Thursday, 26 December 2013
Boxing day sailing, or not. 26th December 2013
Sadly, although I had the opportunity to sail today, there was a distinct lack of wind. So, once around the reservoir on foot and home.
Here are some photographs to illustrate the calm conditions;
Footnote: The decision to abandon hope of sailing was justified by the weather record of the day - nothing recorded above 4 knots for most of the afternoon.
Here are some photographs to illustrate the calm conditions;
Footnote: The decision to abandon hope of sailing was justified by the weather record of the day - nothing recorded above 4 knots for most of the afternoon.
Monday, 23 December 2013
Winter sailing
Sad to say, that sailing in the second half of the year has been disappointing.
It is only recently that sailing at my home venue, Cheddar Reservoir, has resumed.
I had been cursing Bristol water for leaving the water level too low for easy launching - or in my case - impossible to launch solo. The muddy finger of the 'hard' was just too soft for my obvious beast of a boat!
Apparently, it was due to an bloom of algae, and the water was deliberatly lowered to try to kill it off.
Can't say I saw anything promulgated to that effect until the temperature dropped and the water level was starting to rise. But, there you go.
So, it has been very frustrating to not be able to get on the water.
The first week I was able to get out on the boat, late November; we had sun, we had water, we had wind. What we didn't have, was a full complement of duty personnel to man the safety boat.
It really isn't good enough for people to not to bother to turn up for duty, or even to let the OOD know.
Having turned up and prepped the boat, I hung around a bit, washed the boat down, and put it away again.
I composed, in my head, a stinging email to the Commodore several times before coming to the conclusion I'd be wasting my time.
The next week was more successful. Not so much wind, but enough to get going. The wind did subside to almost nothing, necessitating a bit of paddling at the end of the day, to get back in.
Next sailing is scheduled for Boxing day - fingers crossed.
It is only recently that sailing at my home venue, Cheddar Reservoir, has resumed.
I had been cursing Bristol water for leaving the water level too low for easy launching - or in my case - impossible to launch solo. The muddy finger of the 'hard' was just too soft for my obvious beast of a boat!
Apparently, it was due to an bloom of algae, and the water was deliberatly lowered to try to kill it off.
Can't say I saw anything promulgated to that effect until the temperature dropped and the water level was starting to rise. But, there you go.
So, it has been very frustrating to not be able to get on the water.
The first week I was able to get out on the boat, late November; we had sun, we had water, we had wind. What we didn't have, was a full complement of duty personnel to man the safety boat.
It really isn't good enough for people to not to bother to turn up for duty, or even to let the OOD know.
Having turned up and prepped the boat, I hung around a bit, washed the boat down, and put it away again.
I composed, in my head, a stinging email to the Commodore several times before coming to the conclusion I'd be wasting my time.
The next week was more successful. Not so much wind, but enough to get going. The wind did subside to almost nothing, necessitating a bit of paddling at the end of the day, to get back in.
Next sailing is scheduled for Boxing day - fingers crossed.
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