Sunday 7th November - Windsurf **** River Orwell at Levington Marina – sunny.

Foil – 18.35 knot max, 16.94 knot ave., 10.42 knot hour, 14.19 knot mile, 37.17 km., 14.58 knot alpha.

Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Thunderbird 6.5m.

With several Felixstowe sailors heading over to the River Stour at Bradfield but with the wind supposed to be WNW which is good for Levington I decided to stay local especially still being under the weather I didn’t fancy the drive, also this gives Mag a chance to bike over for lunch later, so win win all round:) Arrived at the marina at 9.45 with the tide already up and in fact it just got higher and higher, in the end we have never seen it so high! With the wind cross off it is a job to judge the wind but there was white water in the middle of the Orwell where the squibs were having some great racing. It was also a nicer day today with loads of sunshine and despite wearing my hat and gloves I was not cold at all! With the foil board set up sail choice was a bit of a lottery but went with 6.5 as yesterday and that proved OK even in the end when it must have been gusting to 30 knots and if I hadn’t already been out for a couple of hours would have changed down to 5.2! The WNW does put a big swell on the corner which is great for playing on and smooths out down towards the docks but the wind gets less. It was great being out with all the racing squibs and yachts in some challenging conditions especially sailing into the sunshine. It was fun gybing too, some worked well while others ended in a dip in the water:) With the wind increasing I was tempted to try the fin but stuck with the foil and loved it, not a fast day but super fun running down the big swell. I then beat back to the launch beach and had a few runs back and forth gybing in the flatter water each side of the river. After two hours it was beginning to take its toll so I called it a day just before one. Leaving my kit to dry I went to have a shower and then took my camera around the marina to get some high-water pics as Mag arrived on her bike. She said she was lucky to get through as the river had breached Loompit Lake, fingers crossed the trout survive! Mag and I were just starting a yummy chicken sandwich when I noticed a small fishing day boat broken free from its moorings being blown down the river as the tide had just turned. I went and told the guys washing down the local rescue boat but they said there was loads of boats on the river so were not bothered! In the end we think the boat may have washed up over by Trimley Marshes so hopefully did not make it to Felixstowe docks, several yachts heading back to Levington also completely ignored it, I thought one of them would have towed it in! Then it was time to head for home, Mag spotted a couple of deer in the woods on the way out of the marina< I stopped but they had disappeared:( The Mc Donalds rubbish dumped on the entrance to the marina was still there so we stopped again to pick it up, the world is full of complete idiots, cant believe that people stupid enough to throw rubbish out of their windows have actually enough intelligence to feed themselves!

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