Thursday 5th October – windsurfing ***** walk - sunny
29.46 kt. max, 27.57 kt. ave., 10.95 kt. hr., 21.27 kt mile, 45.6 km., 16.45 kt. alpha.
What a top night in the van at Bradfield just so mild being sheltered we hardly heard the wind:) The sun had not arrived when we woke and we had some rain and the leaves were blowing off the trees! The tide was coming in and we had a leisurely breakfast, then with the cloud clearing I decided to rig. My wind gauge was reading 20 to 32 mph so I decided to rig two sails, a 5.8 and a 6.5 for the 282. Neil Hurrell arrived at nine followed by David Coles and Mark Smalling who arrived as I headed out. Being first on the water I went with the small sail. It was OK for a few runs, there were some nice swells and I managed my top speed, just shy of 30 knots! With Neil now out with 6.9 and lots of holes in the wind I went and changed to 6.5 which was better:) Peter Cutts was now here taking pics before rigging and I had fun reaching a mile across the River Stour. It is lovely sailing here, very pretty with the impressive Holbrook School as a backdrop:) It was a very high tide today, covering much of the access road and making it possible to gybe right by the farmers field! It did chop up badly at high water but soon calmed down as the tide turned making top flat out reaching conditions:) So a great day was had by all, great weather, great sailing, great company and great to catch up with my mates. Mag had a nice day too, chatting, doing crafts and going for a walk. It’s my 64th Birthday tomorrow – yes I can’t believe it either – where did those years go? So, will have a rest day from windsurfing before hopefully heading back to Point Clear on Saturday?
Then back home for a shower then head into Ipswich to pick up a cheque for £100 for second place in a photo competition, the first money I have received for one of my pics! We had a lovely hour meeting the nice people at the Ipswich Hearing Centre.
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