Glorious Autumn weather last week or so, and perfect day for the launch of Geoff's SCAMP " Papa's" #738, on Lake Wendouree. Not much wind, which is perfect for launching a new boat. Chris brought along his little kayak, and did the honours as camera boat so we could get some excellent footage of the historic occasion, three SCAMPs on Victorian waters. I launched mine February last year, so the numbers have gone from zero to three in just over a year. I wish my Superannuation was showing a similar rate of increase. At this rate, we won't be able to move for SCAMPS in a decade or two. Here is a video stitching together some of Chris' fine footage:
There are a couple more in progress, and more people making contact who are seriously interested. A chap who has bought the plans came down from Bendigo for a sail on Wednesday. Another beautiful Autumn day, but an almost windless morning which was not so great for him nor for the skippers of the other 7 boats that surprisingly turned up in response to my announcement I was going out on the WBA WhatsApp group. Hey ho, I don't control the weather, but couldn't help feeling a bit guilty as we all bobbed round on the glassy surface of the water a few hundred metres off the ramp, going nowhere fast.
It would have been a brilliant paddling day. I have just finished reading Verlen Kruger's "Incredible Journey", his account of paddling and portaging right across Canada in a canoe. He and his buddy each carried a load of 170 lbs on the portages, sometimes for 8 miles or more, often uphill. Golly. They were lucky to survive from the sound of it. But he went on to paddle over 100000 miles, still paddling into his eighties.
Mike, the potential SCAMP builder who came out with me Wednesday, used to sail Mosquito catamaran, quite seriously from the sound of it. I by contrast am not a serious sailor. He asked me what tweaks I have found most useful with the balanced lug. After thinking for a while, I had to confess that I don't tweak.
It occurred to me that this is all a bit like Freud's "Civilization and its Discontents". Having another boat around, or another person on board, especially if they are a serious sailor, is a sure pathway to feeling like you have to go faster, try harder, tweak that sail shape. Its nice to have the company and the competition, but it comes at a price.
Hey ho, I need to get through the WBA Sailing Day this Sunday, then I plan to try some non-serious, solipsistic sailing.
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