Well, whilst Florida recovered from Hurricane Frances and prepared for Hurricane Ivan, they surely did have a plan for Hurricane BPRFC. This alcoholic category five hurricane hit Fort Lauderdale late Thursday afternoon (9th September). Day one saw the hurricane party blow round the local establishments ensuring that all Floridians understood the full force of the initial impact. The wind eased on Friday morning with landfall taking a lot of wind out of hurricane BPRFC, in fact reducing it to a mere water class hurricane. The party decided it would be a wonderful idea to try their hands at Go Carting; not the best made plan as the 50 lap endurance race proved a little too much for some of the team, and the hurricane left some flooding outside the track..... (No Names...).

The hurricane again began to pick up speed with a game against Fort Lauderdale RFC, with the BPRFC being ably assisted by West Palm Beach RFC (Thanks Guys). As the hurricane was still reeling from Thursday night the performance was less than spectacular, with Ft Lauderdale winning the match and yet again Hurricane BPRFC left some flooding at the ground. The hurricane continued to damage the East Cost of Florida all Friday night and into Saturday morning/early afternoon. Saturday saw a bright sunny day in Fort Lauderdale with Hurricane BPRFC seemingly past - how wrong they were!

Saturday proved to be a choice day for Hurricane BPRFC, with it blowing along the Fort Lauderdale strip stopping at regular intervals to pick up more liquid mass which would only intensified it. At Lulu's, the Bowker Tychee lessons were in full effort, moving swiftly along the side saw the Hooters Haka - a must see. Not to mention the new quality that Hooters are employing these days - please see the tour photos. This was followed by a Stella beach BBQ put on by the Fort Lauderdale RFC boys. Needless to say the evening developed into another Cat 5, some parts of the storm lasting well into the morning. Sunday arrived with the BPRFC storm at last showing signs of dissipation.

However, the National Hurricane Center took the step of warning Fort Lauderdale residents of the potential for isolated tornadoes. As predicted these showed signs of forming, but strict drinking laws managed to contain the damage and the winds died down in the early hours of Monday morning.

Monday started very slowly for most with winds only blowing under bed sheets. The hurricane stirred again at lunch time blowing hard for most of the day, with the Hurricane taking to the seas in the evening for a Casino cruise. Much fun was had by all, with I am sure much money lost as well. In short this was a very successful tour if short in numbers, we certainly made up for it in stature!

By PETER ELLIOTT