Today's task was to sail, but not to hike out. On the water by 11:30. I was, again, approached by a couple of club members in the car/boat park, asking about the boat. One enquiry was from a couple who had an Enterprise but found it a bit 'tippy' and not really sailable - by them anyway - solo. Maybe a Gull convert?
Around the bouys, tacking and gybing as you do. Heaved to, for lunch, sail on until 3:30pm.
A comparatively busy day today. Four other dinghys and a dozen or so windsurfers on a course.
Oh yes, as I started off by saying, I had decided to avoid hiking out today. It was something the other half said, and it got me thinking about cruise sailing. I'm thinking that sailing around Plymouth Sound probably shouldn't be done at max speed - 'cus thats when you capsize; apparently. It may be better to sail within your own limitations and stay upright and not in the way of a large ship in a narrow channel. Just a thought.
So flat it was then. Still enjoyable though - well I was on the water, what's not to like.
There was a small hiccup on one occasion when gybing, which gave the drysuit another test - doesn't do to try to hang on and climb over the side - especially when it was a bit of an afterthought. But, although the boat did start to invert, it stopped short of being fully inverted and came up easily - I think the mast floats are working. Note to self; if you are going to try to be flash, don't think about it for too long - do or do not, to paraphrase Yoda.
The wind, although a reasonable strength, was a bit shifty and by 3pm was starting to drop, so rather than incur the wrath of the duty crew, I headed in. There were a couple of boats behind me, but not for very long.
As I was de-rigging the boat in the car park, I glanced over to a sound of splashing in the reservoir. Two people, one child and one adult, swimming toward the shore from about 20 metres or so, and, behind them a Mirror dinghy sailing serenly off towards the centre of the res' - all on its' own.
Oh for a camera a couple of minutes earlier! Could have been worth something.
Anyway, an enjoyable day.
Apart from , that is, having been shunted from behind on the way home. At a narrow section of the road through Banwell - a notoriously crap road, I stopped for a car coming up the hill, just a few seconds earlier than the car behind who saved his brake pads and used my car to come to a halt. As it's a lease car, I'm remarkably relaxed - probably shouldn't be. Let's see what hits the fan on Monday!
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