I covered the introduction to Level 3 training some time ago – see Blog 57: Level THREE Training, Part 1, puiblished 9 Apr – and tomorrow I have an 0600 start to complete my sailing with Walton Hall Academy and the Cirdan Trust onboard the Queen Galadriel – see Blog 48: My Next Sailing ……. but one …… and a little something for Lord of the Rings fans!, published 20 Feb.
Today has been spent sorting out my kit, bell ringing, inspecting the bees (I’ll be taking honey in a couple of weeks) and more baking practice (with G&T accompaniment!!!).
See also Blog 20: Masterbaking……. or …….. Mother Watch Preps……or……”If I knew you were coming I’d have baked a cake”, published 4 Sep 18 – the video in that blog is worth a watch!
Level 3 was great fun, successful up to a point in that we never DID quite get to hoist the spinnaker due to the weather – too much wind thanks to Storm Gareth, great experience this time in a Clipper 70, and another good chance to try out my kit. In crawling along the deck forward of the mainmast going to the assistance of a fellow crew member in difficulty right in the bow I completed a comprehensive terst of my kit, my safety tether (we were both clipper on thankfully) and my ability to hold my breath when we were both underwater thanks to heavy seas and waves breaking over the bow. Note to self (as if I didn’t already know) …….. bow work in heavy weather is a young man’s game.
I do have more photos and more video action shots, including hoisting a rope spinnaker alongside in East Cowes (sheltering from the worst of Gareth) and a letterbox drop (basically how you drop the spinnaker) but …………….. and its a reasonable big but ………….. on the last day on safari (see Blog 59: Leg2/Leg3 Stopover recce, published 18 Apr), my mobile phone and trusty Level 3 camera, fell unnoticed from my pocket and disappeared over the back of the safari wagon while on the final game drive. I had visions of wild animals trying to work out how to hoist a spinnaker (they’d be better than us!) and various animals taking selfies and “bum” shots before the battery finally gave up the ghost …….. its not unknown!!!!
Anyway, you can imagine my surprise and delight when I received a phonecall from the game reserve in South Africa 3 days AFTER returning to the UK and a full 7 days after losing it, to be informed that they had found it and right nowe it is heading back here and will be with me, HOPEFULLY, in time for Crew Allocation Day which is now only one week away! When I get my phone back I may well post some more videos and stills but in the meantime here are a few I managed to save…….
Pretty Much All At Sea 