gliding amongst reflections

yesterday Miss Muppet’s crew took me along with them for a quiet little sail. it was quiet because the weather was quiet – a complete reversal from the strong winds we have had for most of September.

it was cloudy with just enough wind to get us along after motoring out of the creek.

we wove amongst all the moored boats and their reflections in the calm water.

Harvester, the restored Sheringham crab boat with her lovely curving lines and furled sails.

a good way of negotiating the mix of wind tide and obstacles is to follow another sailing boat. we followed this Oyster for several tacks.

Star of Hope, another crab boat, but much smaller.

here we are, following two Oysters around on the next tack, between more boats.

a Cornish half-deck fishing boat, unusual boat to see on this coast. her reflection undisturbed as we glide past.

what seems difficult and scary, avoiding all the moored boats and the large seal trip ferries as you tack up the channel, in fact becomes part of the enjoyment of sailing here. on a quiet day, anyway.

sailing past the real fishing boats, one is aware of a certain fishy aroma ….

a stately dance amongst the relections.

passing another real fishing boat …

and then the skipper handed over to me; this is the first time I have ever sailed a boat! it was very good to have the chance to try steering and handling the main sail on a nice big stable boat like the Cockle before sailing my little dinghy. note that I never did up my life-jacket yesterday. I certainly did today when we took the dinghy out.

after that I went back to being ship’s blogger, and we sailed around Juno, the sailing barge. she is most impressive, and I have a plan to do with her and my birthday next year.

I love all the different sails and masts she has.

a new Cockle with very dark sails.

a gypsy, a nice half-decker. on our way back now.

the light on the water was beautiful on this soft grey day.

this lovely boat we couldn’t identify. she sailed in goose-winged, those big sails catching a lot of wind.

almost back at the mouth of the creek.

we had the wind with us and nearly managed to sail all the way in, just the last bend in the creek the tide was going out and we had to get in smartly before the water ran away.