Some say it is like riding a bike - you never forget. No, sailing is not like riding a bike at all, unless the bike is in the middle of the sea and requires more limbs than a cephalopod to make it go.
On Sunday We had a typical Scottish summer's day; occasional rain, cloudy, a bit of sun and it was a lot colder than it should have been for the middle of June. The sea state was calm and the wind was minimal. We were doing between 3 and 6 knots. For the first time in years I had a go at the helm of a very nice 23 footer, courtesy of the people who have invited us to join their boat club. I was nervous, but found that wonderful sense of calm and grounding that I find I get whenever I am at sea or near it.
As fate would have it, someone nearby has just put a Westerly (a Cirrus, I think) up for sale that would do us nicely. At the moment I am skint, but when the boat comes in....
There are probably three places in the world that I feel fully at home; jazz clubs, the Lincolnshire Wolds and the Sea. As luck would have it there is a jazz boat in the Forth, so sometime soon I shall have a go.
We went on the trip boat to Inchcolm with Master Weasel on the Saturday and again the weather was patchy, but on the whole not rainy. Young Weasel got attacked by seagulls nursing their young. He retreated with poo on his Goretex. Given that he has trekked the Himalayas and walked from Wales to London, done the Three Peaks Challenge and is clearly not a quitter, it was quite a triumph of nurture over nature.
2 comments:
Sounds like a good weekend WW. It's still a bit nippy for June right enough. A trip to May Island from Anstruther is worth a go. Loads of puffins etc to see. A bit choppy though if the weather's bad. They have a bucket that they pass around for the land lubbers to use in an emergency.
My girlfriend used it and brought up her coke and crisps etc. Don't think she should have been eating that kind of stuff really !
Jim, we were within spitting distance of some seals, who were lounging on a channel marker platform. I am fortunate to have a strong stomach and have tested this in near gale force winds.
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