Bodycheck Fitness And Health Centre

Bodycheck Fitness and Health Centre is a gym in Glossop and I joined today!

Why on earth would I want to join a gym I hear you say - well it's because I crew on a yacht with 4 men full of bulk muscle and power and want to be able to pull in those ropes just as quick as they can.

Being 5ft and not a lot over 8 stone has a definite disadvantage when hauling sails in a force 6 gale.

Wormstones, Near Glossop

Ian and I took Siula and Storm for a walk up to Wormstones on a sunny, clear and bright but cool afternoon.

We played hide and seek with the dogs in the heather and walked back under the climbing crags where Ian couldn't resist scrambling up an easy route to the top.

Sailing MoJo

Gerry, Tom, Ian and I took Mojo out for a sail up to Waterhead for lunch today.

There was a serious side and that was to learn and practice the launch, sail and drop of a symetrical spinnaker.

On the last drop before Waterhead a shackle on the pole snapped on the drop - this put the spinnaker out of further action for this sail - luckily the shackle snapped on a fun sail and not a race or it could have had quite serious consequences.

Lunch was a very nice sandwhich and a beer (in my case glass of red wine) in the Wateredge Inn where we moored up to their own jetties.

We had a lovely time beating back in a force 4-5 gusting 6 and hit 7 knotts at one point. I was on main all the way back and had a lots of fun quite literally playing with the wind.

A Night Out In Manchester

Ian and I met Denise and Ian for a Chinese Buffet in the No 1 Oriental Resturant, in Manchester followed by a drinks in the Eden Bar, Canal Street.

4 Years Later

Ian and I have now been together for 4 years!

We met in a layby and after spending the day walking up Crinkle Crags, Langdale in thick mist and rain Ian suggested a meal in Stickle Barn and then suggested we went climbing the following Saturday, things just carried on from there.......

Pics Nov 03 & 04
Pics 05 & 06

Winter Series - 2nd Race

The day dawned bright and sunny with snow capped mountains and a flat calm lake! By 11am the wind had picked up to a steady force 4 gusting 6 - perfect for racing.

Mojo had a full crew today of Jerry, Tom, Dale, Barry, Ian and myself. Jerry was on helm, Ian and Barry on foredeck and spinnaker setting, Tom did the spinnaker hoist and lowers and Tom, Dale and I did the main, jib and flew the spinnaker between us for this race.

We had a good start and were hot on Shamal's tail all through the first lap of the race, we launched the spinnaker with no problems, jibed it 3 times and had a good lower.

On the second lap we had to give water to another yacht approaching us on the starboard on a starboard tack whilst we were on a port tack, this meant we had to give way and tacked away, Lady Grey took advantage of the situation and slid past us on the port side chasing after Shamal, both rounded the mark together with us hot on their tails and Pelagos a few lengths behind.

Disaster struck on the 3rd jibe of the spinnaker in this lap and we got a twist in the sail and had to quickly lower her, this lost us time and both Shamal and Lady Grey gained a few lengths on us.

We still managed a nice sail across the finish line ahead of Pelagos by several lengths - Jerry's dream of beating Pelagos had come true in the 2nd race!

41 boats raced today.

Results:-

Lady Grey - 4th overall - 1st in class - 12th on water

MoJo - 16th overall - 2nd in class - 20th on water

Huzar - 18th overall - 3rd in class - 17th on water

Shamal - 19th overall - 4th in class - 13th on water

Pelagos - 22nd overall - 5th in class - 26th on water

Three Bags Full - 2nd overall - 1st in class -10th on water

Celtic Challenger - 33rd overall - 11th in class - 9th on water

First Snow and Go-Karting for Tom's Birthday

Denise and I woke up this morning to an almightly crack of thunder at 5.45am and by 8am the rain had started to fall as sleat. We couldn't see the fells as they we re covered in low cloud and mist but we assumed it was snowing somewhere up above us.
When the clouds lifted about midday there was a light splattering of snow on the hills and we set off from The Ship, Bowness to go to the West Coast Karting Centre at Maryport for Tom's birthday.
We spent the night at Denise's and had a meal out in her local The Anglers, Haverthwaite

Autumn Colours At Kinder Reservoir

Storm, Siula and I went for a walk up to Kinder Reservoir - the colours of the bracken and trees were fantastic shades of copper, red and gold. The weather was warm and sunny - just perfect for a nice walk.

