Weekend Sailing

Some folk who are thinking of buying a Wanderer borrowed my Wayfarer to see what a similar boat was like, and seemed to get a favourable impression, even though one of the bungs was broken, and the boat started filling with water!
What was worse is that the front buoyancy tank filled with water, possibly from two no longer used screw holes that are now covered with Duck tape (thank you Ian).  The result was that on Saturday the boat was impossible to move, or tip back and drain, until some serious bailing had been done.  I am grateful to Ian and Geraldine who leant their support and strength to get the boat tipped up and starting to drain. It went on draining for quite some time.
The boat was on the path rather than in the berth, which is not surprising; it is harder to move on the gravel of the berth than the concrete of the path.  What is amazing is that they managed to get the boat up the slope at all. When they told me of the problem, I did not think that much of it, as I expected to be there within a week or so. With Ann being ill last month, the boat was blocking the patch for a matter of five or six weeks. How embarrassing!
When I realised the bungs Ian had leant me were not the right shape for the fittings, I decided to buy replacements later, and sail the club RS Feva instead. There are days when no-one else is sailing at Killington, so I was glad to be sailing while Ian & Geraldine were around as well.  The winds were light, and they were making good use of the Spinnaker, which I hope to learn next season.  I packed up when they did.
Just before I left Myles arrived with a group from Sedburgh school, and I was tempted to go back out. I enjoyed watching Myles skilfully talk a lone sailor back to pick up her partner, when she had unintentionally drifted off without her.
On Sunday morning I found that the replacement bungs I had bought fitted fine, and I would not need to replace the fittings they plugged into as well. Everything was fine, except that there was no wind, and the lake was as flat as a mill pond.  This did not deter the group that had come to go canoeing, but it was a show stopper for me.

The lake was as flat as a millpond

I was at a bit of a loss, and I had not brought my walking boots with me.  I went to Kendal and bought some inexpensive ones, but I noticed walking back to the car that there was a little breeze now.  I decided to walk on Farleton Fell, but call at Killington on the way. I was just in time to see the canoeing group pack up, and there was a light pleasant breeze, so the sailing was on.
Even though the winds were light, sailing the Wayfarer is an enjoyable experience and gives a good impression of speed.   It was good to be out on the water.  It rained briefly, but I did not mind. The sun came out briefly, and it was beautiful.  I heard yesterday that there was a fishing competition today, there were certainly a lot of them, so I kept away from that shore.
I thought the wind must be getting stronger, as it was really hard to keep the boat from turning into the wind, but after a while I realised the rudder down haul had come loose.  When I took a longer look at the sail, I realised that it was not that the kicking strap was too long ( I had tied a know to shorten it) but that the goose neck, boom and mainsail were too low.  I stopped in the middle of the lake to make an adjustment, then realised it was not enough, and stopped to make another, and another. I think it was quite good by the end.

This had been my first time sailing the Wayfarer alone when there were no other people using the slipway.  It is hard work pulling it up with just one other person, and mighty hard doing it alone. I was glad to reverse the car down and tow it up the slope.
Now I have checked the diary it is nine weeks since I had the boat at Glenridding, and I was very pleased to be out on the water again.

The White Queen

I usually enjoy a historical novel, and I was pleased to learn about the Yorkist Kings, as I knew very little about the War of the Roses before I started.

