Does anyone remember ‘Howard’s Way’?
Of course you do.
Given the age of many members of Boaters, and hopefully you will not consider me rude when I raise this issue, but I would be rather surprised if many of you did not remember this Sunday evening TV staple.
It had a role in inspiring me to take to the water.
For those of you too young to know what we are talking about, or who have a tendency to erase naff TV from their memory banks, a little memory jog might be in order. Running through the late 1980s in the slot now reserved for ‘Call the Midwife’, this TV drama was set in the yachting community based on a town that looked remarkably like Hamble (Probably because it was filmed in Hamble!)
And it featured tales of extra-marital affairs, dirty business dealing and power dressing.
It is best described as cheesy.
But in those days we only had 4 channels to choose from. We lacked iPads. We didn’t have Facebook or Twitter and SnapChat to amuse us. So it got pretty decent ratings.
Quaint.
There wasn’t much sailing done, from memory, but the clothes were always stunning. Especially the shoulder pads.
And even the men were well dressed. And tanned. And medallioned.
Lots of navy and white. Always well pressed. Always cool.
It was power dressing on steroids.
Now think back to your last Boaters weekend.
How much navy and white did you see? How many people packed a blazer? How many wore dazzling white deck shoes? How many of us were sporting shoulder pads under our Bromsgrove Boater gilets?
This is only a guess but the answer is probably not a lot…
