New Dinghy
Just went a bit mad and bought a dinghy. It’s only secondhand, a 4.45m Gouteron from 1977, and Orange !
I had sailing lessons as a kid and did a bit of yacht sailing about 10 years ago, which was great fun, but nothing more recent. Debbie has recently been sailing at a local club and completed a weeks training course and really enjoyed it.
So we both thought, why not !
Rigging it and the first time out might be a bit chaotic and exciting for the wrong reasons, but it’s only an old cheap boat for a bit of a laugh, so splice the mainbrace and off we go shipmates.
Geoffrey Coan:
Sounds great fun and my immediate reaction would be to say go out and enjoy yourself.
My father in law however is an RYA sailing instructor with umpty-diddly years experience and if he were reading your posting he’d doubtless be up in arms as there are loads of people that every year go out and buy a boat and then get into trouble because they go sailing in conditions that they are neither equipped nor have the skills to sail in – looking at the RNLI call out details at your local lifeboat station is sad testament to some people’s sailing skills.
Do be careful, buy some life-jackets, and don’t sail if you’re not sure you can get back safely to shore.
Cheers, Geoffrey
July 13, 2009, 7:16 pm