We had some time free, Thursday to Monday, as it happened, and, it looked like the yellow thing might be around for a lot of that time. Louise got home from work at 10:30hrs, and we were loading the dinghy and locking the car at Dale by 12:30. Sunny and warm, with light winds.
Louise wants to enter Ishtar for some races this winter, with an all female crew from the yacht club. I think it's a great idea. Without us men barking orders all the time, it will give her (them) a chance to sail on their own terms, make their own mistakes and learn their own best methods.
With this in mind I barked orders at Louise to sail the boat around various buoys in the Haven, as if it were a race. Louise quickly got the hang of it, and we were soon off sailing downwind, passing Monk Haven on the way.
Monk Haven is a tiny cove just NorthEast of Dale. The beach has a wall at it's back, set with rings for fishing boats to tie up to. The valley behind was part of the Trewarren estate and there is a walled garden and fish ponds, in a dilapidated state, but beautiful, nevertheless.
We sailed further along, past the Behar buoy opposite the entrance to the Haven, and marking a second world war shipwreck
Behar buoy with divers on the wreck
Enjoying the sailing, now, I ordered Louise to take us around the next bouy, the Montreal rock buoy, marking the rock of that name, in the entrance to Sandy Haven.
Montreal rock buoy with Sandy Haven caravan site behind.
From there, we headed South, towards Angle bay, and then across to Watwick bay. We crossed the shipping channels quickly, and avoided getting too close to a big tanker leaving. Not as close as some, anyway.
Louise sailed us back Northwards and into Dale, putting Ishtar on the morning as the afternoon sun dipped in the West. We'd just put the kettle on when our friend Huw, and his son Matthew paddled out in their inflatable kayak. They asked us to join them in the Griffin for a pint.
We agreed to go ashore later. Louise cooked up a curry (King prawn Jalferezi with onion bhajias) and we set off for the pub. There we met up with Dave, who was staying on hus boat, Caswyn. Just after dark, about 10pm, our friend Paschall turned up, on his junk rigged kingfisher, 'Sui'. Paschall had just sailed down from Oxwich, and was hoping to get across to his native Ireland the following day. More important tasks were attended to first, however, in the shape of three pints of Guinness. It had been a hot day at sea for Paschall.
We took the dinghy back out to Ishtar at about 23:00 and slept soundly.
We took the dinghy back out to Ishtar at about 23:00 and slept soundly.
