Lazy hazy day drifting..

....with perhaps a little fishing along the way... 

..no fishey's were damaged in the making of this production, although a decent size, I thought he was better off with the rest of the guys and girls, so after his/her photo shoot he went back over the side..  by the by, handsome looking fish, mackerel..

Anyway - I jump ahead of myself..  a brief hiatus of Indian summer here in the UK, and from the ridiculous (of the last sail) to the sublime of this weekend...  Wth a dog tide weekend in between where the tides were good for nothing, I was determined to try and grab some sailing time, though I knew up front the winds weren't going to be up to much..  nonetheless this seemed to be the better of the two days so down to the boat by 10 - three hours before high tide - signs that other club members were doing the same..

I'd bought the stiff bristle broom with me as the last time I came down I noticed the weed was beginning to take hold - two transits of the boat and the weed had gone from waterline and rudder, and I hopped on board to ready the boat..  we were gone by 11, motoring down the trench in a light Easterly wind, and following a fellow club boat....  as we came off Northney I noticed the gulls sitting on the water, so engaging autopilot ducked down below for the rod to be ready..  as we went through I dropped the rev's and let go the spinner and 5 minutes later the chap/chap'ess above joined me..  first fish of the season..

Raised the main shortly after, let out all the genoa, bore away fro the harbour entrnce and then...  just drifted..  occasional puff of just about F2, bit of F1, occasionally nothing, and all the time the wind was heading as the heat kicked in..

I felt for the guys doing the Round Hayling race.. hard work...  I noticed SUP's were in the race this year..

Half an hour later 4 dragon boats came past and that looked even harder work...

When it became clear that I was never going to make Marker against tide and a fluky wind, I turned for home, dodged the Optimist fleet that was drifting in a race, and headed back to the mooring..  I was crisp round the edges, but a surprisingly good day considering I hadn't gone anywhere!

Log:

Distance: 5.19 (cumulative total in the mileage tab at the top)
Wind (Speed; Direction): F3 going F2 and occasional F0; anywhere between E and SSE
Sail Plan: Full main and genoa
Speed (Max/average in knots):  4.9 (motor) / 2.0