brown by a flotilla of friends on their boats all brightly decked out with a profusion of bunting and balloons, raucously sounding their horns. The convoy included: Highlander, Juno Delphinus, Kurumba, Lady Lynda, Leviathan, Paladin, Persuasion, Queen Maeve and White Lady. As we approached the Pike we were greeted by a piper, (kindly provided by a Scottish friend), in full regalia standing on the landing stage playing The Skye Boat Song. Chris the groom and his family and friends from Scotland were also resplendent in their kilts, dress shirts and jackets. As Charlie Brown cautiously nudged alongside the landing stage to disembark its precious cargo, the accompanying procession of boats spontaneously circled and pirouetted abeam of us before returning to their moorings. My daughter and I were then piped into a very moving civil cer-
Penny, Chris and Charlie Brown emony held in the hotel with emotive readings by Maureen and Dorothy, the mothers of the bride and groom. I would add that by this time I had discarded the pirate’s garb, reluctantly removed the beard and moustache and was suitably attired in morning dress.
Stunningly beautiful
It was the 10th of September and we were starting to feel the windy affects of the tail end of hurricane Katia that had crossed the Atlantic but during the photos and drinks on the lawn it remained dry and bright with cloudy blue skies. As Penny was being photographed in front of Charlie Brown, I mentioned to my partner Anne how stunningly beautiful she was, Anne replied that she had never seen my daughter looking so lovely, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I was referring to my boat! We were then served an excellent wedding breakfast in the Garden Room restaurant and my Wedding fleet heartfelt thanks go to Luigi, the chefs, waitresses and bar staff for all their enthusiastic efforts in making the day so perfect. To compliment the nautical theme, the tables were decorated with yachts, lighthouses and seashells in place of the normal flowers. My niece even brought blue napkins and table runners all the way from her seafood restaurant in Florida to complete the setting. In the evening we had a disco in the hotel and during a break the piper regaled us with a much appreciated selection of stirring Scottish tunes and reels. Later on, my boating friends, Al and Dee from Highlander and Smudge and Nat from Iceni with help from many others, laid on a fantastic barbecue in two gazebos beautifully adorned with grape vines and coloured lights giving the atmosphere of an enchanted fairy grotto. Then, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, there was an ear splitting crash from the darkness on the opposite bank heralding the start of a firework display provided by the crew of White Lady, lighting up the night sky with a profusion of glittering colours. It was a fantastic, memorable day for the newlyweds Penny and Chris, made possible by the help and goodwill of so many people. And next season, I am looking forward to a succession of my new relatives and friends from north of the border revisiting our wonderful river.
PETER HENDRICK
...and a river honeymoon
embers who read the GOBA forum may well remember a posting M last year from Mark Windsor-Hampton requesting information about navigation from the Nene to the Ouse as he planned for a forthcoming
honeymoon cruise. Well, GOBA is very pleased to announce Mark and Joanne were married (as planned!) on the 15th October 2011 at Orton Waterville Church in Peterborough. Following an overnight stay at the reception venue, the couple boarded Miranda II, their 1969 Freeman Mk 2, and set out from The Ramada Hotel, Peterborough, journeying back to her permanent mooring at the Pike and Eel, Needingworth. The delightful autumnal weather that weekend was, we understand, was actually booked well in advance.As we go to press, the happy couple are off the radar and still honeymooning somewhere in Egypt! Newly-weds Mark, Joanne with ‘Miranda II’ moored at Floods Ferry
GOBA NEWS (WINTER 2011) 9