My sailing companion has produced a new Youtube film from last autumn. What do we do at night? I put up three articles last summer of my adventure at the Semaine du Golfe:
Here is a nice little story of Roger Barnes’ night on his lug-rigged Ilur dinghy Avel Dro:
He was on his own in his lovely spacious vessel, everything precisely organised and in its place. That is Naval routine at its best.
Sleeping aboard isn’t easy, and I have a lot less space on Sarum than he has. To compensate, my boat dries out flat. I have improved the sleeping arrangement with two self-inflating mattresses on wooden boards. A new lazarette (stern board and locker) will provide more length for my body. I’m beginning to anticipate the new season with improvements to my trailer and the project of the lazarette. Time and money permitting, I hope to make a new and higher tent to give me more headroom, which will involve a higher boom prop.
It feels quite strange to wake up in the boat, dried out and completely immobile, or floating and feeling the movement of the water and the lapping wavelets. The peace and silence are awe-inspiring. It is a rare privilege that you won’t even find in a monastery!
It gets better every year! All I need now is the end of the winter and the bad weather, and a little more warmth in the air for my first daysail of this year. Perhaps I’ll do a jaunt on the Seine before braving the sea – once the Atlantic swell dies down a bit. We took a battering from Storm Imogen just a couple of days ago, but much less than in southern England! As I said on a sailing e-mail list “I take it no one will be sailing“…
Anyway, enjoy Roger’s film, and I hope he will make others to promote dinghy cruising. We will see each other in June at the Route du Sable.
The Blue Flower 