Welcome
Last week I was talking about planing one Sunday at Cowes National Sailing Centre.
The previous Saturday was a bit hairy.
Winds of force 4/5 meant we couldn’t go down to the Solent but had to be towed up to the stretch beside the Folly Inn.
The river had flooded the nearby fields creating potential lee shores on barbed wire fences.
Even reefing the main sail seemed a bit iffy so we sailed under jib alone (most of the others just paddled over to the pub).
With “Ruthless Ruth “ helming and me alternatively spilling wind and backing the jib to get us through the tacks (gibing would have been easier ) we still had a great time reaching back and forth while one of the rescue boats rescued the other one and the youngsters in Toppers created havoc.
Our youngsters however had a great time racing last Sunday.
Whilst we can’t do training, here is a bit of advice on starting
And some advanced advice on this video
Sailing for fun
Great to get youngsters involved in everything we can
Sailors sayings
Take something on board
Big Boat Stuff
Incompetent Crew
The marina in Monikendam has bikes for hire so we pedalled off over the causeway to the island of Marken
From here (after a coffee and apple pie ) we caught the ferry to Voldendam .
The Dutch have many sail training boats , sadly this one had gone aground
Yachtmaster
Last weeks answer
A vessel showing all round red over all round green is a sailing vessel
This week’s question
How frequently are Notices to Mariners allowing charts to be updated issued?
Stay safe
Eric Finlayson