New Dawn (No.2 and No.3)

Subtitled: Perfect Day So day number two (Wednesday) of my new dawn, be healthier get more exercise live life to the fullest... I got up too early, on time, drove 5 min's down the road to Draycote, unloaded the bike just before 7 am. The sun was up, blue sky, broken clouds and a good breeze to keep me cool.. actually it was a lot like this (I love the digital age!) :

So I cycled, again my lack of fitness made it damned hard work but I was going OK, getting used to timing the gear changes on the slightly hilly bits, getting better at dodging rabbits and trying to enjoy the fresh air, the scenery at the absolute peace over my panting and sweating! The cycle went well, my muscles ached and I felt good for it, the last stretch down the damn wall towards the visitors centre was great, the sun was brighter, warmth on my back, breeze in my face and time to watch the world around me... got back to the car sat on the damp grass, drank a load of water and then prepared myself for the day... The hope was this was gonna be a damned good day.... some exercise and chilling...Done... back home check work emails make some calls, drive down to Reading, meeting at Microsoft, lunch at Microsoft (I love their whole-wheat pasta for some reason!) drive home, do some more work then go sailing... yey!

So the day went as planned, nothing wound me up or went badly so I was in a great mood... sailing kit in the boot ready to go and borrow my dad's Solo... Got to the club, rigged the Solo, the breeze was up more than I though it would be F4 by the feel of it from the North; launched and spent a good hour just sailing for the pure fun of sailing... it was great it was the most breeze I'd took the Solo out in ever... meant I had to really hike hard (for me) and work the boat, I love feeling the power of a rig in breeze.... Colin (Int. Canoe European non-asymmetric champion) was out in his foiling-moth so I watched him with glee, it was a bit gusty for him to take full advantage of the foils but it still looked damned good:

While the boats were all starting to come out for the start of the Wednesday eve race I decided to take advantage of some of the decent gusts coming across the lake (F4 1/2) and try my hand at photographing myself on the plane... this is my fave photo, the mass of white water and the reflection of the mast in the wooden side-deck is great + it felt good!! So after all that excitement, only 2 other Solo's (and a load of other classes) came out, disappointing really but hey ho... the other starts before us looked like pin-end favored everytime, I was eager to nail the start as I knew the breeze was at my limit of sailing fast...especially with my dad's fairly full main and super stiff mast and my relative lack of weight and very short-arse! So I hovered down by the shore near the pin end for the start... the breeze dropped slightly and I didn't judge things well, 2 sec's behind the line when the start gun went...and a major shift to the right.. yikes, I was down the crapper before I'd started.... I made the decision to dump down below them and try to sail fast and catch a shift of the shore... that kinda worked managed to get back from 3rd Solo to 2nd, with first place maybe 10-15 boat lengths in front so not too bad... wind got very shifty at the top of the beat up near the water-tower, I tried to stay in the breeze the leader headed for the damn and that paid..grrrr... so rounded in second and caught a flamin' fantastic shift that dumped itself on me after jumping over the damn, broad reach planing...faster than a fast thing.....yummy....

So the rest of the race was pretty much similar, catch up downwind have great time and lots of smiles, loose out on the crap 2-tack beat from 'J' to 'X' and gain on the next downwind leg and hold relatively steady upwind, which for a 5ft summat 11stone short-arse I was happy with...

So I came 2nd out of 3 Solo's, I wished I'd had a better start, that would have made things more interesting, but I was knackered, it was a good sail, it was at the limit of my competitive breeze and I was still smiling so that's all cool...

Packed the boat away, thighs aching, still smiling, sun setting...the end of a damn fine day...

So that is was Wednesday night sailing...

I've been soo busy that Monday has arrived before I managed to finish writing this post! So Monday came... forgot to wake up at 6:30am.. stirred at 6:55am thought sod it...dressed drove to Draycote, it was a cooler day but lighter winds, forgot to pack the camera.. shame 'cus I came across 4 heron's wading in the water at Draycote as I cycled round and also the arse end of a green woodpecker flew overhead over near "toft"..enjoyed the cycle again, felt a bit easier which is a good sign, shame my gears let me down today, grinded, slipped, chain-off oily hands, grumpy for a second or two...then back into the spirit, its great breathing fresh-air by the lung-full in the morning.. as long as my ass gets out of bed on Wednesday I'm going for 2-laps, wish me luck..