Sailing this weekend

[azziria]

Extended shipping forecast for this coming weekend:

Strong southwesterly winds on Friday will increase to gale-force for a time in northern parts of Fitzroy and Biscay as well as Sole, Fastnet and Plymouth. Winds veer westerly later Friday with gales persisting for a time through the English Channel. Strong westerly winds continue during Saturday across much of the area before easing back by Sunday morning.

So, we're racing from Cowes to Cherbourg, gun time 1900 Friday. Looks like a bumpy start, a beam reach all the way over, and then a more gentle run back on Sunday. Also not the weather (or the wind direction) for trying out our new spinnaker!

Can't wait :)

Comments

[azziria.livejournal.com]

I've actually thought several times about writing something where Steve and Danny go sailing, either for fun or to set a trap for pirates or something (you know that Steve is bound to have learnt how to sail at some point). I just have this feeling that Danny would get seasick and bitch about it *a lot*...

"You call this fun, Steven? I am wet, I am cold, I have just puked for the first time in fifteen years, and we are miles from dry land - and not even honest-to-goodness real miles, some inflated Navy version of a mile, what is it with you people? How is this fun??"

And Steve would be there at the wheel, gaze fixed on the horizon, all tall and in command and totally in his element and utterly ignoring Danny's wittering... "Come on, Danno, it's like Hawaii, you'll love it if you give it a chance...".

[azziria.livejournal.com]

Wittering is a particularly nice little Briticism that means someone is going on and on about something of *absolutely* no consequence whatsover. You pay little attention to what someone who is 'wittering on' is saying ("What on Earth are you wittering on about now?").

Particularly useful now that 'twittering' has come to mean something totally different from what it used to...

And it would have to be a sailing boat, a yacht of some description. The Royal Navy actually borrowed a boat I sailed a couple of years back once for a team to take down to the Southern Ocean... I could just see that Steve might have done something like that, so when Danny's complaining Steve would be all "But this is nothing, Danny, when we were down in the Southern Ocean we were facing 40-foot waves...", which would have Danny vowing to get his own back... just as soon as he stopped throwing up...

[lj_stowaway]

Oh please write this! Oh please, ohpleaseohpleaseohplease!

[alamo-girl80.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna jump in here with caliecat and say WRITE THIS AT SOME POINT!

Because oh, the image you cut of Steve at the wheel and Danny wittering on, and Steve just wanting to share another piece of himself with Danny...

[box-of-sorrows.livejournal.com]

Now I must admit that I don't have a need to listen to the shipping forecast, but I have heard it on the radio when I've been in the car plenty of times. But did I catch correctly something on TV last night saying that they were going to change the forecast presentation to have some choir concert in the background?

[lj_stowaway]

Whoo! Sounds like an exciting weekend! Can't wait to hear all about it.

Have fun! (like you need me to tell you that, eh? hee.)

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

Oooooo windy!!

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

AWESOME. Nothing like a beam reach to get the blood going, eh? I have goosebumps with excitement here, and I'm only experiencing it vicariously! Thanks for sharing the joy.

[portraitofafool.livejournal.com]

Around here "gale-force" means "hurricane or tropical storm" so now I am probably needlessly worried. Please don't blow away. Out your way it simply means more like "a lot of wind", right? Just, ya know, be safe either way.

And then I read the other comments... came to these conclusions:

Wittering is one of the best words ever. I picked it up as a byproduct of all my British television watching as a kid and I love using it--and get to do so a lot.

People talking serious sailing fic makes me think, Gilligan's Island and when people talk crack fic, I think, They're all gonna die. One day... ONE DAY... I will get it right and actually end up on the same page as everyone else. At least I tell myself that.

[azziria.livejournal.com]

'Gale force' is Force 8, which means 30-35 mph winds ('Hurricane force' is Force 12, for comparison). So we're talking sailing with a deep-reefed mainsail and a storm jib rigged, but well within the capacity of the Challengers, which were designed to handle those Southern Ocean 40-footers. Plus, although our skipper is too young to know any fear, he's not an idiot. So it might be a bit interesting but we should be OK :)

And I do like it a bit rough...

[portraitofafool.livejournal.com]

Yea! So you won't be blowing away then. This makes me very happy. Winds like that just make stuff more of an adventure, even for feet-on-dry-land sorts such as me.

Rough is the best way to go, always. *g*