|
First sail of 2010
The first trip of the year is usually slightly fraught. Where is all the kit? What if anything (loo roll/paper towel, garbage bags, cushions, gas bottles, life rafts etc) is on the boat? Is there a boat? If so where is the boat? Where is the main? Little questions but important ones.
We found all the kit. We found the mainsail at the sail maker’s loft. There is another question - why are sail makers’ lofts always up three flights of stairs and never on the ground floor? We found the boat at the boat mender’s yard. The cushions were in the marina office. Once we had put it all back together on Thursday we were ready for Saturday.
The weather was not promising – well it was promising rain and high winds. We were seven in total. Three new people Karla, Simon and Paul, and four old-ish ones. Well Mathew isn’t so old-ish but the same can’t be said of David and Jeremy and me.
We had thought about going to Poole but the wind was wrong so we went east. We got down to the forts on a light wind and then decided to go out to the Nab Tower only because it was there, not because there is anything much to see when you get there. We had a terrific couple of hours sailing and luckily the weatherman was not keeping his promises. The sun shone and the wind got up to the sort of wind you would want for an enjoyable afternoon.
We spent the night in Haslar. Had a three course meal – what else. Sunday morning was fine if a bit early due to the clocks going forward. For the benefit of Mathew and anyone else who can’t remember – Spring Forward, Fall Back. After breakfast we tacked back up/down the Solent. Sunsail was out racing but apart from them there were not a lot of people and boats about. The ISC (Island sailing Club) pontoon was vacant so we stopped for a pint. There was no one in there either.
We arrived back at Ocean Quay about 16:30 just before the rain that had been promised so we did well with the weather after all. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves - well nobody got very wet and everyone ate too much. |
|
 |
| The social side of LADOS |
|
|
 |
| Keep well away from large vessels in Southampton Water |
|
|
|
