Page 27 - Yachter Autumn 2021

again, I was fully engaged with life and living. As I walked down streets or lanes,
I would ask myself, as the breeze touched my face, cheeks or back,‘what point of sail would this be’ and how would I set the sail?
Several sea school weekends followed
that autumn and winter. Great weekends around the Solent - Lymington, the Hamble, Newtown Creek- they were all revealed
to me.Weathers, cold, bright, wet, windy
and dark all experienced, and adding to the challenge of learning. Captivated, sailing was consuming my senses.
In February, just 6 months after having sailed to Cherbourg, I stepped aboard what was to become Sea Wanderer of Cardiff, knowing that this was the boat for me.
Sitting in Penarth Marina, she was solid, sea- worthy, and her saloon cabin, as wooden as a gentleman’s club in London, with the smell of years of polish being lovingly applied. Love at first sight, I bought her.
In addition to the sea school, I’d met Gareth, a great and experienced sailor, who did not have his own boat, but would joyfully accept the invitation to come out in the Bristol Channel, at the weekend, and as the light opened, evenings after work. I learned so much and by June had successfully completed my Day Skipper.
Although a late learner, I have managed to scrape together three degrees. Satisfying achievements, but the day I passed my Day Skipper was a star moment for me, not to be
exchanged for anything.
The following summer, the location of my
work shifted from South Wales to the north east of England.What an opportunity! With 2 friends, I skippered Sea Wanderer through the Celtic and Irish Seas, visiting Ardglass, before entering the Caledonian Canal at Fort William. A leisurely but grey weekend followed as we cleared the locks; testament to C19th technology.A sailing boat amongst the mountains.
I hate using the engine, for other than entering and exiting harbour and marinas, and so it was in the Moray Firth.The wind was right out of the east as we sailed under the bridge at Inverness. It took a day and half before we managed to round Rattray
CRUISING REPORTS 27