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Lady H blogs
October 2011
Apart from a couple of rather cool days with very strong winds, October has been perfect. The sun has shone daily, the company has been great and some guests even got some swimming in. (Mad fools!)
The first week saw Jack and I in Olbia doing a paper chase so he could get his PETS passport for next year's visit to the UK. The 8th saw two guests arrive. Philippa (Australian) and Pauline (English) Pauline was new to sailing but Philippa had got her RYA Day Skipper so I put her qualification to the test and made her skipper for the week. I was impressed! I was equally impressed by Pauline as this was her first taste of sailing, and she quickly became a useful crew member.
The first day saw an easy and rather slow sail to Porto Rotundo, but despite a forecast of light winds for Day 2, we had a great sail up to La Maddalena. The evening of the third day saw us at anchor in a deserted Porto Pollo, and this was followed by a great sail up to Bonifacio for an obligatory look at the sites.
Pauline left from Olbia on the 15th and was replaced by Wendy who had had the misfortune of sailing with me over Easter when it was hotter and sunnier in the UK than it was in Sardinia. However, this time on board, October lived up to my expectations with a nice mixture of winds and sun, especially on the night sail from Bonifacio to La Maddalena which we did in 2.5 hours chased by a Force six wind and averaging 7 knots.
Philippa and Wendy left over the weekend of the 22nd/23rd which also was the weekend that Miriam arrived. Now Miriam had sailed with me before as she was one of the 'Happy Honkers' back in April 2010. The Happy Honkers were a group of university students from America and Canada who were studying in Europe. This time Miriam came to me via Alaska, South Korea, Mongolia and the Trans Siberian Railway. - Maybe she hadn't heard of RyanAir. Within minutes of her arrival we were joined by Captain Barbossa much to Captain Jacks' bemusement and concern. Was Barbossa here to take over - after all they had a rather unusual past as all fans of 'Pirates of the Caribbean will know. (See picture below of their first confrontation!)
ABOVE. Left. Captain Jack meets Captain Barbosa.
ABOVE. Right Philippa and Pauline.
LEFT. Swimming goggles come in handy when slicing onions!
RIGHT. Good old October weather in Sardinia.
WHAT THEY SAID!
My first sailing experience! Thank you Tim and Captain Jack Sparrow for your patience and enthusiasm. I enjoyed a relaxing laid back attitude seeing the wonderful north of Sardinia and Corsica. Hopefully this well be my first step into learning how to sail. I will have to return if only to have the famous sausage egg and chips! Bon voyage. - Pauline x
What a wonderful fortnight it has been aboard the 'Lady H'. I came to Sardinia to build on my limited sailing experience and am leaving with a whole lot more than the ability to distinguish a north from a south cardinal. Tim, you are a natural coach. Thank you so much for pushing me on navigation and marina handling (so trusting, so calm, so chilled) I feel like many little pieces have fallen into place.
I thoroughly enjoyed the pre-dinner documentary-fest. Woodstock, Tina Turner, The Band. You are going to love 'Coffee and Cigarettes'. Keep up the 'sailing' stories, you certainly have a knack on that front! Here's to the 'outliers' - life on Lady H has been a great experience away from urban craziness/ I look at the ocean differently now, and will be effusively recommending you back in the UK. All the best. - Philippa.
On the 24th October, Miriam, Jack, Barbossa and I started the sail round to Alghero and to pick up Jean-Patrick and Raimondas. (more of them in next month's blog). The forecast was for a F4 southerly but we got a F6/7 instead which made our passage fast and dramatic.
We stayed an extra night in La Maddalena waiting for an easterly and then continued towards Alghero. However a stronger than expected wind caused us to totally destroy the cruising chute by get it wrapped around the keel and rudder. We limped into C3astelsardo where Barbossa said he had had enough and jumped ship. The following day we conitnued on to Porto Torres to pick up our next crew. And so ended October 2011 on Lady H with just a modest 380 miles sailing in the month.