Last week was a busy one. It was Cheltenham Festival, otherwise known locally as Race Week (on account of there being a bit of horse racing going on) which I'd planned to skip this year, but various interested parties convinced me to do it again.
So gigs Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening after work. Except Wednesday, when I snuck out of work in the afternoon to go crew for my friend Charles in his Enterprise for their Wednesday afternoon self-titled "Old Gits" race at Frampton. So I did get a bit of sailing in. It was a lively afternoon, with the wind gusting into the low 20's.
Tuesday and Wednesday were late finishes, but Thursday and Friday were earlier slots, finishing around 8:30pm. The downside being they were on an outdoor stage, under cover of a pavilion tent. Thursday poured with rain, Friday was dry, but the temperature dropped to around 4°c.
I think mid-March now stands as the band's record for the earliest outdoor gig of the year. The latest has long stood as November 5th. Funny enough, that also involved Cheltenham.
The original plan, and my main reason for negotiating the earlier finish on Friday, was that Dad and I would slip off to the boat straight after the gig, and spend the weekend sailing. A couple of weeks ago, that plan was shot in the foot when somebody pointed out that Sunday was Mother's Day. Nikki pointed out that whilst she may not be my mother, she was the mother of my children, so I was (okay, not unreasonably, I guess) expected to be around on Sunday.
So I made plans to go down to the boat Saturday, just to check her lines and run up the engine. Then my daughter-in-law invited us to lunch Saturday.
A renegotiation with Nikki revealed she was working most of Sunday anyway, so we'd visit the kids Saturday, and Dad and I could go down to check on the boat Sunday.
Saturday was glorious weather. Bright blue skies, light winds. Tash and the twins came with Nikki and I down to Yate to see Ben and Hannah. Lunch was eaten then we took the grandchildren to play in the park. Although I suppose a small part of my soul begrudged the time not sailing, it was lovely seeing Ben and Hannah and our youngest grandson Freddie again. He is totally adorable, and grows more so every day. His bigger cousins, Charlie and Harry are, of course, an absolute riot.
The drive down to Plymouth on Sunday was easy. The lovely staff at Waypoint, the marina's onsite pub, managed to somehow fit Dad and I in for lunch despite already being fully booked because of Mother's Day. Petrella was secure, dry and well. Engine started at the first turn of the key (actually, it's the press of a button, but turn of the key sounds better, I think)
It was pouring with rain and blowing up to 30 knots across the Sound. Even had it not been Mother's Day, we wouldn't have sailed far this weekend anyway.
If work and weather permit, we might get the chance to sail for the week following Easter. Nikki's got some time off, and my schedule at work currently looks like I might be able to swing some too.
Then on April 14th, Dad's booked in for a knee replacement. That's probably going to slow us down for a month or two.
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