Southern Straights

I sailed in Southern Straights this weekend.  Southern Straights is a yacht race in my local area.  About 50 Miles West, then back to Point Atkinson.

I sailed with the Vancouver Sailing Club aboard their Beneteau 36.7 ClaraALLEGRO.  We left friday and spent the afternoon drifting east until the wind filled in around sunset.  We had 17 knots or so upwind by the time we were headed back west.  Then another drift back into the finish.  Very challenging sailing with an interesting group of guys.

Here's some video:

Yacht Master course

My previous post was a video about the whole trip.

Here's a bit of the story of the first part of my trip, the Yachtmaster prep and exam course at Flying Fish based in the town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

I flew from Vancouver direct to London.  The day I landed I checked into a hotel and slept for part of the afternoon.  Dinner and then bed again.

The next day I took the train to Southampton and then the Red Jet passenger ferry into Cowes.  The Red Jet is exactly what we should have in Vancouver.  Fast, no wake, shallow draft and capable in a moderate and high sea state.  The town of Cowes was lovely.  It's the first time I have been on a UK high street.  During that two weeks we sailed to both ends of the Solent and up to Southampton.  We did a lot of crew overboard, a lot of nav, and a lot of theory prep.  We also visited some very nice pubs in the evening.

Here's some pictures: