Dear BBC... your Weather Forecsats are Rubbish!!!

We had a choice of Forecast for this weekend, the BBC "normal" weather forecast showed heavy rain on both Saturday and Sunday with only light winds. The inshore forecast for the WsM area had sunshine and winds of 17-20 mph. Neither was even slightly accurate and fortunately I went to the club on Saturday afternoon and had a very pleasant afternoon's sailing. It was the first time sailing completely solo, so no one else to blame for my mistakes but I came back in one piece having avoided some 30 odd windsurfers who were competing in the "Under 15's South West regional competition" - or something like that. As Carol did not join me on board this week she offered to take some piccies which I am most impressed with. She had been on a Hen night the evening before and was feeling slightly ill (not drink related though).

I did a PA (that's Personal Appearance in show biz parlance) on Friday night at Bar VII where I met some of the "Blog Totty" and waited for Carol to finish the Hen night celebrations. Carol was official photographer for the event and a selection of the photos can be seen on my site - it being a temporary home for them whilst colleagues at work see them. Saturday and Sunday just seemed to come and go with most of today (Sunday) being spent bringing the boat back to home for a few days and sorting out pictures on photoshop. Saturday evening we were invited to a Barbeque at a neighbours house which was very nice - especially the beer!!

I have decided to take the plunge and order Sky HD and this is due to be installed on the 31st August. There is some work to do first though with installing the coax cables neatly into the house before the engineer arrives.

London for three days (2+1) this week and Cardiff for a day then it's the Bank Holiday and for once we are actually doing something. Wer'e off to Duxford on Sunday but staying at Aylesbury on Saturday and Sunday nights - so it's Waddesdon Manor on Saturday, Blenheim Palace for Carol on Sunday and The designer outlet centre (possibly) at Bicester on BH Monday.

I have booked the next three days off after the holiday to go out with Carol, catch up on jobs, perhaps sail, and go to the Gym - and I can't wait for the break...

First Sail of the New Dinghy

Last week was a little too windy to sail especially with a new crew member and me never having sailed the boat before, but I was itching to try out the my boat. So this weekend we took her out - Saturday afternoon to be exact although it was still a little gusty. An on shore breeze meant a nose out launch and with a little help from another sailor we cast off and made a sharp tack (get it?) to the left to sail down the Lake. Even though I had the sail let out a long way it was still making good speed and we were frequently catching up on boats as we followed them down the lake.

So what was it like? Well not hugely different to the Wayfarer but enough to notice the difference. The boat is much lighter so its easier to manoeuvre in and out of the water (which is good if your'e single handed) and also it seemed, and is, a lot smaller and more responsive so turning the boat is much easier. When you first pick up speed there is a "thrumming" noise from the boat as it goes through the water as it reaches the resonant frequency then as you go faster still the noise stops. It was a little disconcerting at first but after a while it became quite comforting as you knew that you were making some progress. Was it a good purchase? Well after months of deliberation, looking at boats in adverts and thinking I would never find one that was affordable, in good condition and had all of the accessories that I needed to get me started, this is it!! I'm really pleased with it and short of a lottery win, I really can see myself keeping it a few years before I look to change, as I believe there a lot of potential left to discover in the boat.

Carol was very nervous to start with but with all credit to her she had the opportunity to refuse to go out with me but still went for it anyway. I would like to think that by the end of the hour and half that we spent out on the water she was getting a little more relaxed about it all. We made a rather dramatic landing when we couldn't derig the main sail fast enough but no damage to boat and crew so I consider that to be a big plus.

Rest of the week has been fairly mundane in comparison. The fun and games with our new Bank account continued, my bad back eased a lot following 2 trips to the Gym and a game of Squash. Tony (my ex neighbour) beat me this week though so that's got to stop. Sky TV and Broadband looks appealing as I am itching to see some Hi Definition content on my TV now that I have gotten used to the screen size and got the picture as good as possible. So in the next month or so I will get that sorted out.

Finally back to the Nautical theme. Last Blog I made the mistake of mentioning that I would not really want to comment on fashion items for sailing - as it really isn't my thing - so of course "The Blog Totty" (see earlier posting) have now demanded this - insisting that I suggest the most appropriate and fashionable apparel to wear on a boat. Well I'm no expert on fashion (and if you saw the clothes I wear you would understand that) but as I recall most of the photographs of boats that you see and indeed advertising at at the boat shows etc, seem to have young ladies wearing bikinis. Now there must be a reason for this and after a lot of consideration on the subject, the only one I can think of is that the Bikini provides complete freedom of movement around the boat, is practical if you happen to get wet and still retains the wearers modesty (well most of the time). Granted, if you are dealing with the might of the Southern Ocean (Ala Ellen McArthur) then you may need to wear something more substantial, but I guess that if you were to visit a Marina wearing the above clothing then experienced sailors would immediately recognise the practicality of your choice and quickly invite you on board to sail with them. This would work equally well for Submarines I guess but it does limit the opportunities for Pimms on the deck. I'm sure there must be other clothing choices to make that would work equally well but I really can't think of anything else at the moment, if you know what I mean...

Is it really Monday tomorrow?

My Birthday- Part Two

This weekend I had the 2nd part of my Birthday present which you will recall was a trip to see Evita at the Adelphi Theatre London. The show was well, so good that it's difficult to describe adequately with an almost constant whirl of activity from the performers - do the really do this show twice a day 6 times per week? The time flew by and it seemed no time at all before we were outside at the end of the performance waiting for the coach to take us home. ideally it needs another visit to see it again so that you can concentrate on some of the incidental activity, so perhaps later on this year or next. In any case a definite recommendation for anyone to see it.

So what else has happened this week, well a number of things actually including Carol's new hairdresser experience ( I like to add the word experience to these phrases as it makes it a little more interesting than it actually is) We have a new "Salon" on our estate in WSL (no tacky newsagents for us you know) and Carol has just had her hair styled there this week (by Adam mmmm - nice). It was a bit different to the style and colour that she normally has and typically that's usually bad news, with threats of staying at home for the next few weeks, flying off to South America ( oh wer'e doing that anyway aren't we) or wearing a hat all of the time - even in bed. Fortunately none of those has been necessary as everyone who saw it said it looked really nice ( would you really say anything else though?) However me, being the forthright person I try to be, I would only tell Carol the truth and my opinion is ... that I really think it's >>error in script>> . So there I've said it now.

Now there was something else too .. ah yes I know, my new Dinghy. As I write this (on Sunday Morning) we are getting ready to take it on it's maiden Voyage (with me at least) supported by my able crew mate Carol. She has a little trepidation at the moment but I keep telling her it will be fine. I will post Blog later to say how we got on. I am also creating a page with some photos too and will include a link later.

Finally I (or to be more strictly correct my Blog) seems to have a attracted a following from a group of young ladies I suppose they could be collectively referred to as "Blog Totty" as they have been reading my previous postings on the web site and are avidly awaiting the next posting (well that's probably stretching the truth a bit). Yes I know you don't believe me so I think they need to post some comments on the site and or photos just to prove I'm not making it up. Apparently they are also dictating the content of the Blog too - what happened to free speech eh. And that is why I had to talk about hairdressers this week. Please don't make me do a piece on bags and shoes. Why interested in my my Blog - well I blame the "Care in the Community" of the late 90's really and the fact that at workl they have far too much spare time on their hands, when they should really be working. Still bring it on I guess that this is my 15 mins of fame - isn't it?