Tag Archives: sailing

18 May 2009

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Dot and Barbara suitably attired for sailing in Blakeney harbour, and a little concerned that they should have had bespoke versions.

Roger and Barbara visited Essex in a hire car on Saturday: I paid a second visit to Voicing Visions and managed to see a lot more than I had at the private view. Was quite impressed by some of the poems, as well as the visual art. In the evening had a meal for eight – Anna and Howard, Anne and Philip joining us. Really brilliant evening. All went to church on Sunday, then to Open Studios at Art Factory; met Rupert and Shirley, Annette, Martin, Rosalind, and Georgina Warne. Some stunning pictures by Mike in traditional style, but with an edge, as Paul Cracknell would say. In the evening went to Caffe Uno for another good meal. Today we’re about to drive to Caddington for David’s birthday and a meal at St Albans. Weather has been windy but mainly – though not entirely – dry.

16 May 2009

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Dot and Barbara feeling totally at home at Sandringham. This is a small “house” in the grounds where one of the royals used to go and sit, watching the lake. Sandringham was surprisingly beautiful. Lovely grounds, and the tour of the house was made so much more interesting by the guides, who were totally up to the brim with knowledge of its history, and good at putting it over. We were there on Wednesday, and the weather wasn’t bad – quite a bit of sun, though pretty windy. After Sandringham we drove to Wolferton, then Burnham Market, where there was a wandering round of the shops. In the evening a late decision found us at the Playhouse, where we saw an excellent concert involving a Russian violinist and English pianist, and someone who turned the pages. She tried to stay in the background, but she couldn’t prevent us from seeing how good a job she was doing.

Thursday was much duller, but the wind had dropped just enough for us to go sailing in Blakeney harbour, starting at Morston, with Norfolk Etc. We were captained by a brilliant young Aberdonian called Colin, who was not only extremely proficient, as you might have expected, but also friendly and entertaining. We all had to wear all-over waterproofs that did nothing for the normally glamorous picture that Dot and Barbara present to the world. We landed on the point and walked over to the other side before returning on the last of the tide. Afterwards the normal beautifully presented lunch at Cookies (Salthouse), plus a visit to a wildlife art exhibition at Glandford and then afternoon tea at Blakeney Hotel, in the first-floor lounge overlooking the estuary. Quite a full day, topped off by watching a DVD at home – Aeon Flux, which was fun, but not as good as Star Trek, which we saw at the ciinema the following evening. Much better than the original TV series, with strong characterisation and script and an interesting plot. Kept me glued to my seat for two hours.

Earlier we’d visited the Time and Tide Museum at Yarmouth. Not my first time, but first for everyone else. Wonderful museum, highly recommended. Followed by a snack at the attached Silver Darlings cafe and a windy walk in the valley at Winterton.

6 March 2007

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Just returned from two hours sailing in Pine Island Sound on board the Adventure, captained by Jorge, from Chile. Beautiful day: some breeze, but not too much. No sign of fish, surprisingly in view of what you can often see from the shore, but plenty of entertainment from Jorge, who had views on a wide variety of things, from Canadian government to the amount of food you get in certain restaurants here. When he discovered I was a writer he came up with a couple of ideas for my next column. Hmmm…

The Sound is only about five feet deep at its maximum, and is over two miles wide. Jorge suggested that if we sank, we could walk ashore. The more vertically challenged among us were not sure about this, but some found it comforting.

The picture was taken at the end of the voyage by Jorge, using Dot’s camera.

Earlier, while I took a while to get up (hadn’t been feeling too well – maybe very mild sunstroke from tennis, or a touch of dodgy food), Dot and Barb went over to Sanibel for a little shopping. When I eventually stirred, I finished writing my page for next week.

Last night after bridge we watched The Luzhin Defence, a film about a chess grandmaster who is one pawn short of a set. No, that’s a metaphor. The chess references, of which there were many, were very accurate, though there is no way a world championship would be settled by a single game, of course. Superbly acted by all.