My Dolls House

Today I've been playing with my dolls house - well not in the literal sense - more like re-building it!

The dolls house was made for me by my grandfather when I was 2 years old and came complete with lights that lit up, fireplaces and a china tea set. The years of being stored in the loft have taken its toll and gradually over this year I have been re-wiring and decorating it and buying new furniture.

The house is now completely re-wired and lit and I've completed furnishing the study and nursery and just started on one of the bedrooms.

Winter Series - 1st Race

The first race of the Winter Series must have been the warmest I've ever raced in in this series. It was a pleasant mild day with light winds and a few gusts, we could have really done with a wind like Geoff and I had when we sailed last Wednesday but never mind!

There are 4 race classes within the Series - class 1 is for Benateau's, class 2 is for Small Boats, class 3 is for Fast Boats and class 4 is for Sport Boats.

Ian, Tom and I are crewing on Mojo this season as Pure Adrenalin is up for sale and has not been entered.

MoJo is a Hanse and belongs to Jerry it is entered into the Fast Boat Class.

Steve is sailing on Three Bags Full in the benateau class, Brian on Celtic Challenger in the sports boat class and Howard on Lady Grey competing directly against Mojo in the fast boat Class.

Race results are within each class and then an overall position with in the fleet which is dependent on a boats handicap. There is also an unofficial "on the water" result which is the time and place you finish the course in without the handicap added (ie who sailed the course in the fastest time). 34 yachts sailed todays race.

Today Mojo's crew included Jerry, Tom, Barry, Dale and myself. With Barry on foredeck, Jerry on helm and Tom, Dale and myself doing cockpit and main sail between us. Tom and Barry set the spinnaker whilst Dale and I did the hoist and lower. Barry, Tom and I all took turns to fly the spinnaker during the race.

We got off to a slow start after being pinched by Jack of Hearts on the start line causing MoJo and 2 other boats to bare away from the line before crossing it.

We had a good tack down the south lake before a good run back up to the start point. The race was 3 laps and we flew the spinnaker on each lap.

As Tom pointed out as we crossed the finish line - "it was a good sail, we flew the spinnaker 3 times and no one died!!!!"

We may have flown the spinnaker successfully but we did draw the line when Tom suggested lauching it and then doing an immediate jibe rather than just changing the launch position before hand - we weren't quite up to risking our luck with it just yet!!!

After the race we met the other crews in the Spinnaker Club at the Marina for a few well earned beers and the results.

Results:-

Shamal - 7th overall - 1st in class - 3rd on water

Lady Grey - 10th overall - 2nd in class - 15th on water

Pelagos - 18th overall - 3rd in class - 16th on water

MoJo - 22 overall - 4th in class - 21st on water

Three Bags Full - 4th overall - 1st in class - 2nd on water

Celtic Challenger - 29 overall - 6th in class - 9th on water

Lunch At The Watermill With The Blackwell Gang

Dave oganised lunch today at The Watermill Inn, Ings for Blackwell's end of season lunch time bash! The company was good the food was good and we all had a great time.

After lunch Ian and I took the dogs to Cockshott Point for a walk.

Winter Camping, Langdale

Yes, we did camp this weekend.

However we are well prepared with extreme down sleeping bags and tents can be quite snug - especially when heated by a camping gas heater leant to us by Geoff to see what we thought of it - well it did its job so well we had to turn it off as we got a wee bit too hot!!!!
After pitching the tent we spent the evening in Sticklebarn sampling the beers. When we left we were actually surprised that the freezing temperatures of the last few days had warmed up to a nice 12c!!

We went back to the tent and snuggled up with the dogs and hot chocolates for the rest of the evening.

And even Storm and Siula have sleeping bags for winter........

The Maple Tree At Marple Bridge

Ian and I went out with Ians Mum and Dad, Ann and Cliff, to the Maple Tree Cantonese Restaurant in Marple Bridge. We had a lovely meal and a very nice evening.

Celtic New Years Day Sail

Geoff invited me to sail his yacht Quadrille, a Swift 18, with him today on Windermere.

The weather was very cold but the sun was shining brightly and the lake was an incredable blue in colour.

We sailed out of Ferry Nab and headed up into the north lake as far as White Cross Bay in a steady force 5 white capping all the way. The sailing was daring due to the conditions but a lot of fun!

Winter has defiantely arrived along with the Celtic New Year today in the cold crisp air and the fact that we were in winter sailing gear.