Monday: No haar - I tried another favourite beach. Bawdsey - you can park right by the beach and barely have to move all day, apart from getting an ice cream. I park overlooking the river, roughly at the end of the trees to the left. A great place.

Bawdsey Quay and beach. 
Seen from Lookfar on the visitor's mooring in the Deben, of which more in another post

What heatwave? I went to the beach at shingle street to lie around in the sun to recover from yesterday. The haar came in after an hour  (they call it sea mist here which is not such a good name).

Haar at shingle street.
It was not a proper Scottish haar but enough to keep the heat wave away.

But a nice day out.

Saturday - I completed a race - how about that! I never thought to do a race again, let alone finish one. I was last ashore - but who cares - I finished!

Course 19

The conditions are much more challenging than sailing a triangle or figure of eight on open water. It is more like an obstacle race, but I am expecting that I will learn where things are and where the regular gusts are. I went for the fast handicap - which meant three circuits of the course below Loder's Cut (which is a gap in the mud banks cut by some guy called Loder in the late 19th c.). The slow handicap fleet (I can sail in either) only did one circuit.

There are moored boats all along, the tide varies and the wind is shadowed in places by trees and banks. It also funnels down around 9 and C . So within about three boat lengths you go from being becalmed to being almost overpowered. The only decent wind was between 7 and D. It can only be good for my technique! One has also to identify the marks and remember the course (yea - it is written down but you don't want to take your eye off the wind to look.) I got lost twice - which I suppose is quite good really.

They do 5,4,1 starts from the clubhouse. I started almost on the line (which I could not see due to moored boats) - and did OK  until I could not spot 7 or distinguish D from a load of mooring bouys! There are two bouys at 14 so I headed to the wrong one - and then  the mainsheet untied itself (OK I had not fixed the knot properly) and I lost where I was whilst I re-tied it. I  slowed down as I got tired but hung on in there and finished. Fun - fun - fun. Or fun without the need to bring the boat ashore and pull it up the ramps by myself (everyone else was in) and then unrig it. But I did it and there was very nice cake and tea in the galley.

The mill pond for the Tidemill seen from the other side of the river. An image from the Frith collection.

Once a historian - always a historian - even if I swear I have said what I had to say. This is the Tidemill Yacht harbour before it was a yacht harbour. It was then a vaste mill pond for the Tidemill corn mill - just visible to the left. An econimic / social / environmental history of the boat yards and havens up and down the river would be nice. (The boat trade and the river Deben - 1800 to 2010)   In our endings are our beginnings. (You won't understand this unless you know that my first book was The Pottery Trade and North Staffordshire, 1660-1760) So have spent a day vaguely thinking about it.  I don't really have the time or energy - - do I?

Have also done the usual trivia and been to the gym and advertised a laser for sale.

Today - the summer solstice.

2011                        2011
                   d  h  m           d  h  m
 Equinoxes  Mar   20 23 21    Sept  23 09 05
 Solstices  June  21 17 16    Dec   22 05 30

Not sure how to acknowledge it even. I thought it was the whole day - but apparently not - the time (GMT) given here from:-
http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/earth-seasons

Needless to say the sun itself is not in sight.

Swallow on a noticeboard - Deben Yacht Club

The noticeboard is outside the changing rooms. They have nested late here - some nested earlier under the balcony. They stayed with the nest all day - inspite of masses of activity within a few meters. Swallows were here in a similar position last year.

I am surprised not to have a lot of aches and pains today - maybe the good effect of resistance training. I did not expect ever to race again and it reminded me - what fun and enjoyment - what effort and pain.

Grossed in sun and did a minor repair all day.

River walk from the sailing club balcony

Today - the Woodbridge regatta. The river bank and all the open areas adjacent were full of stalls, eateries and people.

Just after the start of the Topper race. The wind got up later.

And there was some racing in sight of the revellers. I did two laps of a big course in the streaker which started after the toppers had finished (I came in after an hour and a quarter as I was tired and also had some equipment failures). The first time I have raced for about three years. The wind was pretty good for about half the time - then dropped. It is very variable here - a lot of gusts and shifts. Various muscles are protesting but I don't feel any worse than I did a few years back.

Aim - to finish one race this season (they do very long races and wonder why more people don't race). (One of the problems of handicap racing due to the need to give the really fast boats a decent length of race which is too long for the slower boats.)

The week - full of domestic trivia and bad weather. I even did some shopping and cooking. Do feminists bake cakes?

The weather is frustrating attempts to go sailing in Lookfar or in a dinghy. High wind is forecast over the weekend and into next week. With rain. It looks as if I will be forced to write documentation, as I have almost tidied the flat and done my accounts.

