Holiday

We went with the kids and the dog down to Inverloch for an extended weekend, to stay in the house we discovered at the Classic Wooden Boat regatta last year. It was very windy and grey but we still went for lots of walks, a few swims, feasted, drank nice wine, relaxed, and actually had a very nice holiday.  The wind encourages you to snooze and take it easy.  The local seagulls certainly thought so.

It is strange but true, that being retired and living a life is a sort of work in its own right, and it is very nice to have a break from all the day to day stuff.

On the beach near the house is the remains of the barque The Amazon, which foundered in a storm in the 1860s, only a few days out of Port Phillip Bay.  It is a reminder of how stressful life on the sea must have been in the days before good weather forecasts and GPS.

Back to the daily grind, I arranged to meet a few AYC sailers and a nice local chap, Bjorn, who I met while rigging up the other day, and we got on the water by about 11.00, three Sabres and Bjorn and Ozzie and I in the Mirror.  I let Bjorn helm.  He is about my age, but had not sailed since he was a teenager.  He was very competent though, which just goes to show that sailing is a bit like riding a bicycle, in that you do not forget the key skills.   The wind did get up a bit, and poor Oz was not too impressed about getting a wet tail.  But it was great to be back on the water.

We saw a lone Gannet, swooping down close over the waves.  Unfortunately I was too slow to get a photo of him.