Greetings from Whitehaven,
Today I am departing Whitehaven and heading to Bangor in Northern Ireland.
I have been made very welcome by all here in Whitehaven and if you are cruising in these waters I would strongly suggest that you pop in, everyone in the Marina here have been very supportive as has the on-site chandlery Maiden Marine, the people here are fantastic and the other boat owners have been very welcoming.
I was planning originally to depart here on Saturday with the afternoon tide but one of the boat owners came along and invited me to join in their race on Saturday afternoon which I couldn’t refuse as I love a good bit of competitive sailing.
So Saturday afternoon came along and the skippers’ briefing, the wind was very light so they decided on a short course which was a 4 ½ mile beat and round a cardinal mark and back to the line. As we started the wind built to a top end of a force 3 so it got me moving quite well and the gps flashed 6 knots at one point. I new that the uphill run would determine the outcome of the race. As we then ran down hill back to the start the wind died and we were just pottering along to the finish line which I crossed in third place beaten by a a Sigma 33 and a Sigma 36 so I was very happy with this as I was racing fully crewed boats and all with larger sail areas than myself.
Once we were all in they invited me up to their BBQ where they surprised me by donating the race fees for the day to the charity which I was overwhelmed by.
It just goes to show you how kind people are and how you are all getting behind me and this trip and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the Whitehaven sailing and boating association for their hospitality and support.
This afternoon I am setting sail for Bangor and will arrive there in the early hours of Monday morning, so if you are in the area please do pop down and say hello as I would love to see you.
Until next time
Alex