Today's forecast was for relatively light winds, so I took Peregrina my Mirror Dinghy out. She lives on a fairly basic wooden dolly, and I pull her along down to the Altona Yacht Club ramp which is now the closest launching spot. This causes much amusement and sometimes consternation to passers by. A chap this afternoon pulled over in his large 4wd, towing an even larger boat, to tell me: "You should save up and buy a car" . The boat weighs in around 60 kilograms so it is not a huge load, but some people - perhaps concerned by my grey hair and advancing years - offer to help me pull her along. Anyway, it is a good work out getting the boat down there, and I feel a bit like Alaistair Humphreys and Leon McCarron dragging their cart Into the Empty Quarter ( a short movie well worth a look if you haven't seen it.)
I was on the water about 10, and the winds were indeed light, and as usual, coming predominantly from the direction that I wanted to head in.
It took me till around 3 to get past the point, by which time the wind was filling in, and I was moving at about 3.5 knots. Werribee river would have taken about 2 hours more from the turn around point.
The breeze started to pick up as I turned for home. I was setting the GPS to point me back to the launch spot, when the breeze shifted and I got a good whack on the head in an accidental gybe, plus a near capsize, about 50 metres off the reef at Point Cook. That will teach me. It certainly made me pay attention.
The trip home on a broad reach took about an hour. I probably should have reefed but it was a rollocking good ride home. A grand day out, and a good preparation for an expedition to Werribee River.
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