It was disappointing that we missed the last of the Spring Series. through a lack of a competent helmsman being available. My number one helmsman was not down at Cygnet for the day and number two had eye surgery so it was a landlubber I be. Sad. Still this week I was able to crew for on Wyvern with the significant male and the Cap'n. This was one of those days when one wonders why we actually love sailing. The Cap'n loved it but for the first time I was feeling decidedly queezy. Seasickness ! what me ? Never! Ha Ha.
The weekend started poorly weather wise with strong winds, rain and snow on the mountains - lots of snow. For the non-Australian followers of this blog - if there are any - this is supposed to be early summer! It was bitterly cold and damp on Sunday and I thought it was an ideal opportunity to test out the new wet weather gear I had given myself for my birthday last month. Rugged up with the full sailing suit and life jacket I was a good imitation of the Michelin man but for all that I was warm and dry. The race started at Cygnet and was to travel down the bay, into the Huon River estuary and out into the D'entrecasteaux Channel and into Esperance Bay. (See map) The three islands in the bay (Faith, Hope and Charity) had to be circumnavigated and left to starboard. The winds started light and thinking I would distribute my weight more evenly on board and keep out of the biting wind I would stand in the hatch way amidships. This worked a treat until we got blasted by a 30-35 knot wind straight of the mountains! Brrrr. Into the cabin this chicken hearted sailer disappeared. Hitting the 4-6 metre swell as we entered the Channel was not a pleasant experience. The yacht pounding through these waves threw me around a lot. Why did I ever shelter below? It was too difficult to return topside until we actually got into the shelter of the bay. Tossing around in high winds and a strong swell makes one certainly wonder why we were out there.
Once around the islands and out of the bay were pounded our way back to the estuary and home but with a following sea the motion changes to more of a corkscrewing one. Still not fun but up on deck in my usual spot at the back of the yacht it was more tolerable. It was a five hour sail and we were pleased to find many of the other competitors were still at the club house when we got back. We were starving. The roughness of the journey making eating difficult and probably unwise. Fortunately I was by that stage feeling much better so a quick snack and the results were ready. We made it in fourth place with four yachts retiring before the race was half over and five finishing. There was only 6 minutes between first and second and barely a minute between each of the subsequent yachts so over such a distance it was great racing. If we had not finally got nearly becalmed as the afternoon saw a great decrease in the wind, we may have done much better. Still a good effort considering the conditions. I was pleased to find that I was not the only one to have seasickness problems with one of the guys on Soubrette really having a hard time of it. He had to go below to patch a window that had got smashed by the waves and to bail the water out. Being below played havoc with his stomach and unfortunately he lost his breakfast - which I fortunately did not. One of the women aboard the J26 Cio Cio San was also in a pretty bad way. We could all have a laugh about it afterwards thank goodness and as my significant other said - we finished! We did not give up and we made it safely to the end.
Next week is a lightening series with three short races in quick succession. I hope to get a helmsman who will be willing to take me out on Pathfinder for some fun. 'Til the... good sailing
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