Slightly Back

I'm slowly starting to knit again. The last weeks have frankly been hell, with severe lack of sleep and an increasing amount of problems. Now, however, everything seems better. Let's hope the light at the end of the tunnel is not an incoming train.

I have started a scarf in my knotty alpaca yarn. No pictures yet, I'm sorry...

And I have sailed the Færder regatta, in a total lack of wind. But it was incredibly warm and sunny, and altogether a nice trip:
We were actually able to swim around the boat while sailing...

The water remained calm throughout the night...

On the following morning, we got ourselves into what you might call a tight situation...

Some weeks earlier we sailed the Breidangen regatta, when the conditions were a bit different:

ow.ow.ow.

Sailing season has started, and I have the marks to prove it:
On the left is a large scratch on my leg, made before the boat was even in the water. On the right is the back of my knee, and in the middle is my wrist.

Yes indeedy, I took a bath on April 15th. With all my clothes. Twice. The first time, we were in the process og raising the mast, when I took a step backwards onto nothing and fell in the water. It was about 6 degrees, but at least it was sunny. In the process I knocked both my knees, the result can be seen above. I am not able to walk today.

When my clothes had dried, we went sailing. Which was very nice, but I got wet and cold again. And then, I slipped when I tried to jump from the boat to the pier, and fell in the water. I managed to hold on to the pier, but I scratched both my wrists in the process, and got wet from the waist down.

It can only get better from here, right?

Autumn Projects

It’s been a long time now. I have been busy with work (of course) and too many obligations privately. Luckily, I was able to change my Thursday dance class to a Friday pilates class, so, now I might be able to actually go to the two classes I’ve paid for.

Sailing season is finally over, after an autumn longer than usual. I will miss it over the winter, but it is enjoyable to have Wednesday evenings off for a change.

Instead of sailing, I will start my autumn project: sewing a winter jacket / coat. I’ve got a lovely velvet fabric, deep petrol green, and I plan on sewing a chinese-style jacket, about mid-thigh in length, with a wide, standing collar and wrapover closing. It is a large project, I’ve never made a jacket before!* I’m very excited, and also a bit nervous… I am very lucky to have inherited a sewing book with patterns from the 70s from my mother. The designs are inspiring, and the book is incredibly illustrated. Usually, the paterns need a little alteration to make them look more contemporary, but this is not so difficult as it sounds. I’ll just have to be patient.

I will keep record of my progress (and maybe even take a few pictures…), so stay tuned, as they say.

*Later, I realized this was a lie. I actually have made a jacket, a simple kimono-style woolen one, but as it is really simple and have no lining, fitting or anything else, I don't think it counts as a jacket.

World Champion? Not quite yet.

Last weekend, or rather, a week and a half ago, I sailed in the national open championship in my class, H-boat. It was somewhat frustrating. On the bright side, we have improved a lot since last year, when we ended up third from last among thirty boats - this year, we managed 15th of 21. What keeps itching at the back of my mind is the fact that bad luck alone made us drop a lot.

Some backstory is needed. We definitely do better in calmer waters and very calm wind conditions, because those are the normal conditions were we do most of our training. As the captain loves citing, "the best sailors appear in calm wind". The sailor who said that was the late King Olav V of Norway, and thus is very citable in this country. Anyway, we really shine in weather were most others would just crank up the engine and go home. Something we really proved in the nationals. In almost total calm, we made a perfect start. Unfortunately, a lot of the other boats were caught in a stream that carried them across the starting line, and a restart was ordered. While we prepared for a new start, we were caught in a spot of dead calm behind the line, and lay completely still for ten minutes. That is not fixable in a short race. So, we finished last in a race that was ideal for us, weather-wise.

The fact that bothers me is that in sailed time, i.e. withdrawing the 10 min 40 sec we started late, we were 3 min faster than the winning boat. Damn damn DAMN!

We could in no way have won the entire championship. The top five boats are WAY out of our league. But in these conditions, we should have been able to make it in the top ten. And next year, we may not be as lucky with the weather. Argh.