Thursday 14 February 2013

Dreaming of Blue Skies and Fair Winds

The planned sailing itinary for 2013:

March
3rd FOSSC Racing season starts with the Spring Handicap
9th Instructing, RYA Powerboat Level 2 course at FOSSC
16th Instructing, RYA Safety Boat course at FOSSC
30th British Moth Open at FOSSC. Supposed to be on Race duty, but might
blag a boat and sail :)

April
6th Instructing, 6 week RYA Adult Level 2 sailing course starts at FOSSC
27th & 28th Drascombe downchannel cruise to Portishead with LYC
....OR....
27th & 28th Enterprise Masters at Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club

May
11th & 23th Upriver Frampton Pill cruise in Drascombe with LYC
26th LYC Bullo Banger in Drascombe [but clashes with a gig that
evening.....]

June
1st & 2nd Enterprise Area Nationals at Penarth
8th Instructing, 6 week RYA Junior Level 4 course starts at FOSSC
23rd LYC Newnham Tea Clipper in Drascombe
29th & 30th Enterprise Open at Thornbury Sailing Club Regatta

July
20th Upriver Broadoak cruise in Drascombe with LYC

August
16th to 30th Two weeks in Mylor, Cornwall with Drascombe & family

September
1st Enterprise Open at Penarth
13th to 15th Drascombe Association Fowey Rally
21st Drascombe downchannel cruise to Portishead with LYC

October
6th Enterprise Open at Tata Steel
27th Enterprise Open at FOSSC [clashes with boy_v2's birthday]

December
26th FOSSC John Sanguin Cup

January
1st FOSSC True Grit Trophy

So November's looking a little quiet. Though the above isn't accounting
for the Club Championship series at Frampton, or any of the racing
series beyond the start of the Spring Handicap in March or any of the
odd bits and pieces we'll invariably get up to at Lydney. In reality,
November will probably be completely occupied with the Frampton Winter
Series. It's usually the one we get most chance to focus on.

Aside from the above, I'd like to get back to Plymouth for a weekend
with Dad and the Drascombe, and would like to fit an upchannel cruise
with Dad out of Lydney, taking us over the Llanthony Wier on the tide
and then hauling out at Lower Lode below Tewkesbury.

Also really, really want to get at least one downchannel cruise in with
the Drascombe this year, and sail under the Severn Bridges with Dad.
There are two Portishead cruises with Lydney in the above plan that
might realise that. Circumnavigating Lundy will have to wait for another
day I suspect.

The Club Championship at Frampton is going to be too interupted for us
to do well at this year, but it would be nice to get some glassware for
one of the club series, after having come so close last year. That'll be
an ambition for the Winter Series.

Ben (boy_v1) heads off to Uni [with a bit of luck and a following wind]
come September, so we'll have to see how that impacts things.

Other ambitions will be to sell the Europe and the sadly neglected
Topper once the weather warms up, and if Ben doesn't race her regularly,
Penny will also have to go. If finances stretch to it, then it would be
nice to replace the sails on Buffy.

Main ambition however is just to get back out on the water ASAP. Will
try for this Sunday, I think!

Wednesday 13 February 2013

The Doldrums

I do dislike this time of year.

Without the fixture of the routine Sunday racing every weekend, my weeks
feel cast adrift and start to blur into each other. Even the annual
work-parties that usually put such demands on our time out of season
seem, for some reason, disjointed and quite irregular this year.

Of course, I could just go sailing anyway, and we did just that a couple
of weeks ago, relaunching Penny and then racing my son around the lake
for a very pleasant afternoon [and do note from the photos above that
he's BEHIND us :) ]

But the more typical story is wake up Sunday morning, a little groggy
from the Saturday night before, look out the window, think "Meh, not
enough wind to bother with" and then get distracted by something else
for the day. Next thing you know the wind picks up into an unexpected
blow and you've missed a fantastic day's sailing and the weekend ends
and Sunday passes with all the impact and consequence of a damp squib.
That was this Sunday just gone. I think. It's actually kind of hard to
picture it now.

And I must look up what a damp squib actually is.

I've never regretted going to the effort of actually heading down to the
water, rigging the boat and setting sail. I've frequently regretted not
bothering because it didn't seem worth it at the time. You'd think I'd
learn.

Never mind, February is almost over, and the racing season relaunches
itself on Sunday 3rd March. Not long to go now.