Recent Activity

Well.....there hasn't been much. Although I was delighted to see that the snow was beginning to melt on my way into work this morning. Obviously there hasn't been much sailing but there has been a lot of "virtual" activity. The mailing list is nearly into triple figures and this blog has regular visits by sailing enthusiasts from every continent. I greatly appreciate the compliments and as always I'm very keen to find out what you've all been doing. For example, below is an email from Lee Finch who has been sailing his beautiful, I think you will agree, mark IIIa on Langstone Harbour. What a lucky man to have such wonderful cruising waters on his doorstep. Anyway, if you're currently enjoying a Christmas dram by the fire, be sure and toast to the day we can meet for a sail in the spring. Perhaps another trip to Rutland might help us work off the seasonal excess.

Hi Chris,

sorry for the delayed reaction in sending you these attached photos, but your recent e-mail reminded me. They were taken way back when the weather was still fine, and show my youngest son Liam and I sailing my latest mk3a 'Alacrity' in our usual spot in Langstone Harbour Portsmouth. The wind was gusting to Force 5 on that day, but due to the protection of the land around the bay, the sea state always remains calm, unless the wind is from the North.

Looking forward to better weather,

Happy new year,

Lee Finch

New Dinghy Cruising Book

Those of you that are in to cruising Gulls will probably be aware of Margaret Dye's book "Dinghy Cruising". The updated version explains how she re-discovered the Gull as a more than capable cruising boat for extended voyaging and camping on board.
There is now also another book available on the subject by Paul Constantine. "Practical Dinghy Cruiser" is available as an e-book from http://www.moonshinepublications.co.uk/ and, I believe, will soon also be available as paper book. I've yet to read it myself but I'm hoping to soon and I may even review it for the blog.

Winter

The darkest days of winter are upon us again and this winter shows every sign of being as depressing as the last. I did manage to sail at Dorchester yesterday. I took part in an ice breaker race which meant that we had to, quite literally, break the ice before we sailed. Sailing was excellent fun. Trying to navigate the course whilst dodging the ice that drifted into different areas on each lap was a challenge. I sailed my Lightning rather than the Gull as "aurora" is at Branfibre near Banbury having a new thwart built. More about that in a future post. So, very little Gull sailing at the moment. If you have sailed your boat and would like to tell us what you've been up to then please contact me at the usual email.