Once again we have great weather, but not really for sailing. The forecast for the morning was North Westerly 2 gusting 4 so I went down to the boat and sure enough there was enough wind for sailing. I put the kettle on whilst I prepared the boat, then made a cup of tea before pushing back out of the mooring, paddled across to the other side of the river where I could hoist sail. Full sail, at least to start with since the wind at water level is not that strong. Since the wind was in the North, I set off down river.

It was short tacking in this direction as the wind was pretty much up river but it was a lovely day and the intention is not to get somewhere but just to be out sailing. I decided that I'd just sail down river for two hours and then head back. After about an hour I furled the stays'l during the stronger winds, only unfurling it when the wind dropped. Doing this keeps the boat balanced and you need less effort to steer.

The wind, for some reason, was very flukey in places, one moment we were moving along smartly the next becalmed. The wind strength did increase just before I turned round to the point where if I had continued on I would probably have put in a reef. As it was I was pleased to change direction and head the other way.

On the outward journey I was too busy tacking to be able to take any photos but once I had turned around it was a lot easier. This is a few minutes after turning and you can see the calmer water where Naiad has passed.

The view in the opposite direction.

As usual, the return trip was significantly shorter than the outward leg a mere 25 minutes. We did a lot of tacking going the other way!