Jen and I went canoeing

Last potential sail for a while. It was really too windy for most sailing today. We could have gone out in the Carrot I suppose - maybe with the small sail - but didn't fancy that. We had hoped finally to get the the point as Jenny hasn't been there this year, but had to settle for some canoeing.

Breakfast at Watch-House Creek

We planned to breakfast at Blakeney Point but the wind was a fairly strong westerley so we didn't feel like going that far. Watch-House beach was occupied so we navigated up Watch-House creek as far as we could and found a decent anchorage.
We had a very good breakfast (bacon & egg bap and tea!) but got a bit twitchy when some bird-watchers came by:

Dodgy start and short lively sail

Jen and I went in the Jav, Mary and Christina went in Ethelred. It was windier out than we thought. Jen and I had a few furious reaches towards the watch-house and up and down the cut. Plenty of planing. The helmet-cam refused to work properly so could only grab a few shaky seconds. Ethelred went out out a bit further but came back quite quickly as Mary was absolutely drenched with spray. Had a bit of a panic when the spinnaker halyard came loose as I was attaching the jib - so the mast came crashing down! Jen and I managed to raise it again but I had struggle a bit to get the 'foot' sorted out as it became detached from the bottom of the mast. All seems OK now and there were no other equipment failures.Note: The usual rudder is too long in shallow waters (like reaching across the marsh today) so I might use the other rudder sometimes - and maybe even shorten it.

Brisk early morning sail

I went sailing in the Carrot AM. Early start (tide 5:48 in book). Quite windy WSW so just went towards committee boat and then reached around near the watch-house.

Seals in Zephyr

Sat 2010-08-14In Zephyr with Rose and Richard to seals and point. Had to motor home against wind and strong tide.
NB I have spotted a useful bit of driftwood by the second sluice on the left by the bank.

Monster Tide

Fri 2010-08-13Monster tide too windy and very wet except for a few hardy/stupid sailors. I went in canoe and went along the road and round a car.

Fun Week: A windy day for sailing around

It was quite windy so I went out in the Carrot with the reduced rig. 'Fun' was a 'follow my leader' which was a bit too much like racing so John Seymour and I peeled off for a while. The others then went to Watch-House Bay briefly and then had lots of fun reaching about. Got quite a bit of hand-held action cam footage but the thing got moisture in it later on and misted up.

I got a short, shaky bit of video of the Commodore making an ungainly job of getting in a Seafly:

Too much wind for sailing

The Fun Week programme was to have breakfast on Blakeney Point. It was far too windy for dinghyt sailing. Mary and I set off in Zephyr but it was really too windy even to set sail. We went back to the mooring but I could only attach the painter close to the mooring stake. This meant Zephyr blew over the path (you can see this in the photo below).
I eventually went canoeing and persuaded Rose & Richard to have a go, too. This also meant I had a way to get back to moor Zephyr properly later.

We eventually had to have breakfast in the lee of the club hut!

It was a strange thing to eat a bacon & egg butty while canoeing.

Went out for an evening sail (Richard L in laser, to) and had a good time.

Fun Week: Wine at Watch-House Beach

Mary got a lift in the Commodore's crab boat Unity - which unfortunately suffered engine failure which meant they had to sail out and have assistance on the way back up the cut. There was a brisk WSW wind which meant a hairy run out of the cut. I went to Juno and back in the carrot before joining the others on the beach. A sister Solo was there and I had a bit of fun racing her. On landing at the beach I scrambled through the shrubby blight and we had a convivial time helping the Commodore get through his 10-litre wine box. I had a good time planing around before going back up the cut.

There we met Richard and Rose who took over the carrot and had a drifty sail up the cut - and had to tow back. It was the greasy pole this evening and the we picked up bits of grease on our hands.

Fun Week: Treasure Hunt

The Treasure Hunt involved placing sticks into empty milk cartons attached to buoys and sticks in the harbour then returning to the Cooke Posts. Mary and I went in the Solo. We may have been better off in the Jav as the wind dropped. Mind you, it was done on regatta handicap so we wouldn't have set off for ages. It was a great larf and we did pretty well.

Fun Week: Cakes at Watch-House Beach

The first day of Fun Week. A gentle evening sail to the Watch-House.
Mary & I had Tish & Keith with uis so we ent in Zephyr. We tried sailing but it was a real drifter and we had to motor further west to get into the Cley Channel.

Mary had made brownies and we all enjoyed cakes and coffee.

It was a shame we couldn't sail, but it was a lovely evening.