Busy busy

I know, there hasn't been much action on this place recently.  No excuses, other than it's a busy time of year, what with Missy off school and getting ready for The Brother coming and all that goes with that.

We've actually had some sunshine as of late - not before time, as I think it rained for about 4 weeks solid from mid-June.  But this week the BBQ finally made an appearance and although it did rain again we persevered, being the hardy North East Liberty folks we are.

I've a bit to catch up on, regarding snaps and what have you - these are a couple from the Raft Race, which seems like an age ago but was probably early June.  Now that was a warm day, I do remember that.  I went with the Nikon and the 180mm, which was a combination that doesn't get out much these days.  The Nikon always does a great job with the exposure, provided you remember to set the correct ASA :)

Did I tell you it was busy down in Portrush that day?  I'm not a big fan of crowds, but it was good to see the folk out enjoying themselves - it's a long winter in this part of the world.  And it was a long, cold, wet spring in 2016...

The annual Raft Race is a good excuse for general mayhem and a bit of fund-raising for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).  There are lots of home-made rafts, some more seaworthy that others, it has to be said.  Many people come in character, like this dude, who was a most excellent Spiderman:

I think his Superhero Eyes caught me pointing me camera at him - but he didn't react, since he was relaxing before the off.  They have to leave their rafts at the start line at the back of the beach, you see, before walking down to the water.  Then the hooter goes off and they all leg it back to their rafts as fast as they can and carry their raft back to the water, before heading out to the course marked in the sea.  It's much easier to show it snap-torially, if you get my drift:

This was the norm for most rafts - a few oil cans joined together.

This one looked a bit more serious, as did the crew

Come on the girls!

Spiderman and his Superhero friends

Not sure that Captain Jack Sparrow was really taking this seriously (I think they made their raft a little on the heavy side - rookie mistake Capn' Jack!)

The Portrush Lifeboat keeping a watching eye as the rafts head out to the open water

It's a very good day out, the Annual Raft Race.  Even better when the sun is shining, as it was in 2016.