Thursday 26th April – windsurfing ***** Levington -  Sunny periods

24.55 kt. max, 23.52 kt. ave., 11.85 kt. hr., 19.37 kt mile, 56.70 km., 15.14 kt. alpha.

With the wind from the west and high tide at Levington at about ten my plan was to arrive at the marina early. I made it by 8.15 only to discover I had left my wetsuit at home, another example of memory loss caused by old age! I left the trailer and whizzed home to get it and made it back in twenty minutes. I was going to rig 8.5 on the big Xantos and make the most of the hour of incoming tide but checked the gauge and decided on 7.8 but still with the big board as not sure about getting back from the dock? On the water just after nine in lovely sunshine even if a bit nippy and sailed right down to Felixstowe Docks. In the end I was out over three hours planning probably 80% of the time, that’s not bad for the River Orwell:) It was a tight beat down and a nice reach back and I tried for some fast miles as it is a mile and a half from the marina to the dock and you could keep on the plan all the way on several runs but was disappointed at only getting a 19 knot mile when peaking at 14 knots! As usual it was great being out with the wildlife – loads of birds and enjoyed whizzing past the boats. The tide turned but I was still able to sail the long runs even with the water going out. I might have been fractionally faster on the smaller Xantos but the big board was getting me upwind and through the lulls easier. There was some big gusts and the water choppy so it was hard to go really fast but great fun trying, in the end I went to the dock and back ten times covering over 30 miles:) I returned to the van once for a snack and to pick up my small waterproof camera, even if it does take crap pics so I could get some shots of the dock! Mag braved the windy conditions to bike down bringing me a sandwich, top lady:) so with the tide dropping fast I called it a day as Mag put the kettle on. We had our cuppa then headed back to Felixstowe with plenty of time for a trip up town. So a 5 star morning on the Orwell, river sailing doesn’t get any better, shame nobody else was there:( Tomorrow looked breezy, good direction too SE but looks to be dropping and rain so who knows????

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