I have been trying to find someone with a boat ever since I got here and at last I did it. Mike generously said I could go aboard his catamaran and it turned out that we were going to have a race.
There was only one other boat in the race – Ragtime – and it looked a hell of a lot smaller than ours.
The course was around the bay so we didn’t actually go very far but it took an hour and we visited the coast near my first accommodation in Msasani and then to the north beach. The wind was strong and we going quite a lick and burned off our little competitor beating them by a significant margin. In fact we even went back to watch them cross the line and wave at them.
I thought I would have to do something with ropes and come home with rope burns but in fact all I had to do was sit back and drink beer with Raj. That didn’t seem very difficult.
I had even put my swimmers on under my shorts and t-shirt in case I was to fall in but that seemed very unlikely from my comfortable berth, feet up watching the land whizz past as my face was whipped by my Coronavirus hair.
After the race we came alongside and sat for a while watching the sun getting lower in the sky and the sky turn red. We cracked open some more beers and it seemed like pretty much the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
The launch came and we climbed the steps back to the Yacht Club. Since we had left, crowds had gathered to eat, drink and be merry as is typical for a Saturday evening at the yacht club.
There were a couple of local celebrities and diplomats and surprisingly a whole lot of people I actually know and like. Sadly they were all dressed up for the occasion but I was still in my cut-off jeans and nasty blue t-shirt. Mike said there was no point in going to change, that I should be proud of being a sailor and looking like I had spent the afternoon on the water.
As for my first experience of sailing, it was great although a lot less physical than I thought it would be and I was surprised at the complete lack of life jackets. My challenge now is to work out how to get myself into the yacht club every Saturday without joining.
Fortunately a lot of people have offered to sign me in but I cannot imagine the DYC will tolerate me coming all the time at the invitation of others.
We will see but I really want to do more sailing. It’s a great way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Would love to visit