Retirement Must Be Catching Up On Me

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We have just taken advantage of a short spell of excellent weather to pay another visit to Crinan and our restoration project. However, as we undertook very limited, if any, restoration on this occasion, I have refrained from adding this blog post to the list of those dealing with the somewhat drawn out process that we have embarked upon.

To get to Crinan we drive through the "Arrochar Alps"

And also thorugh Inveraray
 Driving up and for the first three days of our trip the weather was absolutely glorious with the temperature on deck hitting 29 degrees and even 27 in the cabin below. We don't  very often get those conditions in Scotland, least of all with a warm breeze too, enabling us to try out the new suit of sails. The last time we were so spoiled was probably back in 2014 not long after we had retired, the years in between being spoiled by an excess of wind or in the case of last year the boat being laid up whilst its new engine and windows were fitted.

Good things never last and the final two days were marred by rain spilling from the clouds in torrents, thunder causing me to position myself well away from the mast and, once back on land, midges!

Sailing towards Jura
 I am pleased to report however that our fears about the movement of the boat on her mooring were unfounded and there was no more queasy rocking. That said, we haven't quite got her ready for sleeping on overnight, so this was very much a series of day sails interspersed with some tidying up down below ready for the next bout of calm weather when, who knows...

Still retirement is obviously catching up on us as I regret to record that:
  • I now need to wear a hat in the sun and probably some kind of cover for my nose, if my pink scalp and snout are any indication.
  • I would dearly enlist a hoist to lift me from dinghy to deck rather than clambering on board in the manner of a giant sea slug.
  • I found dropping things a little too easy, albeit in the case of a sail attachment with incredible precision as I watched it slip from my fingers into a gaping hole in the cabin floor where Mister E had removed a fitting.
  • We both complained about feeling too hot (a definite first for us in Scotland).
  • We were quick to move when we could hear a baby crying on another yacht.
  • We slept like babies after our days in the fresh air.
  • We spoke to every stranger who came within 5 yards of us.
  • We found loading and unloading car, then dinghy, then boat more strenuous than the sailing itself.
  • We came last in a local pub quiz when, after faring reasonably well in the first three rounds, we totally embarrassed ourselves with our lack of modern musical knowledge.
  • Finally, and worst of all, as any serious boatie will appreciate, for a short spell of maybe thirty minutes we actually cruised whilst towing the dinghy!
    The dinghy behind us


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