The drawing out

Pulled over yesterday evening at about 6pm to take a photo of the Severn Vale as I came down from the hill on the way home from work. Winter is on the retreat. The snow drops and crocuses are now abundant and the daffodils beginning to flower. Leaves will soon be in bud, and bluebells will carpet those woods they favour. The evenings are beginning to stretch out. It was still light when I left the office, even if it was gone dusk by the time I got home.

I'm pretty egalitarian when it comes to the seasons, they all have their own charms. However, I love the long, light evenings of the early summer. 

If I can find crew, I'm hoping to race Buffy at Frampton this coming Sunday. Dad's on Safety Boat duty, and it's a spring tide out in the estuary which makes for a dawn and dusk high water around these parts. So not ideal for exploring off Portishead with Calstar anyway, at least not this early in the season. 

We'll make up for it next weekend; we're taking her over to Cardiff and back, weather permitting. I really can't wait. It's only about two or three hours each way, but we'll overnight in Cardiff and make a whole weekend of it. I think Ben may also be joining us, which'll be great. He's not even seen the boat yet.

Final exam tonight, the theory paper for the RYA Day Skipper we've been studying. I can't say I'll be sorry to see the back of it. I love the subject, but surviving the course itself has been a grinding affair the last couple of months. Dad's clear and now frequently expressed opinion is that if this is what sailing was all about, he'd give it up. I've got quite a bit of sympathy with the view, but would argue it's really not the subject, but rather the presentation.

I'm pretty much a fully subscribed devotee of the RYA training schemes. As a senior dinghy and powerboat instructor, I think it's all but written into the small print of the contract that I have to be. But this time around, they've really dropped the shot.

Never mind. An hour and a half of final grind tonight, then we can get back to focusing on the good stuff.