Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Studland

Sunday turned out to be a cracking day for a sail.  Forecast was F2/3 and it was perfect for taking my sailing averse son out for a day sail... I had to sweeten the deal with a promise of a pub visit :)
Aiming for a lunchtime departure, we wandered down to the club.  After a mercy mission to get a stranded boaters engine running we needed to get ourselves back on track.  Kirk on 'Hannah Snell' was circling us like a hawk, keen to get going.
Away under full rig we tacked out of the harbour, no need for engines today. We had a good sail out past the training wall and tacked our way into the moorings at Studland.  Picking up a Banks Arms buoy, we rafted up;  Kirks Seal 22 rafts up much easier than Paul's Corribee,  I think because we have similar freeboard and the fenders stay in place.
Time to inflated our tenders... Oh boy, I thought my coracle was funny, not a patch on Kirks.   He'd have looked insecure in a paddling pool :)


We spent a pleasant couple of hours at the Banks Arms, Mrs Ciao Bella and a friend dropped by for a drink while out on a walk around the headland.
Having paddled back aboard, the kettle went on as we settled down for a chat.  Only to see Kirks rubber duck drifting away, a bit more exercise for yours truely and it was recovered.


The sail back to Poole was great, tramping along at a good pace.  James took the tiller most of the way back while I trimmed the sails.
We sailed right onto the mooring first time, tidied Ciao Bella and headed home. I think James enjoyed it, what a successful day sail :)


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