That's a beautiful little piece Arne. What lovely scenery you have in your country, and how splendid Ingeborg looks with her lofty sail. I hope you get one more fine day before the season ends!

(By the way - in the previous post, Befur looks good too. Is Windermere in "Swallows and Amzons" country, Malcolm? I aways wished I could travel to the UK and see some of these places, but I suppose I never will now).

Thanks to both of you for the images.

Befur spends her days day-sailing on Windermere, and we are (slowly) getting the hang of handling her. We have discovered that motor-sailing is the way to go, as just idling the steam plant means that her 20-inch prop provides a lot less drag, and also helps dramatically in stopping us getting stuck-in-irons all the time when trying to tack.

Last week we attended the UK Steam Boat Associations 50th Anniversary do ("A Steamet"??) and one morning we really got our skates on, achieving 6.5knots (over the ground) in an apparent 35mph breeze, with just three panels - very exciting, but happy to have 4 on board!

You can see that Arne's sail making instructions, and David Tyler's rigging adjustments, have resulted in a sail that sets very well, and makes us happy!

  (you can see that Louise's skills with sewing machine, now extend to bunting, as well as sail making and upholstery!) 

I had a nice day sail yesterday. The wind was right for going straight out away from the shore. It must have been a good day for sailing. There were other sailboats out with me!

I went out a little more than 5 miles with the full sail up. About half way through it was clear that a boat with a cat rig was gaining on me quickly. I thought it was a Freedom 25, but then when it went flying past me I saw a '30' on the sail that made me think it was a 30 foot boat. I hope it was a 30 footer. I feel better about a boat with a lot more waterline passing me.

Later all the other boats turned to head back in or continued on a slightly different tack. Eventually it was just me and my boat balanced to sail herself. Escape and Solitude.

Yes, Arne’s right. Just like him I only sail for pleasure these days so my typical outing is going to Miranda in Largs Yacht Haven on a sunny day, getting her ready to sail which takes about 10 mins then setting off. Because the Firth of Clyde is full of scenic islands I usually raise sail just past the outer buoy and head across to Great Cumbrae, about a mile and a half away. I then tack and turn at the 10 metre mark and return. This can take an hour or less depending on the wind strength. 

On the way I am able to note just how many Bermudan-rigged boats are actually motor sailing. Few of them bother to raise more than a jib. Another plus point for Junk Rigs. 

So 90 minutes of pleasure on sunny days, what’s not to like about that?

Paul McKay