Bobbing around for a while.

So, Saturday arrives and with -4 degree C ambient temperature off to the reservoir at Cheddar for around 9am. It was noticeable that the promised wind hadn't bothered to turn up. Still, maybe later.

Took my time rigging the boat and donned my dry suit with multiple layers and down to the slipway.

Lots of water in the reservoir at the moment, virtually no slipway left above the water level.

I'm ready to go at about 10:30, when the OOD hails me (as they say), explaining I may have been a little too keen to get into the water. I thought sailing started at 10am, but apparently this is when the safety boat crew turn up and they needed to get their life sorted etc. After a friendly bit of banter, I agreed that if they were happy, I was happy to take responsibility for my own safety in the meantime. Given there was about zero knots of wind, this wasn't in fact that brave.

Paddle away from the slipway and out onto the reservoir. One of these weeks, I'll sail away - hopefully.

Commence bobbing about a bit. There was the occasional bit of pressure, but the fastest my GPS registered was 2.1 kts, but this may have been under paddle power. Typically, I was lucky to get up to 1.5 kts under sail, even then, only occasionally.

With the sun out, it's pleasent enough just being on the water; not exactly exhilerating but what the heck!

I got a visit from the safety boat after about an hour and a half - apparently to check that I was OK; with maybe a little undercurrent of 'what are you doing out here you idiot'.

Whether it was a hint or not, I did start to meander at 0.5 to 1 knot, toward the slipway. The forecast was supposed to be some light wind early on and dropping off after lunch. I don't think the 'light wind' actually arrived and we went straight to 'not a lot of wind'.

So, out of the water and derigged by 1:30pm. Quick hike around the reservoir, coffee and chocolate and homeward bound - with a bit of a sailing tan.

I had posted a question on the Gull forum about sailing in low temperatures. The biggest problem I had today was getting the centreboard down; it was frozen in place. Managed to free it up by pouring water over it from the reservoir. There was a little frozen water in the boat, as might be expected from the small amount of water that found its' way under the cover. No problem with that, other than the sponge I keep in the boat had frozen into it. Pouring water over it eventually freed it up enough to be able to use it - although there was ice on it when I came out. Personally, I was warm in my dry suit. Hands warm enough in my 5mm neoprene gloves. I did start off with a wooly hat, but swapped it for a peaked cap - just for the low sun. So, no problem with the temperature.

Some wind would have been nice!