Club research

Today Longlegs and I spent the day together visiting the sailing clubs that we have independantly been researching on the net. Brilliant weather too and I was grateful for the air conditioning in his car.

We started the day with Sussex yacht club. The tide was still ebbing, with no water for sailing and there was little sign of life, however we did speak to a very helpful member who was doing a spot of gardening in the grounds. There were about 50 dinghies in the dinghy pound but we quickly came to the conclusion that the tide would restrict available sailing opportunities too much, and anyway, the club catered mainly for yacht racing.

Our next stop was Shoreham Shoreham sailing club. Now this had good potential. Only an hours drive from London, as opposed to Weston at an hour an a half and very friendly members who spent the time answering all our questions with enthusiasm. One guy has just collected the above Osprey from the factory yesterday and the resulting permanent ear-to-ear grin was totally understandable. He spent a good while explaining the virtues of the boat and why he thought this is a good club to join, whilst he was sorting the snagging issues on the boat prior to going out for a sail. Racing is all done outside the harbour out in the open sea about a mile off shore, shown in the photo below.

Then we headed along the south coast to Stokes Bay opposite The Isle of Wight. How crowded The Solent looked, let alone the beach. Absolutely packed with the usual beach goers and families on a hot summers day like today. The sea off the beach looked like an ants nest, and would be very exposed to the full force of the elements at other times of year. Much too big a membership for our liking, and parking the car would be costly and problematic. A member helped us willingly with our enquiries but we were put off by the huge numbers and didn't stay long. Just not the sized club that we had in mind and anyway, about a further twenty minutes drive on top of the hour and a half from home to Weston.

Our final stop of the day was back to Weston, the club I visited last Sunday. I like this club best of all for novices like us. I like the somewhat protected location, with reduced effect from the weather outside in The Solent, but with lots of potential for sailing further afield if we wanted to. I like that it has a membership of 300, instead of thousands, so is quite peaceful and tranquil in comparison to the hub-bub of Stokes Bay. I like that there are club boats available at £5 per day to try out, and lots of experienced members we could pick the brains of. I like that it's only about 5 miles from the motorway and has plenty of parking and secure boat-pound space. Membership is affordable and training courses are run during the year too. All sorts of members were ashore to answer our queries, and probably about 40 boats of varying classes were out racing too. We chatted to one of the RS400 owners in between races about why he likes this particular boat. A decent size for the tall build of Longlegs but no trapeze. Personally I reckon that we need to get out there and build with 'team' experience before thinking about any extras, which will take time and lots of days spent sailing.

I had such a good day today. I know its summer and I generally feel so much more positive about life at this time of year, but this feels like I'm starting out on something that connects me to my roots, a feeling of belonging that I have been mostly separated from through self-imposed limitations that I only now see. I have crewed on yachts throughout the years, and not even thought of dinghy sailing as an affordable option, thinking that it would not come close to the 'real' thing on larger yachts. Dinghies were a form of transport to me, a way to get ashore, a utility.

Meeting up with Longlegs may result in a friendship that develops from a shared purpose, but although I am a free spirit, I am not about to abandon my family responsibilities, so my time is divided and as hectic as ever.

We just seem to be motivating each other along this path and we'll see where it goes....