All the usual trivia - and the weather sunny - a bit spoilt by not being out of doors enough.

DYC standard courses: starts from the clubhouse

Aimed at my friends in sailing clubs - this seems a good idea. Apparently it helps to get sensible courses - helped by the ability to leave the marks in over the summer. I have had to draw them out on maps, with coloured pencils, to make any sense of them.
Very horrible weather still.

Sunny in the morning but it became cold and windy, with heavy rain after lunch.
I went to the boat and  fixed the mainsail on the boom before it rained.

At low tide alongside the town quay - the entrance to the Tidemill marina is between the white buildings

Talked to the families that own these boats on the way there. Scuttled back as the wind got colder and the rain nastier. The rest of the day indoors - partly doing some useful things (such as studying the sailing club's standard race courses - which were incomprehensible but are getting easier as I get more familiar with the river)  but mostly not doing much at all.

a.m. A good session in the gym. The rest of the day trying to sort out my house (as usual - it seems a never-ending task) and an expedition to the shops and to drink coffee in Neros - yet again. The weather is not nice - so no grossing in  the sun. Wrote emails and watched tele - as usual.
I am wondering how to exesise the brain - implying a re-think about how to live.

I had lunch with Aidan in London - got drenched with heavy rain - wandered around a couple of old stamping grounds - headed for the train back quite early. As there was some chaos on the line ahead this was just as well - but there was only a minor delay in the end. Then supper at the sailing club. A rather long day - but I felt good at the end of it.

a.m. The birds indicate an improvement in mood this morning - they are supposed to move around - very silly.... Almost finished doing tax accounts - now a lot of checking tedious detail - not as if I have a mega-income.

p.m. Visit to Ipswich hospital to oncology clinic and to get more supplies of the wonder-drug. It all seems to be working and indeed I feel quite 'normal' - whatever that conveys to you. Heavy rain on my return somewhat dampening to mood.

a.m. A bit gloomy when I got up with nothing very interesting in prospect. Still putting books on shelves, a blood test and home via the shops.
p.m.  stayed around the house in the afternoon waiting for a chair to be delivered - which it was. Some progress with doing tax. Sunny and windy outside.

11-50 hrs: got up feeling a bit depressed - an hour in the gym was good and am now trying to catch up with domestic admin, dealing with U3A website and putting books on shelves. (Yes - they are still on the floor).

eve: The rest of the day - lots of minor things -domestic admin,  cycled to the boat (put on the genoa), back via the shops and more domestic triva alongside watching tele.

a.m. Heavy rain all day and a cold wind - back into winter clothes and off with sandals. I am intending to make a daily entry on the blog - as good discipline for me. Not, I hope, a substitute for writing proper letters (ie emails).
 

21-00 hrs: Geology group of U3A - last meeting until September. I like geology - I like the stimulus the group gives, but I often find going to a meeting a bit annoying. I also find U3A a bit annoying too.

Went into Ipswich hospital for an Xray after, which did not take very long as oncology xrays are fast-tracked.  (The special xray unit for oncology was merged with the general unit and the deal was that we would not have to wait long.) Usual feeling of unease as I was called before some other people - but also pleased at not having a long wait.

Did nothing of any significance for the rest of the day - dropped into the letting agent to get someone to fix some electricity glitches, had a coffee in Nero's and bought a pair of shorts and a sun hat in the hope of better weather. General feeling of dissatisfaction by the evening.

Saturday

Downwind finish - Mike in his streaker.

Monday 8-40 hrs: The last five days much taken up with boating - but I have not been afloat. The long race on Saturday (6 N miles approx) was too windy for my muscles - (three boats launched from the club and only two finished). I hung out on the balcony of the club and sat in the sun. This was frustrating as I had prepared the boat and myself for the event. Then Sunday was too windy as well, so I visited Lookfar, where it was cold and windy by the afternoon - but I did fix a few things apart from which I did nothing all day apart from reading a few pages of a geology text book. Too much tele . .

Lookfar lifted. Tidemill office behind the bow. The green car has all my picnic gear spread out next to it

 20-40 hrs: Up an hour earlier than usual to go to Tidemill - the boat was due to be lifted and the repair finished. Sat in the sun (and tidied the car) whilst the crane did other things. It was hot and still and quiet - one of those summer mornings.

The underside - showing the new gasket and the refurbished plate holding it in.

Then - the slot gasket was done and ( after the picture) I patched the anti-fouling. Launched after lunch and did nothing much else for the rest of the day, apart from lounging in the cockpit. It clouded in the afternoon  and a cold wind came in - but still shorts-weather. The deck is dirty and the inside needs to be sorted out - but we are at least back in the water.