The forecast was less than welcoming for our Christmas party day’s sailing with a strong wind warning current and a lunchtime forecast of 15 -25 kn increasing to 30 kn in the late afternoon. And it was raining. Your scribe bailed out early, deciding it was not to be his day especially as he was cooking a BBQ from sometime in the afternoon. But some are made of more daring stuff and visitor Ron Fergusson sailed his Aero 7 with Peter E on a radial in division 1. In division 2 Lucy and Billy T diced in Sabres and were joined by John Mckenna with crew Harrison, also in a Sabre. Division 3 had Opti’s sailed by Bobby F-W and Harry C. And the day turned out to be a fine one for sailing as the forecast wind didn’t arrive leaving us with 5-10 kn for the day. And the rain stopped.

Probably, as expected, Ron’s Aero 7 was too quick for Peter E’s Radial and he headed both races by about six minutes. In division 2 Lucy led Billy and then John and Harrison in both races, Lucy by about 3 minutes ahead of Billy and John 2 minutes back. In race 2 Billy nearly bridged the gap, and looked fast at times trailing Lucy by 1 minute with John and Harrison two minutes back. Bobby F-W broke through heading Harry C by a minute in race 1 in division 3 and by 22 seconds in race 2. Harry may have been disadvantaged by a late arrival, but Bobby sailed well.

Peter C did the job as RO and was supported by Glen on Dennis Jones. Angelique trailed the division 3 fleet and the learners in the two Quests sailing. Thanks to Alex in the tower and to Julie doing lunches. Peter V and Tony C were there watching from the shore.

After the day’s sailing had packed up we celebrated Christmas with all club members which, of course, included the Salties who swelled numbers to about 90. The Salties had arranged for salads and desserts from Jason which were, as usual, brilliant. Even your scribe’s snags garnered at least one compliment!


Coming up:

Saturday 13 December 2025.
0900 Junior and Senior L2S
1400 Lady Nelson series continue.


Saturday 20 December 2025.
1400 Lady Nelson series continues.


With no sailing over the winter your scribe had a bit of spare time which he put to use by borrowing a couple of books from the Club so he could learn to navigate. Here are some of the things he learnt:
My memory of a sextant, from more than 60 years ago, is of an old sea dog hanging from the shrouds with southwester on head, rain streaming down and holding a sextant in its paw (he was an old sea dog), on the front page of a little golden book. This is actually pretty silly given that in the middle of a storm there’s not much to aim your sextant at. The sextant is actually a very clever protractor that measures angles and you usually see it upright. But if you hold it horizontally it can measure angles between known objects, so if you look at one recognisable mark and then measure the angle to recognisable marks to the left and right, you can enter these angles onto your three arm protractor which you then place on your chart and shift around until all the objects are aligned, stick your pencil at the pivot point which usually has a useful hole and you can mark your position. This is very clever because you are dealing in angles, not bearing degrees, and you don’t have to worry about converting from magnetic to true bearings nor about your vessels deviation chart.