and that then was September

More or less. One more weekend to go. 

I'm off down south with Dad to join Petrella this evening. Weather is vicious on Sunday, but calm and quiet tomorrow, with the hope of a little sun.

So we may sail. Or we may not. 

I have to admit, aside from the flesh wound to my index finger, my confidence took a bit of a battering from our last trip, when I made a complete hash of bringing her back into her berth and ended up perching her on the shoulder of our neighbour.

Small consolation that no real damage was done, even my finger healed in time for the next gig. 

And the locals all consoled my by explaining that yes, the marina was particularly tight and an absolute peril (not the words they used) to come back to when the wind was in the west.

I still made a mess of it, and yes, that has me now double guessing myself. 

There is nothing for it really, except to cast off and come back and cast off and come back and keep doing it until it's as natural to me as drinking water. She is my boat, she was my choice, and there's nobody else to take her helm. 

Nor would I have it any other way.

So maybe we'll sail tomorrow. Maybe we won't. Something I've discovered, without somewhere in mind to go, it's all so terribly easy to find excuses why not to sail.

This is also the last weekend I have free between now and January to spend on the boat. I might be able to take a Monday or two off work in December if the opportunity presents, but the weather is going to close in soon. So between now and the end of the year, it's probably just the occasional Sunday day trip down to the boat and back.

Next year I am definitely going to be harder on myself when it comes to blocking space out of the diary and not booking gigs. it will have been 58 bookings this year, by the time we play New Years Eve. It hasn't let much time for sailing.

All this sounds vaguely bleak, but my mood isn't as black as it seems. Aside from gigs and work, it's been a fairly uneventful month. The twins are growing, five months old now and squealing, giggling and smiling at me when I walk into the room.

Lottie thrives. Though she was attacked in the park yesterday by a bull terrier type dog that was almost the same size as her. A misunderstanding over a ball. The other dog took her by surprise and pinned her to the ground but he had a pretty robust harness on, so I simply lifted him off by it and carried him spitting and snarling back to his quite distressed owner. 

Our friends in the park, fellow dog walkers, looked on bemused, a little stunned by the shock of the whole thing. Lottie was ruffled, hackles raised and very vocal once she was back on her feet, but backed off and gave the other dog space when I told her to. She was slobbered, but escaped unhurt as I was close enough to grab the other guy before he properly latched on and things escalated. Everything resolved peacefully. 

My fault for being incautious with a ball in proximity to a relatively unknown dog. Been a long time since I last had to intervene with squabbling dogs. It's certainly one way to get the adrenaline pumping. I really don't recommend it.

So, not counting whether or not I sail this weekend, that was the month's end. It began with the band playing a wedding gig. The bride was the daughter of friends and family; my brother-in-law's sister-in-law. I helped teach her and her brother to sail not so very long ago when they were both small, and gave their dad his first boat, an old Mk1 Gull that had been sitting in Dad's garden slowly turning green.

In other news, a friend has asked me to help move his boat "Amore", a Hanse 415, across the Atlantic in November 2026 and my wife and work have both provisionally agreed to spare me for the four weeks Mark thinks it'll take. We've holidayed on her for a couple of weeks in 2022 and I helped deliver her from Montenegro to her winter berth in Parga, Greece that same year. She's a lovely boat, and Mark's great company. It'll be a fun adventure if it actually comes off, but 2026 feels like a long time away at the moment.

And, meanwhile, I have my own boat to sail. Once I can work the courage back up to take her off the dock.

meanwhile, somewhere in Eastington

Probably our last outdoor gig of 2024 as the evenings are drawing in and the weather turning. Actually, the weather didn't really get here in the first place. This year's summer has been a bit "So that was it?" It was the last race of the Wednesday evening series at the lake last night, and the first time I've managed to sail the Laser in an absolute age.

Spotty, shifty, light wind, but a pretty sunset, and nice to out racing again. It's been too long.

After having had a quiet August with the band, September sees normal service resumed, with seven gigs in the book, of which the above was the first. Two more this weekend, three the weekend following. Will try to get down to the boat this Sunday.

so that was July

Another month of summer gone.

Six gigs, a bit of sunshine, some welcome warm weather. A lot of Wednesday evenings spent running the safety boat to cover the racing at the lake and not much time racing myself. 

Some worthwhile work done on Petrella, but no time spent sailing her; at the end of this month I will have had her a year and I feel like we've hardly spent any time together yet.

Random metric: not counting her purchase price, marina fees or insurance, her upkeep and maintenance for the year has cost £5,295.37. Some things didn't necessarily need doing, some other things I could possibly have done cheaper, especially had I more time. But all of it was worthwhile.

The babies are growing like weeds, the house is full of noise and the clutter of the paraphernalia associated with the raising and nurture of them both. 

The dogs are well. Dad is well, although continually complaining about the aches and pains and inconvenience of growing old (though better than the alternative, he tells me) and nagging me to book fewer gigs and spend more time on the boat. 

With 54 gigs in the band's diary for this year, I clearly failed on that score this time around. But it's an ambition for next year. We currently only have 12 gigs booked for 2025 and only 1 for 2026, so a good start so far.

I feel like the year is running away with me and the evenings are already drawing in too fast. Planning the next couple of weeks hopefully away on the boat with Dad and Nik (if all goes to plan we head down on the evening of Sunday 11th and sail west Monday 12th) I was dismayed to realise that dawn is now gone 0600 and getting inevitably later as the year creeps on.

Postscript: I wrote the above at the beginning of August, then, planning to add a little more plus a few photos, have since left it in draft. So, on the grounds that that ship has now sailed, as has August, I've added in a few of July's photos but am now just going to hit "Publish" and be damned. 

So then, that too was August.

In other news, since writing the above, the 2026 gig cancelled, 2024 is now up to 56 bookings, and 2025 currently stands at 26. We did sail for a week last month, absolutely determined to leave more space for sailing next year.