Alas the season is over...

Now that April is over so ends the racing season for the Port Cygnet Sailing Club.  The past two Sundays have had regular races  with 12-15 yachts taking part.  I was fortunate to sail with Coach Harry for both races and had a great time.  I learnt a great deal as per usual and found the Clansman to be a very stable and easy yacht to sail.  Harry has two speed winches on his yacht which are considerably different to ours and are probably something that we should seriously consider buying if we can spare the cash.  Jib sheet handling was much easier with such winches. I am hoping that, before the winter really settles in, we will get in some social sailing.  We still need to have a few drinks and a meal to celebrate the "Girls" taking to the water and completing the season. Life just seems too busy at the moment. I am really going to miss the Sunday afternoon sailing though.  

This week Peter will be installing the Navman Fishfinder that we are installing to use as a depth finder and also the new Navman Chart plotter so we will be  prepared for the next season.  The jib will need some repair before the winter, as will the deck sealing.  We have serious issues with water getting into the space between the fibreglass shells so we need to do some work on this before the rain really sets in.  

One notable success was the satisfactory completion of a Marine Radio Operators Certificate course!  Now I can legally use the VHF radio on board Pathfinder which we have yet to test. A two day course and an exam were required which proved challenging. I was delighted to learn that I passed with flying colours.  The next task is to get a motor boat license which one must have if in charge of a boat with a motor over 5hp.  Again this requires a practical and written test so I will endeavor to do this over the winter.  

Great sailing to all... 'til next time...