After, what seems like forever, I finally get to launch in the res'.
It seems a long time since I was last able to sail; work and weather putting paid to launching.
I was blown out, almost literally, over Easter. I had planned to sail on the Saturday and again on the Wednesday - the first weekday sail of the season.
However, just a little too much in the way of wind for me. Well, the gusts really. 18kts, gusting up to 30+. More excitement than I was looking for.
So, as the week progressed, it seemed more and more likely that Saturday would be a goer.
Not a lot of wind forecast and as the day dawned this was pretty much the case. Some rustling in the undergowth evident in the garden was encouraging.
So, I duly arrived at 10:40, scooped the ice out of the bilges and prepped the dinghy for launch.
I've done it quicker, but having not assembled it all for close to two months, it pays to be thorough.
I needed to equalise the air pressure in my mast floats - not the most exciting of tasks but can't be having collapsed floats up the mast.
Unusually, I was beaten into the water by a young lad in a Topper. And I was followed fairly closely by an RS Feva.
After an hour though, I had the water to myself - along with my two safety boat shadows.
Come 1pm, the junior sailing club hit the water in five RS Feva's.
I'm used to being fairly lonesome on the water, but there were nine of us on the water simultaneously mid-afternoon.
Wind conditions were on the soft side. A couple of times I was completely becalmed, but overall, there was enough to bet going. I was a little amused by a crew of three girls , in an RS 2000 dinghy, with a reefed main sail. Squealing at not very much. They made me feel righeously confident.
I did get to hike out and the top speed achieved was around 5.something kts.
The wind was interesting in its' direction. Several times I'd be happily cruising along, only for the wind to shift by 90 degrees or more; in the wrong direction. I was nearly caught out once. Sailing by the lee is for others to practice.
All in all, a good sail in good weather. Even came home with a rosy glow.
On the mundane side, I moved the dinghy and trailer along the line in the boatyard. My previous position was such that the mast was being interfered with by the branches of a tree.
Not now though. Just waiting for the phone call from the storage member to tell me to move.
Sod's law dictates that if a tree were now to topple in a freak wind, it will be the one now closer to the boat. C'est la vie.
Back to looking for the next weekends weather forecast.
