3 June 09 - Happy Birthday Jacob!

5 nautical miles

This was a birthday surprise for Jacob!

He'd been saying for some time 'What I really would like for my birthday is to sail the boat alone with Richard'. We kept making no comment and Wedneday is normally a full work day for me, but I left work early and then went round to Jacob's house and said 'Like to come for a sail?' His face was a picture!

So, with his Dad to help get the boat in and out of the water [Neil and Paula also helped get it out] we went down to the club for a quick sail.

The wind was light to start with. We sailed after Neil and Paula who were out sailing themselves... and then the wind dropped... and Neil and Paula sailed right into the calm too.... and stopped.

But actually it was turning. The late afternoon offshore wind picked up and was really nice, though gusty which Jacob found a little difficult to deal with, so I hove to, reefed the main and everything was better.

Coming back to shore was interesting too... see how many tacks I did to try to keep within the boat lane.