To sail or not to sail?

[Terry Cross]

Trying to pick a day for sailing next week I could not decide whether 12 MPH was safe with IONA, so I telephoned my son Paul who was at Rutland water.
  After a bit of a discussion, he reminded me that my 10 yr old grand daughter was out sailing, solo, with a base wind of 18MPH with gusts of 33mph.
 I think I must be getting old.

PS. She sails an 8ft x 4ft Optimist and there are another 206 in the fleet

[Tony]

Still afloat at Rutland, eh? Got room for another?
To sail or not to sail, that is the question .....
Wind isnt a problem at Carsington Yacht club. We are used to it up here but we  are  still suffering  The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune from a different direction! The drought has obliged Severn Trent WA to pump the contents of the reservoir back into the Derwent (from whence most of it came) in order to keep the river flowing at a reasonable rate. The photo shows the result. To the left of the red trimaran you see the main slipway coming to an abrupt end in a pool of mud. Mid right shows what was once the cruiser/keel boat pontoon high and dry (despite having been dragged yards away from its original position). At present only the most shallow draughted boats can - take arms against a sea of troubles – short tack their way against the prevailing winds out into deeper water. The dam wall in the background shows clearly where the water used to be.
Pity the Poor (land-locked) Sailor in a drought like this....

[Graham W]

Lake Bala has now gone on to its winter regime, which means that they keep the water level lower to act as a cistern for floods coming down off the mountains. It is best to launch after a major downpour.