When I pull up in the car at Bedlam Bay the rain was bucketing down, Darrell arrived a minute later and as we sat in our cars the question was not will we sail, but will we even get out of the car! A full ten minutes passed and there is no sign of Barry so Darrell and I discussed what beer we would have back at the warm dry club house. With no Barry in sight we decided to head off to the club, however just then his car pulled up and miraculously the rain eased off.After a lengthy discussion under cover in the shed, the time came to make a decision. We opted to go out with just enough time to make the start.
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Even though Barry has Farrago in a bag he noticed a bit of growth on the rudder, so be had a diver do a clear. The diver cleaned some shell between the runner and keel, so we started the day with a nice clean hull.
The day was cool with some drizzle with a moderate southerly breeze. Anne chose a number 2 course (South). Barry assigned the helm to myself with he and Darren working the winches. Three boats lined up on the start, Farrago (us), Xena and Memphis. Memphis has a great start hitting the line right on the signal; we followed a few seconds later. The river was welcomed us with scattered clouds and a nice ESE breeze at around 10 knots. We were to find out that this nice breeze did have plenty of gusts, lifts and knocks in. Darrell forgot his gloves so he claimed the helm with Barry and I grinding. The foredeck work as assigned to myself because I “need the practice”......
Our usual skipper, Carolyn, was avoiding the hot Sydney weather by gallivanting about in Hobart at the wooden boat show in Tassie. So her motley crew found it necessary to brave the elements (37.5 Deg C) without her.. ...
I don’t think I have sweated so much in the lead up to a race before. The lack of wind had us worried as we struggle when the wind is light. But as always great humour was aboard Memphis. Thankfully after a mercy dash back ashore and to the local, we had some suitable refreshments for the day out.....
We were greeted by a pleasant E to SE breeze of 10 to 15Knots. We selected the number 2 genoa and headed to the start area to be joined by Xena, Wind Falls and Memphis.....
Unfortunately skipper Carolyn was unwell but her generosity and faith in the crew had Xena Warrior Princess cross the starting line, without her, merely a second or two after the hooter........
We were greeted by a pleasant ENE breeze, however as the day went on it built to become fresh moving between NE and East. A fleet of six boats lined up in Division 3, Farrago, A Fine Balance, Xena Warrior Princess, Wind Falls, Firefly and an ever improving Memphis.......
Heading out for the prestart muster in a building NE breeze (was it really?), the starter has chosen the Islands course. A couple more surprises follow;
We had the regular crew of Barry, Darrell and Paul (me). The day did not start well for us. After rowing out to the mooring Barry tied the dinghy off and we set about rigging. I noticed that the dinghy was floating bye, so I hastily went below decks grabbed a boathook and throw it to Darrell who reached for the dinghy only to miss it by 30cm, I grabbed a longer boat hook and got it into his hands asap, however as the dinghy continued to drift away Darrell missed it again by 30cm. Just my luck that I grabbed the short one first!
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