Early Social Occasions at the Clubhouse — Graham Pettersen

When I first joined the Yacht Club there was a stage about where the trophy cabinet is now. There was a hinged, lifting hatch in the front of the stage which gave access to the workshop area below.

There were long wooden trestle tables covered in white newsprint (from leftover rolls from the Herald or Star office} with the edges tucked under and secured with thumb tacks. The “Rat Trap” chairs were steel-framed folding with wooden slats. When we had Prize-giving it was “bring a plate”.  Everyone had a small sherry glass and a Flag Officer went round the room filling the glasses from a carafe. After the meal there was the Loyal Toast and then the trestle tables and folded chairs were slid down the hatch where a crew below stowed them. The floor was now clear for dancing. Frank Warnock was the MC and the band was Doone Patten and The Antifoulers. Doone was a hairdresser from Milford. There were a number of mousetraps fastened to the ceiling with lines to the stage so that bunches of balloons could be released at the appropriate time. One of the mousetraps lasted until quite recently when Richard Darke removed it while repainting the ceiling.

There were the many standard classic dances as well as novelty dances such as “Over the River”. Two marks were laid on the floor denoting the banks of the river and the gentleman had to carry his partner when crossing “the river”. If the music stopped while you were in the river, you were off the floor. Then there was “Take it off or get off”. One young fellow had the forethought to wear a pair of rugby shorts under his trousers and won that one. On one occasion a young Martin Foster was dared by his crew to ask “Auntie Whack” for a dance. She had come over from town with Fred James and had lipstick smeared roughly over her lips and wore badly laddered fishnet stockings. He bravely took up the challenge.

Over the winter months we had Fred Norris teaching ocean navigation. Fred had done several trips to “the islands” crewing and in his own boats Nada, Hope, and Landfall. Fred’s sextant is now a Yacht Club trophy. The tuition was very popular and utilised Martelli’s Tables, Norie’s Tables, and the Nautical Almanac. No GPS in those days. It is not in the book but it was legendary that on Fred’s boat the soup was compulsory after the third day.

*You can read more about Fred’s intrepid adventures in the DYC Centennial History book.