First sail of the year !

First proper sail of the year. Myself and some buddies moved 'Playtime' to her new swing mooring at Medway Yacht Club. Great to finally have all tide access to the boat, however as a new member, my mooring seems to be about 1 mile from the club ! An outboard or fitness regime is required if I want to sail when the trot boat isn't there !

Beautiful day for it , got the kite up, and hopefully will be able to race next weekend ! 

Medway Mud !

Medway Mud !
Originally uploaded by lazarette.

Whilst going in to park at Gillingham in the Medway, I guess I made the most elementary error, and misjudged how quickly the tide would drop :)
>So we were left, despite much help from some of the marina folks, 6 feet from the pontoon, at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. With no beer, no fags and 1 can of chilli con-carne, this was a bit worrying. Also Jamie and I were both supposed to be in London at 6pm..
Luckily for us, George T, a marina resident, took pity on us, and was kind enough to go and buy, and then send across in a bucket, stella, crisps and beer. Amazing how this kind act made the evening more bearable !
For those of you sailing into Gillingham tidal basin, apparently the rule of thumb ( for a 1 metre draft anyway ) is that when the metal post that the mooring rings are attached to is in the water, its ok to go in.
Thanks to everyone who helped out !

Newest member of the crew

Newest member of the crew
Originally uploaded by lazarette.

George joined the crew yesterday, here's a nice picture! What a result! Went for a test run on my own with George, a raymarine st1000+

I know this isn't a new idea, but somewhat of a revelation for me. It can steer pretty well, tack, and doesn't seem to nail the batteries too much.

Still feel a little funny leaving the pilot on, and making a cup of tea with no one on deck. Still, good enough for Ellen McC...

Many thanks to Georges sponsor, Sheilah!

some evil f*ckers tried to blow up london today

7 bombs so far across the city. We're all ok, but thoughts with the families of those injured and killed.

And what do they hope to achieve ?

Cowess week race - got to helm a J-109

One of our suppliers was kind enough to let me go racing for a day in cowes today.

Fantastic fun, we had a breeze gusting 30 knots in the morning, and I got to helm a J109 ( Asymetric kite, carbon pole, fast cruiser/1 design ) Managed to broach ( well no-one let go of the kicker or main! ) but got some nice speeds on the clock.
http://www.yachtcharterguide.com/yacht.asp?ID=773
Great boat, next time I have £125k free, I may buy one :)

It was also the trafalgar fleet review, hundreds of ships, and we got buzzed by 3 chinooks flying in formation with about 15 smaller helicopters - quite a frightening sight really.

Didn't make the island, Ellen McC will have to wait to be trashed until next year :)

Didn't make it, the wind was a continual W or WSW, and as we were heading from Sandwich, that meant on the nose. A lumpy sea meant that it was going to take 40hours to make the island, and arrive about 12 hours before the race.

So we bore of 70 degrees, and headed for Bolougne instead :(

( Incidentally making for a very easy channel crossing for the first time ! )

More pics and trip notes to follow when I get back.

Dave takes the wheel!

Fw: Dave takes the wheel!
Originally uploaded by lazarette.

en route to the exciting port of calais :)