Champagne Sailing

Every now and then you get one of those sailing days which seem perfect and you have Champagne Sailing. The day started with it being quite rolly,where we rolled around our bunks and it made doing a number of things quite challenging.

However the sun came out and so did our shorts and it seemed as if we had properly arrived in the Med. We decided it was time and the right conditions to fly the parasail ( a lovely red and white  spinnaker type sail with a parachute type gap (a letterbox) two thirds up the sail. It took 6 brains to start to figure out how to sail this beast (mainly Mark and Andy who had flown this type of sail across the Atlantic). However the plan was prepared and with a pull of the snuffer (which furls and unfurls the sail) she was up. This huge lovely red and white sail looked magnificent and Stormbird was in the groove. Almost effortlessly she was gliding along about 6-7.5 kts (although we got 9.7 at one point) eating up the miles. The effect of the sail was to flatten the roll and it was as if we were on a flat escalator – perfect flat, fast and champagne sailing.

The sun came out as did the shorts and we were all able to enjoy and appreciate this great experience and it was as if we had the sea to ourselves. The cares and woes of the world seemed insignificant and we were in our own glorious bubble.

 Showers were had, diaries written and catnaps taken. We were enjoying the moment. We carried on like this throughout the rest of the day and even ha a delicious supper in the cockpit flying along with the only thing missing a nice glass of something- but we resisted the temptation.

 At dusk it was a prudent time to get the red baron down and we then noticed a ring had broken and we were lucky not to have had an issue. This will be easily repairable and perhaps not surprising as this sail had not been used for nearly 20 years. What a shame.  We shall fly the red baron again and the memory of today will last for some time – a champagne sailing day and how lucky we are to have experienced it.

 Not far to go to Lisbon where one will depart and we shall be back to news and reality that we have had a welcome break from. However it is also a chance to get in contact again with loved ones etc.

Today - reminds of Jimmy Cornell’s saying "Life is like an ice cream - enjoy it before it melts"