Dhows
Thanks Jock, you have just reminded me of a dhow misadventure!
My nav and I were invited to a farewell bash for the departing TOS adjutant. As it was mid winter lounge suits were to be worn. When we arrived at the TOS officers mess in downtown Sharjah they told us the party was going to be held on a dhow, which had been chartered from Dubai. We were ferried out in small boats and set sail after about an hour of bobbing up and down 100yds from the beach
I remember feeling cold, but large helpings of curry and a ready supply of drinks soon warmed us all up. Then the wind started to rise, so the dhow captain slipped anchor and headed out to sea. Before long the dhow was pitching and rolling violently. Half of the guests succombed to sea sickness and the fit ones amongst us moved aft and continued drinkng, but by the early hours everyone had had enough and the dhow turned back towards Sharjah in an increasingly angry sea. The captain refused to sail in close to the beach as he was unfamiliar with the depths. After a lot of torch flashing and ineffective shouting one of the small boats appeared through the darkness. When the captain announced he was going to disembark the remaining guests on a jetty near Dubai Colonel Carter insisted the Twin Pin crew went ashore in the small boat as they were due to fly him to Manama at 0900!
We managed to board it without falling into the oggin and chugged back towards the TOS mess. A very large wave soon knocked out the outboard motor, then two more finished us off and we were forced to swim for the shore.
We were driven, shivering, to our accomodation at RAF Sharjah in an open TOS landrover. Before going to bed I hung my soggy lounge suit on the washing line outside our rooms and it dried out overnight, but it also changed colour to duck egg green at the back and a salty whitish grey on the front. (While hanging around at Manama I was told the seating and woodwork on the dhow had been painted green a few hours before out trip and it had not had time to dry). On the following morning Col Carter only just made his flight and I retired my only suit!
Last edited by brakedwell; 30th Mar 2013 at 10:57.