Reef, man, reef!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: all the sailing I did this summer was fantastic but it was when I had an experienced person like Tim on board that we started ripping up the waves, and today was the day I had been waiting for all season!

It was this evening we were supposed to be getting back for the boat party and we had about 45 miles to cover. With the south westerlies this meant we had to beat (sailing into the wind) most of the way so you can imagine how much fun we had! The first half of the trip was spent adjusting and adjusting again to the increasing wind speed and wave height. When the wind starting gusting 25-7 knots we realised we probably shouldn't have been sailing with all four sails fully out! I laugh about it now but I won't be doing that again. As they say "If you think you need to reef, you should already have done so". Actually I said that but you know what I mean.

The wind continued to gust into the high twenties as we continued to race along, slashing through warm but very wet waves. Every boat we saw became an opponent and before we knew it we were racing another three yachts. We won of course, but not without a battle. The battle was with the elements though - the other yachts either reefed or Taçked into various anchorages along the way. Tim and I, however, were having a fantastic time but we also had a destination to reach within a timescale and as we tacked once more, this time 120 degrees away from Bodrum to optimise the winds, we were hard pushed. It was also pretty hard work, beating into the wind for hours on end but between us it was no sweat. Physically demanding of course, but we never once doubted our or the boat's ability. Even so, the light was just starting to fade as we motored sailed past Kara Ada with Bodrum Castle just off the starboard bow.

Tim taking control

By the time we tied up in the marina the sun had gone down and both of us were pretty knackered. In fact we made an effort to get to the boat party but it was running late, they wanted EU50 and they were only going to be playing trance. That sold it for us - we went straight to bed, tired but elated.