Stephen Squirrell (34966km):
4849 days ago 2 categories   Even with the school holidays in full swing we only had two kids to look after today which meant I could take the longboard out :) With 14 mph sw forecast and a middle of the day high it looked like a good oppertunity to cross another island off my list !!! So I was rigged and ready to go with drink,gps,phone and snacks at The Dip at 9:30 !!! SW is not the best direction for a trip to Horsey Island as it's a beat all the way and some thing more onshore would have been better.It was a good breeze to start and I was wondering if I should have gone with 8.5 but after stopping to move my harness lines back things went much better !!! I crossed the shipping channel with no problems and continued past Dovercourt where I saw my first seal :# As I approached the backwaters the sea flatened but the wind became lighter and more gusty.I sailed past the creek to Titchmarsh Marina to the next creek and beat into the large lagoon at the back of Horsey island past lots of seals on the creek bank and will have to take the canoe out here to show Mag the seals !!! I only just had enough water to sail as the tide was still an hour from high.I stopped and had snacks and phoned Mag on a jetty by the Island causeway at midday,I then continued past Titchmarsh Marina and out to the main creek past lots of racing dinghies :# I liked it so mush I sailed around the island again seeing even more seals this time as well as hundreds of birds including a flock of avocets
It was now time to reach back to Felixstowe but sadly the wind had gone much lighter :# As I neared the shipping channel by Felixstowe port the wind increased just a large container ship was leaving !!! I had to do a couple of reaches to the the ship past before crossing the channel which was very bumpy !!! My track was jammed with stones so I went ashore on Landguard beach to free that and noticed that my harness spreader bar had sheared off one side :# With the track now working and right at the back had a really good broad reach back and arrived back safely at The Dip after about five hours sailing !!! So a top top day,shame we didn't see more of the sun and the wind could have been se but great anyway and a big thankyou to Mag for holding the fort :)
Fanatic Cat and Tushingham Lightning 9.4
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