One of the good things about historical novels is that they can give a credible, if some what conjectural view of why people behaved the way they did. Nobody knows why Edward IV, the first and longest reigning of the Yorkist Kings did not marry a European princess as his powerful uncle Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick "Kingmaker" wanted him to.  Philippa Gregory has a rather unsatisfactory answer as to how Elizabeth Woodville, daughter of a mere knight was able to make such a fine catch - she was a witch!
To be fair, having read a little more widely, nobody seems to have a better explanation and seem to agree that she bewitched him. Not only so, but Elizabeth herself believed herself to have the powers of a witch and be descended from the water goddess Melusina. However I still felt a little cheated that instead of a plausible explanation of character's motivations what we got was an invitation to believe in witchcraft.
Another good feature of historical novels is that you can absorb a vivid picture of what life was like while simply enjoying the story.  Here again I felt slightly short changed, coming away with little idea what life and society was like. I may be wrong, but I felt it was only after finishing the novel that I read that her brother Anthony knew William Caxton and was the author of the first book to be printed in the English language.
Having said all that it was an enjoyable story and a good read. Its just that I expected more. Of course she had to skirt round one the greatest historical unknowns of all time. Who killed her two sons King Edward V and  Richard, Duke of York - the princes in the tower?  Well it remains a mystery - but the story does convey a couple of twists that are unexpected but certainly within the bounds of possibility.
Now I did come away from the story with more respect for the Yorkist kings than I had when I started, but the book is by no means pro Yorkist. In fact it is quite open about how dishonourable they were at times.
The story is much more about Edward IV than Richard III, but Richard comes over in quite a good light, especially compared to how we see him from Shakespeare's writings.  Calculating, decisive, yes, but cruel vindictive, no, and quite personable and an attractive character.   Elizabeth herself, the central character, is the more scheming and vindictive.
So there you have it, turbulent times, vividly portrayed, families at war, danger hatred and revenge, witchcraft but still accurate historically, loyalty and hope.  Not a great read but certainly a good one.

Lyme Regis

Three years ago I was slightly disappointed with Lyme Regis, but this year we really enjoyed it.
We stopped at Charmouth on the Monday morning, and went to the Open Air market, where I bought some Regatta trousers and some walking shoes for Anna.  There is no bank there, so I drew out some money from the post office.
I dropped the family at the little car park by the museum, it is basically a roundabout with parking spaces round three sides, you are lucky if a space comes free. The drive in gets quite narrow at points, the lights are not because there is a junction, but rather the road does not take two way traffic at the corner. There are other points where the road is marked keep clear, and if drivers do not it gets quite awkward when the bus comes the other way.
There is plenty of space at the car park, and it costs only a pound all day, and there are toilets.  Best of all there is a wonderful view of the town the bay and the blue and green waters sparkling in the sunshine.  There is another car park, by the fire and police stations, but you have to drive through some narrow streets busy with pedestrians, it is more expensive and hardly any closer to the beach.
From the bottom of the hill, the promenade leads to the harbour and the Cobb, Broad street has all the shops, and the narrow road leading inland follows the river Lym past the mill and other parts of the town.
We ate at the cafe de Sol, on the terrace overlooking the river. There were no free tables inside, so we huddled under a parasol from the shower, but by the time we had decided what to order the shower was gone and the sky was a bright blue, a beautiful day.
After lunch we explored the area around the mill. I went on the guided tour of the mill, which was very informative. It generates its own electricity, and it mills flour using the water wheel. When I rejoined the family they were in one of the buildings near the mill which was being used as an art gallery. We bought pictures by a local artists Jan Callow and Barbara Green.
Later John and I walked across to the harbour and out onto the Cobb, the stone jetty made famous by John Fowles novel and the film The French Lieutenants Woman.  It was very impressive.  The waves were quite strong, splashing up onto the cobb, while the harbour and the beach enjoyed the shelter it gives. Past the promenade some shallow rocks stretch out to sea, so that the waves were breaking over some distance and the rolled in. It was late afternoon at this point, the sun was getting lower, and shining on the coast and cliff stretching out past Golden Cap and round the bay. It did look very golden.
We came to Lyme a second day, and we spent some time in the shops on Broad Street. The book shop at the bottom held my interest the best, though it would have been useful to remember that the convenience stores stay open longer than our local Londis in Chideock.  The weather was less bright that day, and Anna John and I went walking past the harbour onto the Shingle beach beyond.  It took good notice of the sailing club compound, and on the way back got chatting to someone packing up his Wayfarer, and helped him free his lanyard that had got caught inside the mast.
We had one night time trip to Lyme, when we had a sit down meal eating fish and chips at the Lyme fish bar.  Then we went for a walk along the promenade, and Kim took some pictures of the moon and its reflection over the water.