With very little sleep after a night shift, it was a bit of an effort to drag myself off to the club but with the sun shining, off I went. After showing Sheila around our boat we set off from the pontoon with a vague plan of going out and trying to sail towards the Cardiff North buoy. I wanted to try going through the locks alone so with Sheila at the ready in case of a disaster we left the pontoon.
Vince followed along in Alana and I managed the locks without a problem. Once out into the channel we optimistically raised the mainsail and even got the genoa out but we only just got an movement, there was not a breath of wind.
The fishing rods came out and Alana rafted up alongside us. With Van Morrison in the background and the sun surprisingly warm for October, a very pleasant afternoon was had by all.
I asked Sheila if she fancied taking Ishtar back into the locks and she was up for the challenge. She really noticed the difference in handling and it makes you realise how familiar you get with your own boat, the pitch of the engine, the revs, how much throttle to give etc.
A little mishap leaving the locks meant Ishtar ended up drifting to starboard, but I think that was a lesson for both of us, I assumed that Sheila would do things one way and she was used to doing things with Vince on her boat another way. Sometimes there are just different ways. Anyway undeterred we are sailing to Portishead on Friday, girls on Alana, boys on Ishtar
